Agony In Ecstasy For Prince Of Darkness

Dec 16 2007 By Steve Hendry

Corrie's Twisted Teen Gets A Bitter Taste Of His Own Nasty Medicine

Jack P Shepherd has had plenty of time to perfect his evil smirk after seven years as Coronation Street bad boy David Platt.

And the corner of his mouth is twitching ominously right now as he surveys the last mouthful of a bacon sandwich he's just wolfed down after another hectic day's filming.

He growls sulkily: "I asked for it on toast and they gave me white bread ... it's just not on."

David has started vendettas for less but Jack's deadpan face breaks into an impish grin and he adds: "But it was good apart from that, so no ... no evil looks for them."

The 19-year-old is well aware of his character's reputation as Weatherfield's Prince of Darkness. On one famous occasion he popped into the ITV canteen to get a toastie and the sight of him was enough to cause a young fan to burst into tears.

But he is about to unleash David's biggest trick yet - he's turning nice. The terrible teenager gets a girlfriend in the New Year and it will mellow him to such an extent that - shock! horror! - he becomes reasonable and even likeable.

He said: "He meets this girl by coming round a corner and bumping into her. They hit it off. She's a bit like him, she's feisty and a bit nasty in a way, but he sort of likes that in her. They get chatting and end up going out. So he mellows and turns nice.

"It's really good. I like playing a really evil character and doing something you can really get your teeth into. But I like his different sides. He can be quite a comedian at times and has an emotional side to him as well. It's good to keep people guessing which way he is going to turn."

Of course, before the light on the horizon, there is a whole heap of trouble coming his way and, for once, David is on the receiving end.

Having been offered a dream job in Italy by his uncle Stephen (Todd Boyce), his sister Sarah (Tina O'Brien) can't contain her bitterness and vows to ruin it for him any way she can.

She plants ecstasy tablets where they will be found and David's dreams are dashed when he is accused of dealing drugs.

Jack said: "He's devastated. He really wants the Italian job. He really wants to go and start again and he's being friendly with Stephen because he likes him. There's none of this kissing his backside for the job. He is just grateful and really wants it to work out for him. Then Sarah goes and ruins it all."

It has to be said, David has had this coming. He has mercilessly tormented Sarah, nearly killing her daughter with ecstasy and ruining her wedding to Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) by faking his own suicide. Things have never been quite right for him since mum Gail (Helen Worth) hooked up with serial killer stepdad Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) who ultimately tried to kill the family by driving them into the canal.

Jack said: "I think it's a lot of jealousy between them. They have been through the same experiences but she's come out sorted.

"She's alright. She's got a kid, she's got married, she's got a family. He's got nothing. He's just mixed up and he knows that."

In real life, Jack is close to Tina, with whom he has grown up on screen. She will be leaving the show after eight years when the story climaxes over the festive period and he is going to miss her.

It also means David and Gail are the last of the Platts in Weatherfield.

He said: "It feels like we are brother and sister in real life, to a certain extent. I will miss her but I'm sure I'll see a lot of her as well.

"But it also means there's only two Platts left so what's going to happen now? I've been thinking about this and I reckon it can only go one of two ways. Now Sarah's out of the way, David and his mum could get on great, he could calm down and chill out. Or it could go the complete opposite way.

There's nobody there to whisper in Gail's ear and say 'David's doing this to you and you can't see it'.

He could just get worse and worse. I'm excited to see what happens just as much as the viewers."

It's that excitement which is likely to keep him in Weatherfield for some time to come.

Jack, who grew up in Leeds with his mum Janet and dad Peter and older siblings Tom and Amy, only started acting at the age of 10 when his parents thought he was playing too much on his PlayStation. He got an audition for Where The Heart Is a week after joining a summer school drama club. In 2000 he was chosen to play David and will have been on the show eight years in April.

Unlike Tina, he remains content to stay.

He said: "The best time I've ever had is this year and I thoroughly enjoyed last year, too. If I'm still getting storylines like this and enjoying the part, I don't plan to go anywhere."

It's likely he'll also have a say in David's future, having subtly turned him to the dark side.

He said: "There was an episode where David had to have a fight with Gail, just a teenage thing, and the script said I stormed off upstairs in a huff.

"I wanted to play it a different way. Rather than storm up the stairs, I just wanted to stay quiet and be right menacing to her.

"The producers and writers saw something in that scene and thought 'right we could be on to something here'."

With that, he's off, back to filming before heading to the home he shares with his long-term girlfriend, 19-year-old make-up artist Lauren Shippey, just outside of Manchester, smirking all the way.