'MY CONTRACT IS UP THIS YEAR'

Despite the Platt family being one of the cornerstones of Coronation Street, Jack P Shepherd never knows if bosses will write David out. “I get a year’s contract now, and it runs out this year,” he reveals. “They might not continue it, they might go with someone else.” As chaos has engulfed No.8, it’s easy to see why Jack fears his character could be killed off at any moment.
David’s adoptive son Max Turner set the Platts’ home ablaze in a botched insurance scam. Instead of cashing in, Max found himself behind bars – again – facing a sentence of six-and-a-half years.
But while Max is locked up, David’s troubles are far from over.
Thug Harvey Gaskell and his cronies have reminded David of his unpaid debt and hinted that Max could suffer while he’s behind bars.
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“David’s frantic because he thinks Harvey’s going to get to Max in prison,” Jack says. “He’s scared about the prison that he’s going to and trying to get Max as far away from Weatherfield as possible.”
At first, Scotland seemed like the safest bet for Max, but he’s now serving time in a facility in County Durham. It hardly matters, as Harvey’s reach knows no limits.
“Harvey basically says, ‘You could send him to Timbuktu, I’ll still get hold of him and kill him,’” Jack says.
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A desperate David comes up with a plan to save his family.
“The only way to pay Harvey off is with the life insurance policy,” Jack says. “If David dies, then it all pays out for everyone.”
David reached breaking point after seeing Harvey’s men cosying up to his 11-year-old daughter, Lily. He enlisted the help of hitman Andy, who had been blackmailed into killing David. At rock bottom, David asked Andy to help eliminate Harvey from their lives for good – by running over David.
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For Jack, 37, David’s mindset is clear. “He feels like a failure,” he says. “Everything he does always has a negative effect on the family. He feels they’d be a lot better off in life if he wasn’t constantly messing things up.”
It’s not the first time David has teetered on the edge. From his late wife Kylie’s death to his own harrowing rape ordeal in 2018, he’s battled dark thoughts before.
But this time, Jack argues, it’s different.
“He has been low before, but I’m not sure he has actually been suicidal,” Jack says. “This is a suicide but it has to look like an accident.”
Jack relishes the high-stakes drama, especially when stunts are involved. But he’s not one to follow safety rules. “I always push the limits,” he admits.
Take the recent explosion at No.8 – Jack was told to stay behind the safety line. He agreed, until the cameras started to roll.
“They said action, and of course I went past the safety line,” Jack admits. “But I’m safe, there are lots of people with extinguishers.”
His latest stunt, David’s dramatic crash, was even riskier as Jack was nearly hit by a car. “We had a near-miss because I wasn’t paying attention,” he says. “There was a car coming and we added it into the scene. I was looking a different way and it nearly hit me.” Not that he’s compl...