Coronation Street star Lucy Fallon has said the ITV soap's dark storylines should continue, as they have raised awareness of crucial issues.
Fans of the show have seen Fallon's character Bethany at the centre of the controversial grooming plot, with the tragic death of Aidan Connor (played by Shayne Ward) and the rape of Weatherfield resident David Platt (played by Jack P Shepherd) also among this year's heart-rending storylines.
"Personally I prefer watching the darker stuff anyway," Fallon told the Press Association.
"All of the Corrie storylines we have done, like the suicide, the grooming storyline, Jack's rape storyline - they have been so well done and so amazing and raised so much awareness.
"The phone lines for things went up 1,700% and stuff like that.
"So in that respect I don't think they should stop doing the dark storylines and I think Corrie is really good at having the dark storylines but characters like Sally and Tim keep the light-heartedness as well."
While acknowledging that it is important to please Coronation Street's older and younger viewers, Fallon said the writers should not shy away from issues for fear of audience criticism.
"My opinion is, if you were watching something like the rape storyline or the grooming storyline or the suicide storyline or whatever and you think, 'This is too uncomfortable, I can't watch this', I feel that says more about you," she said.
"These things are raising awareness and people are actually sat at home who do know someone who killed themselves or does know someone that was raped, and for those people it is so important that we do these stories on a platform like Corrie so we raise that awareness.
"Someone sat in the comfort of their own home, saying they found it uncomfortable, I think is quite sad. We do it so well, the balance is really good."
As for what lies ahead for her character, Fallon said Bethany would continue to face challenges from her grooming ordeal.
"We'll always see those things come into any storylines that come up in the future, because when we spoke to survivors who'd been through similar things, one thing they said was that this is something that stays with you forever," she explained.
"It's not something where in a year you say, 'OK, I'm fine now'. That's something that is quite important and will remain in any storylines that we do, that she will always have that with her."
If you have been affected by any of these issues please contact the Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 778 888 or the Samaritans on 116 123.
Coronation Street airs on ITV and TV3 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
