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Coronation Street star Ian Bartholomew on "dark and dramatic" night shoots for Geoff plot

From Digital Spy

Coronation Street spoilers follow.

Coronation Street star Ian Bartholomew has revealed that he's currently filming "dark and dramatic" scenes for the ongoing Geoff Metcalfe storyline.

The ongoing plot will take centre stage again in Corrie's 60th anniversary episodes in December, as Geoff's tormented wife Yasmeen goes on trial for attempted murder.

Cast and crew are currently busy filming the outcome of the trial in some tense night shoots, but further details are being kept under wraps for now.

Speaking to Digital Spy and other media in a recent Zoom call, Ian laughed: "It's tiring! But it's good – it's great. We're doing a lot of night shoots at the moment.

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

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"We've done all the trial stuff. That's very dramatic – to'ing and fro'ing. Courtroom drama is always good.

"At the moment we're doing the aftermath. Quite a lot of it is set at night, so we're scrabbling around in the dark – and hopefully not too much in the rain! It's great. It's good stuff. It's very dark, dramatic and exciting."

Yasmeen's trial will begin on Wednesday, December 2 and continue into Corrie's 60th anniversary episodes the following week. Her fate is currently top secret.

Speaking more generally about the development of Geoff's journey on the street, Ian continued: "I was told that Geoff would take a nasty turn, a dark turn, right from the off. Geoff started off as a bit of a bumptious, pedantic, full of himself, Jack the Lad, who was everybody's best mate.

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

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"They said: 'We might turn him a bit dark, it might take a bit of a turn'. Little did I know that there'd be a full 360 degree turn!

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"It was difficult to get my head into it for a while, I have to say. But a couple of directors and writers, and various people around me, helped me on the track. That's when we started getting involved with real-life survivors and Women's Aid, which helped us in the early stages.

"Geoff is just completely unlikeable. I don't like him! Actors will always tell you that they have to find something they like about their character to make it work, but I don't like anything about Geoff.

"There might be the odd shirt of his that I'd wear! But he's just a very, very unpleasant human being."

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

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Ian credited his real-life family for helping him through the tougher aspects of the storyline.

He said: "Luckily I have a fantastic family who understand and know what I do. My son, who's 12, won't watch it. He doesn't want to see dad being horrible to Shelley [King, who plays Yasmeen], which I quite understand. It brings you back to reality with a jolt when you arrive back home and you've got the school run to do, or the washing up.

"My family mean a great deal to me and they keep me grounded. I go home and I'm in a stable relationship with my wife. But I've always been aware that the people who live this for real don't have that ability to get away from it."

Ian was speaking to promote his new single 'This Time It's Forever', which is being released to raise money for Women's Aid.

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV.

Organisations including Women's Aid can provide further support and information on coercive control or coercive behaviour.

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