Coronation Street's Daniel Osbourne spirals into self-destruction following Sinead's death
Grief takes the character to some dark places well into next year
Grieving Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) spirals into self-destructive behaviour following the tragic death of wife Sinead Osbourne (Katie McGlynn) in Coronation Street, as his guilty kiss with Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon) ignites a mental health storyline for the widower set to stretch into 2020.
“Beyond losing Sinead, we’re plotting the next chapter of Daniel’s story well into next year,” Corrie producer Iain MacLeod reveals to RadioTimes.com. “It’s emotionally complex. Daniel kisses Bethany in a moment of grief and confusion as Sinead is dying from cancer, and Bethany thinks she’s in love with him.
“But to what degree does she love this romantic, Byronic fantasy figure who is crying at the loss of his wife, not the real Daniel? Does she even know the real man?”
Mallard warns his character’s descent into despair is imminent. “You will see a self-destructive element to Daniel initially, you can’t expect him to keep it together and he snaps.
“Daniel and Bethany have shared guilt over their kiss, which Ken saw. With that is an attachment to Sinead’s memory. There is a cluster of events that all happened together before she died and it’s a case of isolating and dealing with them, but it’s like a bowl of fish hooks – you end up pulling all of them up at the same time.
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“I can’t really say too much, but he will have to untangle all of these emotions. I’m not sure whether Daniel needs to forgive Bethany, or whether he wants her to forgive him – he doesn’t know what he wants from her. You’ll probably see some transference from Daniel towards Bethany.”
How does Sinead's family react to her death?
Discussing life after Sinead for her loved ones left behind, MacLeod continues: “For Daniel, the story going forward is about loneliness and isolation. We’ll also see the families not knowing how much to wade in with looking after Bertie and when to back off.
“Daniel makes a promise to Sinead to look after their little boy and never let him down, but fails to appreciate that if you’re not looking after yourself then, in a way, you are letting down your son.
“The aftermath draws the Barlows and Tinkers into conflict and then an uneasy alliance. Seeing them all worry about Daniel and not knowing how best to proceed feels real and richly layered.
“Sinead makes video messages for Bertie to see when he’s older and at first Daniel finds comfort in watching them, but then they assume a slightly obsessive significance.
“A particular element in one video he discovers belatedly threatens to tip him over a precipice…”
Sinead was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2018 and stopped treatment while pregnant, fearing it would harm her unborn baby.
Following Bertie’s birth she resumed chemotherapy, but was told last month her cancer was aggressive and untreatable.
The heartbreaking storyline culminates in emotional episodes focusing solely on Sinead’s final days airing on Thursday 24thOctober (an extra seventh episode in addition to the usual six next week) and an hour-long goodbye in Friday 25thOctober in which the young mum passes away.
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