Families of suicide victims praise Coronation Street storyline

Wednesday night's episode of Coronation Street has been praised by the families of victims of suicide.

In Monday's episode, Shayne Ward's character - Aidan Connor - was seen for the final time on screen.

Last night, his dad found his body and viewers saw the impact his shocking death had on his family, friends and neighbours.

Jonny Sharples' lost his older brother, Simon, to suicide in 2014 when he was 36.

He said the fact the soap was addressing the issue sent a powerful message:

"For me personally, I definitely concentrated on why it happened - through a real sense of sadness so it will be good to see that reflected on TV.

"One of the character is angry and I think it's good to look at why people are angry, to dispel myths around selfishness which are often talked about when it comes to suicide but simply aren't the case.

"If it can happen to Aiden or someone like my brother then it can happen to anybody and hopefully that will ignite the conversation."

Shayne Ward, who played Aidan Connor on the soap, spoke at a special screening of the episodes:

""I am honoured to have been trusted with a storyline like this, it shows the confidence Kate and the team had in me to be able to play it. When you get given a storyline like this it is a decision that is not taken lightly, I have played it with as much honesty and truth as I could. I am very proud of what I have done in my three years on the show, and on this storyline in particular."

Series producer Kate Oates said:

"84 men kill themselves every week, figures like that show not talking is not working. We're letting people know that this will happen so they can choose whether to tune in or not, but if people want to see the drama unfolding and learn how they might be able to help somebody or just think a little more deeply about the person next door, I think we could really do with thinking about this issue a bit more and this speaks to a lot of people."

Simon Gunning, the CEO of CALM, says the episodes are having an impact on mental health charities:

"We're worried and frightened as humans, because it's very, very difficult to talk about these subjects, but maybe there's the rub. This isn't cancer, you don't need chemotherapy, talking about it helps.

"It's so important to show that, if people are or have been experiencing this kind of bereavement, but also as a society to understand that this is happening 16 times a day. We need to be able to have the conversations that mean we understand what's happening rather than a continuation of our complete inability to deal with death."