Coronation Street has joined forces with Baroness Doreen Lawrence on a storyline to shine a light on the damaging effects of racist verbal abuse.
In episodes to be aired next week dad Ed Bailey will find himself on the receiving end of racist name calling and abuse.
Builder Ed tries to rise above the comments being made by new Bistro manager Don, who is overseeing his and son Michael’s refurbishment work on the restaurant.
As the abuse escalates his sons Michael and James are shocked at their dad’s attitude and baffled as to why he is letting Don get away with it.
It becomes clear that what Don sees as jokey banter are clearly racist comments.
Things come to a head at the opening party of the new Bistro as Ed decides to face up to Don when his comments are directed at the rest of his family.
The storyline will also explore how Don’s attitude makes Ed think long and hard about his own prejudices against his son James’ homosexuality.
Coronation Street researchers, writers and storyliners consulted with Baroness Lawrence about plans for the episode.
Baroness Lawrence is the campaigner mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, a teenager murdered in a racist attack in south east London in 1993.
She promoted reforms of the police service, founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and was appointed to the Order of the British Empire for services to community relations in 2003.
She was made a life peer in 2013.
Baroness Lawrence was delighted to act as a script advisor and also visited the set with her consultant on the project Adrian Sykes to observe key scenes from the episodes.
The episodes were initially due to transmit on April 22 which is Stephen Lawrence Day, but transmission was moved as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Producer Iain Macleod said: ”It is a huge privilege to have someone of the standing of Baroness Lawrence consult with us on this episode.
"I really believe that her input, and the contributions of the cast playing the Bailey family as we workshopped the scripts, have resulted in an episode with real weight and authenticity.“
