Viewers were left in tears over harrowing Coronation Street scenes which saw Ryan Connor take the full force of a glass of acid intended for bride Daisy Midgeley. As Daisy prepared to marry Daniel Osbourne in tonight's Corrie (March 27), Ryan stepped in as a chauffeur after the wedding car was stolen.
DJ Ryan, played by Ryan Prescott, had been set to make a fresh start in Ibiza when he went into the Rovers Return for barmaid Daisy. But the pair were shocked to find her stalker Justin Rutherford lurking there. Justin advanced on Daisy holding a glass full of clear liquid, telling her that no one would want her after this.
As he threw the acid at Daisy, Ryan quickly stepped in between them and he was left writhing in agony on the floor, his skin burning. Daisy called 999 and, having listened to the operator’s instructions, dragged Ryan into the shower and turned the water on. Finding scissors, a frantic Daisy cut the shirt off his back.
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Later Daisy railed at DS Swain, pointing out how many times she reported Justin but also blamed herself for pushing Justin to the limit. Alya Nazir visited Ryan and was shocked at the severity of his injuries.
Then, in the hospital car park, Daisy was enraged to see Justin staring at her from his car. After keeping him talking, DS Swain swooped and arrested him on suspicion of GBH.
Asked about his reaction to the storyline at a recent press event Ryan told the Manchester Evening News and other media that he was on holiday when he found out from producer Iain MacLeod. "Iain first called me when I was sitting on sunbed by the pool in Crete," he recalled.
"So I didn't really know what to expect. He said there was something big in the pipeline for Ryan and I had no idea it would be that gritty. Ryan usually slides into more of the humourous elements on the show so to have something that serious, I was just excited to be honest and it woke me up from being subdued watching the ocean to being full of excitement."
He added: "It's something gritty to get into for Ryan and to explore different things for him and it's something of real substance, so as an actor you can get stuck in a little bit more."
Explaining how they shot the devastating scenes, Ryan said: "For the acid attack scenes we were using Alexa cameras which allows us to shoot 100 frames per minute. It allowed us to speed up the material and slow it down and layer audio over the top of it which gives us this visceral, gutteral effect. It's kind of like when you graze your knee as a kid and everything goes blurry."
The 34-year-old star from Stockport, who has played Ryan since 2018, said about the scenes when Daisy got Ryan into the shower: "There was no acting being done. That was me trying to breathe throughout the five or six hours that we shooted it for. It was cold water because we couldn't show steam.
He explained: "The cold water is to numb nerve endings and cool the acid. You have to go to nearest water source and keep a constant stream of water to allow you to save some of the facial tissue."
Working alongside The Katie Piper Foundation and Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI), the soap decided to tell this story to highlight the devastating impact and long lasting effects of such heinous attacks. On the importance of tackling this storyline Coronation Street Producer Iain MacLeod said: “We were keen to show the long-term reality for people who are subjected to this kind of attack. It is something we might often read about in the papers but perhaps don’t fully understand, in terms of the depth and variety of effects it can have."
"As well as the medical impacts, we explore the social fallout of having your appearance profoundly changed, both in terms of your own ability to process that and how the wider world reacts to you. The story will at times be heartbreaking but we felt it was an important one to tell.”
To prepare for the storyline Ryan spoke to acid attack survivor Andreas Christopheros, who was left blind in one eye and is scarred for life after having a pint of sulphuric acid thrown in his face in an attack at his home in Cornwall in 2014. Ryan said: "There were 300 acid attacks in Manchester in 2022 alone. It shows it's way more prevalent than you would expect."
Ryan worked with film and TV master of prosthetics Davy Jones, based in Merseyside, to have a cast of his face made for pieces that would be layered to create scarring. Corrie bosses have confirmed that this isn't an exit storyline for Ryan, who was introduced to the soap in 2006 as the son of Michelle Connor played by Kym Marsh.
But actor Ryan says the attack is going to change his life forever. "Despite the massive shift he's dertemined to not let the experience define who he is," he said. "But it's a long road."
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