Coronation Street star Gareth Pierce has confirmed that more scenes between Todd Grimshaw and Sarah Platt are on the way, praising his on-screen chemistry with Tina O'Brien. The actor, who plays Todd, spoke about the pair's enduring dynamic as their characters navigate a complex history.
Todd and Sarah share a deep past: before Todd came out as gay, the couple were in a long-term relationship and Sarah became pregnant with his child. Their son, baby Billy, was born prematurely in 2004 and died in hospital shortly after. Following Billy's death and Todd's coming out, tensions ran high between the Platts and the Grimshaws, until Todd left Weatherfield for London in 2004.
Chemistry from the Recast
Since Todd's return to the cobbles, when Gareth took over the role, and especially in recent years, Todd and Sarah have remained close friends, often turning to each other for support in times of crisis. Gareth told Metro at the Inside Soap Awards: 'Tina O'Brien is such a brilliant actress and we did hit it off straight away.'
'There was chemistry there right from the recast, which I know so many of our audience will have had an eye on because it's such a dear relationship from both Todd and Sarah's past,' he added. 'And luckily, we didn't have loads of scenes at the beginning, but maybe that was good, because in those sparing moments, I think we did enough to re-establish that dynamic.'
Support During the Abuse Storyline
During Todd's domestic abuse storyline, Sarah stepped up to support him, despite Theo Silverton's attempts to isolate Todd from his loved ones. Gareth reflected: 'What's been great about this storyline is that they've really given Tina and I some time to play the complexities, the shared history, the affection. And I think her being, effectively, one of the saviours in this storyline was just so fitting and so lovely to play.'
Their friendship hit a rough patch this summer when Sarah confessed to killing Theo, Todd's abusive husband. Viewers will recall the cruel things Theo said about Sarah and Todd's late son, and the threats he made to Sarah's life. In a panic, Sarah grabbed a metal bar and hit Theo, causing him to fall from the scaffolding they were stood on. When Sarah confessed to Todd, he agreed not to go to the police but declared that their friendship was over.
Complexity and Standing by Sarah
Gareth noted the complexity of the situation, saying: 'I don't think there was any real sense that he would go to the police, but obviously that was a potential option and there was that quite heartbreaking scene of Todd saying that he just couldn't carry on the friendship.' He added: 'But I think that with time he's seen that his friend did something instinctive but remarkably brave and courageous for him in that moment. So he is standing by Sarah now.'
Gareth, who picked up the award for Best Actor, went on to applaud his co-stars involved in the hard-hitting story, which won Corrie the gong for Best Storyline. He praised Tony Maudsley's performance, saying 'that father-son relationship really stepped up quite a lot over this year because we'd established a comedy partnership and it was nice to see that we could take him into other places as well.' He also commended James Cartwright for stepping into the show as a new character, noting 'he had a real momentum and a purpose and, again, a big conflict central to fear as well, with the reasons he was the way he was and things, and you saw some real development over the storyline.'
