David Platt's dark side isn't Gail's fault - it's Jack P Shepherd's!

Back in the mists of time, Coronation Street's David Platt was a fairly normal little boy. He even had a bunny rabbit. His big sister found him a bit annoying, but that's what little brothers are for. Then everything changed, and he gradually turned into the twisted problem child we see today.

In fact we quite literally see it today, because this is the day when David finally goes too far and goes on a destructive spree with a metal pole, smashing windows and pushing pensioners around.

And apparently we can blame Jack P Shepherd. He says that the scriptwriters give the actors great freedom in how they interpret their lines. "There was this one scene where I decided to do it differently, where I was having an argument with Gail about Richard Hillman and why we never talked about it," he says. "My mum was my drama coach and we both decided that I didn't want to run upstairs and slam my door, because I'd done all that and I couldn't be bothered any more. So I thought, 'Why don't I do it in an evil, menacing, sinister type of way, lower my eyes and really hit it home to her that I do blame her for Richard Hillman?' So I did, and it completely changed the way the producers saw David."

He doesn't take all the credit, though: "Most of the credit has to go to the writers and the producers who have thought up brilliant storylines for [David], because I haven't had any influence on those whatsoever. I have to take my little hat off to them."