Coronation Street Blog: Gareth Pierce interview: Todd fears the worst about Theo

How does Todd feel as he promises he won’t speak to Billy anymore, are alarm bells starting to ring for him?

Yes, there’s a definite sadness there, he’s being forced to make a compromise that he doesn’t feel he wants to make or that he should be making. There's been a lot of appeasing and making allowances for Theo's increasingly controlling behaviour because of what's gone on in the past for Theo. But I think it's starting to get to a place where Todd is at least internally wondering whether he is making a few compromises too many.

We can see he’s aware some of Theo’s behaviours aren’t right but does he try to put this down to his troubled past? Is he making allowances for Theo?

Yes that’s where we are, a sense that they’re too far into the river and Todd’s at the point where you can turn back or you can try and push through. Theo’s past with the conversion therapy is something that he can put down to excuse some of those less healthy relationship dynamics too. He lived in the closet for so long, maybe he doesn’t understand what a healthy same sex relationship looks like. That's a part of it but I also think that he is aware of how much more this has affected Theo's life, how much more his life has had to change than Todd’s. The fact that he is now going through a divorce, a custody battle to see his kids, means that he's been able to convince Todd that the stakes are a little higher for him which means that Todd is feeling the need to be a little more patient than he might otherwise be.

Does Todd hope he can change Theo?

Definitely yes, I think it was a boost to Todd’s self esteem initially that he bagged Theo and he seemed to be the one. But equally I think that is now perhaps carrying that sense that maybe he can also be the one to fix Theo’s mental health ups and downs and get him to a place of a more healthy relationship dynamic.

This week we see the relationship take a darker twist and as Theo rages at Todd for spending time with Billy the abuse turns physical. Is this a real shock for Todd?

Yeah definitely, the pace of the storyline now means that in a way the audience is slightly ahead of Todd in recognizing some of the patterns, so even in what's already gone out on screen, I think the audience are becoming more aware that of Theo’s anger management issues and they’re also party to certain glances of Theo taking some sadistic pleasure in the ways that he's able to manipulate and control Todd. So there will be a sense that the audience are seeing this coming a little faster than Todd and that will be very frustrating for the audience. But then I think that's quite accurate in life as well because quite often we are able to be more objective about other people’s relationships than we necessarily are about our own. Todd's just too much in it to necessarily spot it. He's definitely been tiptoeing around Theo’s massive anger swings for a while by this point and he's possibly noticing that his social circle is being shrunk slightly as he runs things by Theo rather than making his own decisions about who he sees and when.

Does the act of violence itself shock Todd?

He’s well aware that a massive line has been crossed. The slightly reformed version of Todd we see these days is maybe inclined to be a bit more diplomatic and try and find the non confrontational way forward, but I think in that moment it's made very clear to him that a line's been crossed and that he has to really forcibly communicate that that is just not acceptable behavior in any world but certainly not in this relationship.

How does he respond the next day, will this be the push Todd needs to possibly end the relationship?

I think we will hope so. There’s a scene shortly afterwards where Todd seems to notice for the first time Theo's pattern of not apologising. Todd challenges that, the fact that he’s going to try and carry on like that was no big deal last night, he tells him you can’t do that. There'll be this moment for the audience where they’ll think Todd is finally waking up to what's going on and that he’s going to step up and and put those lines in place but sadly that that slowly gets unpicked by Theo as he uses the effects of his past and the therapy to try explain his behaviours.

He confides a little in Sarah, are you enjoying using the past to play out the relationship these two now have as friends?

Definitely yes, I love working with Tina. It’s a really great shared history and relationship that we’ve managed to solidify really well. So it's been great to have more scenes again. They've got this really great past that bonds them but it also now means that they can be confidants for each other in their relationship woes. I think what's going to be difficult is that there's a real honesty in their relationship and they pick up on each other's ups and downs and yet Todd is only going to be opening that door so far at the moment. I think another interesting dynamic of a controlling relationship is that there's a central shame attached to it. Todd’s pride won't let him confide fully about what’s going on. He doesn’t want other people to think that he could be taken advantage of to that extent.

Todd defends Theo to Sarah. As the goal posts keep moving in what Todd accepts from Theo, are you worried for Todd?

Yeah definitely because Todd’s constantly calibrating what is normal and what is acceptable in the relationship. So very slowly things that are already crossing the line, that are already massive red flags are becoming slowly acceptable. That's only going to get worse now at the point where it’s become physical and Todd is still able to convince himself that this is somehow fixable rather than a situation that he needs to walk away from.

Do you think Todd’s aware he’s in an abusive relationship yet?

I think quite often people who are at this early-ish stage might not want to call it that. I think we tend to minimize our experiences quite often. I don't know whether it's a British thing or just a human thing. He’s maybe in that mindset of it's not really abuse, he just lost his temper that one time, he was drunk. There may still be a way that he can somehow convince himself that this is an exception rather than the norm of the relationship. It'll probably dawn on him that that is what the relationship is, an abusive relationship, sooner than he finds the strength to end it.

How did you feel when you learnt that this was the way the Todd and Theo relationship was going?

You feel a responsibility with an issue-led storyline, and one that will probably come with an extra public set of eyes on it, to depict that truthfully and honestly, so that people for whom that experience chimes feel supported and seen. From an acting perspective it's also great to feel like you can do a variety of storylines. Having got Todd to a place where he can deliver that lighter more comic content, it's also good as an actor to get the opportunity to play more dramatic storylines too. My approach is always to try and find naturalism and honesty in whatever story I’m telling.

How important is it to play out abuse and coercive control in a same sex relationship?

Coercive control and domestic abuse storylines have been played before in Corrie and in other soaps but I think it's fairly unprecedented that we've had this level of focus on an abusive same sex relationship. The themes and dynamics within are universal. But we want to be sure that we’re truthfully depicting the way that the abuse can be slightly different or unique within the same sex relationship as well.

What research have you been able to do into these issues?

As ever with storylines like this there's a great level of responsibility felt by the actors but also by the whole Coronation Street team. We've already been working with a couple of charities, primarily Stonewall and Gallop, and they've been really helpful in giving us an insight on Theo's background and the conversion practices. It was definitely interesting to hear how they’re possibly a little less confrontational and direct these days in the way that they manipulate people. It can often be subtler, maybe an LGBTQ plus friendly wing of the church set up in order to attract new members that might identify. It then becomes about bombarding them with options for change. I think that's almost a scarier prospect because it's really quite manipulative and Machiavellian.

They will also be supporting us fully in not just the physical abuse but the entire coercive control aspect of the relationship. There’s going to be areas like body image, financial control and they’ll be supporting us in the ways that might differ within a same sex relationship. One of the big things that's been flagged is the way that it can be very difficult to convince the authorities that that is the dynamic that is actually happening. There are also the social pressures that might make two men feel that you’re a bloke, you should be able to sort it out yourself. Those quite narrow and archaic views of masculinity still sometimes pop up around a relationship dynamic like this. That’s obviously not to say that it’s not equally difficult for women to convince the authorities that they’re in an abusive relationship with a man. It can be very difficult to access support whether it's a heterosexual or a same sex relationship.

Glenda Young

Bestselling novelist published by Headline