The BBC have the full report after Phil Collinson spoke at the annual conference of St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Manchester.
Corrie was criticised for portraying rape victim Carla Connor being confronted by her attacker outside the court.
Phil said: "I do agree that there were some procedural things in the court that we did get wrong. In a show like ours, we are constantly balancing the needs of the drama against the needs of accuracy, and I suppose I would have to agree that there were some procedural things in the court that our attention has been drawn to subsequently and I can only apologise for that. I have to stand by the story that we told and I think we did a good thing in the main."
The Rape Crisis helpline said it saw an 800% increase in calls after the attack - by Frank Foster on his girlfriend and business partner Carla, was aired last September.
But scenes showing Frank confronting Carla, played by Alison King, outside court had deterred some real victims from going to court, St Mary's said. The Centre's Bernie Ryan said: "We have to put a lot of reassurance into the fact that it was a dramatisation of a courtroom event and that there are support services to make sure they don't come across the perpetrator and are supported throughout the court process."
Phil Collinson said that Corrie "sent out a very clear message" by unambiguously portraying Frank, played by Andrew Lancel, as a rapist. But he admitted that an earlier assault on Maria Connor, played by Samia Smith, had divided the show's writing team.
"I was astonished. Even around our conference table, a very fiery debate happened about that night - literally, some of the writers saying that it wasn't an attempted rape. I really believe that we said right from the beginning that it was."
See also: "Shame on you, Corrie" says real-life rape lawyer.
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7 comments:
So he finally admits he's a screw up time for him to leave.
Kudos to him for admitting mistakes, but he really has made too many. The only thing going for him is that a new producer wanting to make his/her mark could even be worse. Let's hope he has learned to eschew all the sensationalism.
So that makes is OK then? The Maria attempted rape caused enough controversy and then he goes and makes the same mistakes again, bigging up a harrowing storyline just to increase the viewing figures. What happened to all the meticulous research that Corrie always tells us they do for any story? Did it just get in the way of dramatic impact so they ignored it?
'Sorry', PC? It's not good enough. Not this time.
It is just a show!!! No one died! Leave him alone.
Oh well, Anonymous at 13.31, say that to supporters of a dismal football club: "It's just a game.' They'd want to sack the manager. Being passionate about your soap/game/band etc means you're a true fan.
I was depressed to learn Phil Collinson would be staying on for at least another year. Not only does this mean we are in danger of being exposed to even more sensationalist clap trap but we are likely to keep cuckoo in the nest character Stella Price. Any other character who had been so widely unpopular would have been collecting their P45 by now. One flicker of hope is that we have seen a return to more amusing characters, Beth and her son, Julie & Brian etc.Maybe there is hope yet!
I didn't watch the rape episode as I didn't think it was suitable viewing for a family show. Subjects such as this aren't for ratings. This was just my personal view, which is fine as others said that these things need to be aired as shows like Coronation Street highlight the issue,I just didn't watch. Now he says they got it wrong and it's ok? It's not ok at all. It may be just a show, but if the show IS going to tackle such issues THEN GET IT RIGHT..... This man should have gone ages ago. The show is fast going down the swanny under his leadership and there is no excuse for this. Did the facts get in the way of a good story there eh Phil?
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