At all time low, Daniel Osbourne has lost his girlfriend, his job, and his reputation. How could things get any worse? Coronation Street actor (Rob Mallard) reveals how his character is about to be dealt the most heartbreaking blow of all.
Daniel Osbourne may be having the worst month in Coronation Street right now – and there’s a lot of competition in that field.
The Headmaster’s reputation is in tatters following the horrific revelation that his girlfriend and fellow teacher Megan, was only dating him to cover up her sexual abuse of an underage student, Will Driscoll (Lucas Hodgson-Wale). Not only that, but Daniel blew up on schoolgirl Hope Stape (Isabella Flanagan) when she recited a nasty poem she wrote about his relationship with Megan, resulting in his suspension from school.
The Headmaster’s reputation is in tatters following the horrific revelation that his girlfriend and fellow teacher Megan, was only dating him to cover up her sexual abuse of an underage student, Will Driscoll (Lucas Hodgson-Wale). Not only that, but Daniel blew up on schoolgirl Hope Stape (Isabella Flanagan) when she recited a nasty poem she wrote about his relationship with Megan, resulting in his suspension from school.
Hiding his shame, Daniel pretended to his dad Ken Barlow (William Roache) and son Bertie that he had gone to the Lake District to get away from it all, when it fact he was brooding in No.1 Coronation Street drowning his sorrows at the bottom of a bottle. Rob Mallard sheds some light on his character’s headspace.
‘I think he’s just gone straight to anger as a coping mechanism. He’s just angry with everyone and everything. It’s easier to be angry and it feels more powerful to be angry than it is to be sad’.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Daniel’s taken in the worst flatmate in the world. Jodie Ramsey (Olivia Frances-Brown). After being kicked out of the Platts for trying to seduce her sister’s husband, the bunny-boiling baddie manipulated Daniel into giving her a place to stay.The two have even bonded over their troubles and share an unlikely spark.
Worse still, when the time came for Jodie to move out, she created an online persona called ‘Truthteller’ to spread vicious falsehoods about Daniel’s relationship with Megan, suggesting the disgraced headmaster knew about his ex girlfriend’s abuse all along.
This is particularly damning for Daniel, as this is not the first time he has been accused of predatory behaviour. He once faced an allegation from Max Turner (Paddy Bever), who accused him of grooming Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby). Rob explains how Truthteller’s trolling is impacting Daniel’s personal and professional life by raking up his past.
‘Every time something happens to someone else nearby, Daniel always seems to end up tarred by it as well.’ Rob reflects.
‘Because of what happened with Summer and then Max, he’s put a lot of work into making sure that he keeps some sort of distance between himself and the students and Megan was basically like a back door that he didn’t realise was there and dragged him into everything. ‘
This is clearly another textbook bonkers Jodie Ramsey plan to keep Daniel vulnerable enough to be dependant on her, so she can keep staying at the flat. But it’s getting wildly out of hand. Not only is Bertie being bullied at school as a result, but Daniel has been attacked in the street by masked teens and pelted with paint.
But if Daniel thinks things are bad now, the worst is yet to come… starting this week.
After coming face to face with Megan in the precinct, Daniel finally realises the identity of Truthteller when Jodie makes a careless comment about the trolling that completely gives her away.
This is a bitter blow for Daniel, as he’s had a habit of trying to rescue damsels in distress that have left him with a broken heart. Rob gives us a sneak peak into Daniel’s immediate reaction to Jodie’s big secret.
‘It’s another moment of complete betrayal. He should never have trusted her to begin with, and he knew he shouldn’t have trusted her. But I think there was that kind of vague hope where you think, well, what are the chances that she’s another wrong ‘un, of all the bad things that have just happened to me, what are the chances that she’s also going to be bad.
‘I think this will be the endpoint of his trust in women. He’s been betrayed so many times now, ever since his mum left him. Bar Sinead (Katie McGlynn) he’s not made the best choices so Jodie should watch out.’
Realising that the troll is someone he trusted is the straw that broke the camel’s back for Daniel… a straw that sends him spiralling into the Rovers’, determined to get as drunk as possible. Unfortunately, he gets so drunk that he’s unable to make a hungry Bertie’s tea. So Bertie is forced to fend for himself in the kitchen, which causes a fire that puts both father and son in danger.
This is the point of no return for Daniel. Not only has he put his son in grave danger, but he broke his promise to his wife and Bertie’s mum Sinead, who passed away of cancer. Rob shared some insights into how Daniel’s relationship with Sinead makes his drunken neglect so much worse…
‘It’s like he’s betrayed the only woman that was loyal to him, because he promised Sinead that he would put himself second and Bertie first always. And yet he’s allowed recent events to push Bertie to second, third, fourth place in his mind. So basically the only woman that didn’t betray him, he feels like he’s let her down now posthumously.’
Needless to say, when the truth comes out, the Barlows are incensed to discover that Daniel’s drunken self-pity has put Bertie in harms way. Ken, Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson), Alya Nazir (Sair Khan) and Cassie Plummer (Claire Sweeney) rail at Daniel and confront him over his negligence, causing Daniel to lash out at Adam in anger… but it’s poor Ken who accidentally falls into the path of his son’s punch.
‘It’s like everything is spiralling.’ Rob Mallard explains. ’They all call him out. They corner him in the Barlows and I think he just feels trapped, he goes to lash out at Adam and he catches Ken. It’s always Ken that he seems to hurt. When Daniel’s trapped he comes out fighting and that resentment he feels from his earlier life seems to find its way back towards Ken. He still feels he was abandoned by Ken when he was a kid.’
‘So even though they’re in a much better place now, there’s still that resentment simmering away in the background. When I play scenes with Bill, whenever Ken’s trying to give Daniel advice on a life problem, I always play it like a 14 year old, because that’s exactly where they would be in that relationship, that’s where he was left. So Daniel can’t help but turn into a petulant teenager around Ken.’
With his reputation in ruins and his job in danger, now Daniel is set to suffer the worst loss of all – family. This week’s Coronation Street ends with a visit from Social Services, who are concerned about Bertie’s welfare. Is there a genuine risk that Daniel could lose his son? Rob Mallard thinks so.
‘Oh yeah, 100% a wake up call. He’s completely beside himself, he thinks that he’s going to have his kid taken off him and again it’s all to do with keeping a promise that he made to Sinead.’
The question is, will Daniel straighten up and fly right? Or is he only going to get worse now his son could be taken away? Rob Mallard makes a grim prediction.
‘I think he could keep going further. Once someone gets a bit of mud on them, you might as well get properly dirty. I think that in terms of Daniel’s character, if he’s going to go off the rails, he should go off them properly, possibly even lose custody of Bertie temporarily, really teach him a lesson’.
