Interview: Closure for David?

We spoke to Jack P Shepherd about Josh's return to the Street and what that means to David...

Since returning from Barbados, David seems to be in a better mind-set, what do you think has changed?

He’s come back from Barbados and he’s had a nice time away with the kids. Obviously, he’s had a bit of sun and he’s been able to just get away from Weatherfield in general. He’s not been here and has been able to put Josh firmly out of his mind.

What effect do you think Josh being released from hospital has had on David?

When David finds out that Josh has been released there’s a bit of panic. He thinks ‘what if he comes back here’. Then David finds out that Josh has been living with Billy and he’s furious that somebody he considered as a mate is housing Josh on the same street that he lives on. So, he’s not coping very well.

How does David feel towards Billy now that he’s found out he’s housing Josh?

He confronts Billy about it saying that he’s an absolute hypocrite because he told David not to go anywhere near him and yet he is. David feels as though Billy hasn’t thought about his feelings, only his own and his own guilt.

Do you think Billy and David will get past this?

Anything can happen on Corrie. He wasn’t really that close to Billy anyway, he always used to call him Vicar and refuse to call him Billy and just didn’t like the guy. I don’t think David’s that clued up on Christianity, I don’t think he’s a religious person so anything like that, he turns his nose up at. He wasn’t that much of Billy’s fan in the first place so certainly now, I don’t think that they will be friendly with each other.

How will David feel coming face-to-face with Josh again?

He comes face-to-face with Josh as he walks into the salon cool as a cucumber, I think he’s wanting to make amends but it would take a lot to make amends to someone after what’s happened. David doesn’t take it very well and the conversation turns into an argument and it ends up with David putting Josh in a car and driving him off somewhere.

After the coming together with Josh, will David finally be able to find some closure?

It all depends what happens and what David sees fit to find that closure. It could be him turning him into the police, or killing him, or getting someone to beat him up. I don’t think he’ll find closure in Josh just apologising, or maybe he will. Since he has come back (from Barbados) he’s been a positive person so maybe he might but I don’t think Josh is the type of person to apologise. I think he’d try and worm his way out of it by saying ‘maybe we got the wrong end of the stick’ or something like that.

Do you think the rape will affect David for the rest of his life?

I’ve been in the show for 18 years now and played every single storyline you could possibly play. After a while the character must come to terms with what has happened to them and move on, then you can live out other stories. If they don’t, then what do they do? It comes down to that really. David has been through a lot, he’s a resilient character. He’s had numerous people trying to kill him before and his wife died, so there are things that he’s got over and come out the other side.

What kind of reaction have you had from viewers following this storyline?

A nice reaction, just people saying that they’ve enjoyed watching the storyline. Then they always hesitate and say, ‘I shouldn’t really say that as it’s not something you should enjoy’ but what they mean is that it’s been a good topic and it needed to be addressed. It’s interesting because when it was released in the press that we were going to do this storyline there was a lot of response with people saying it’s disgusting, Corrie shouldn’t be putting that on the screen, it’s a family show. As soon as it went on screen people realised that you didn’t see David get raped, all you saw was a door slamming shut and you knew what was going to happen after that. It let the audience use their own imagination. The storyline was more about the aftermath and the mental affect that happened with David. People got it and it was a good story, I think Corrie played it out really well.