Coronation Street's Sam Blakeman appears poised to receive a schizophrenia diagnosis following emotional scenes broadcast on Monday night. The ITV schoolboy, portrayed by Jude Riordan, has been experiencing severe mental health difficulties recently, particularly after enduring threats and intimidation from teacher Megan Walsh during her illicit affair with pupil Will Driscoll.
In highly experimental sequences featured over recent weeks on the long-running soap, Sam was depicted experiencing hallucinations of an imaginary version of friendly cafe proprietor Roy Cropper (David Neilson) commanding him to perform malicious deeds. This ultimately resulted in Sam being sectioned at Weatherfield General.
In the most recent episode of the Manchester-based serial, a nurse explained: "This isn't caused by methylphenidates. Or any drugs, as far as we're aware. We're looking into the possibility, the likelihood, that Sam has schizophrenia."
Nick immediately requested to see his son, but as he broke down in tears, the nurse said: "I'm afraid he doesn't want to see you. You specifically. I'm sorry, Sam was very clear." Nick subsequently broke down completely as he collapsed into Toyah's arms in the hospital corridor while Leanne observed.
Back at the Bistro, Nick sent everyone away before having a candid conversation with brother David as he expressed regret about having deceived him initially. David said: "Let's imagine you didn't lie, OK? So let's run that one through. You tell him the truth. You say, 'Sam, I'm gonna take you to hospital.' What would he do? He'd kick off, wouldn't he, and he'd fight with you? I mean, he could even try and jump out of a moving car, right? Then where would we be?"
David added: "We'd be in exactly the same place. You'd be sat there, looking like that, he'd be wired up to all sorts of machines at hospital, and you'd say 'David, why didn't I just lie to him? Get him to where he needed to be and let him hate me for a few weeks.'"
Leanne, who has assumed a maternal role for Sam since his own mother Natasha was shot in a case of mistaken identity at a Halloween party, went to visit him in hospital. She attempted to speak with him but a visual effect made it apparent that he wasn't paying attention and had entirely withdrawn, as a nurse clarified: "We've started Sam on a drug called risperidone, and it can often have that effect in the first days of treatment. Finding the right medication for Sam's condition can take weeks, sometimes months. Worst-case scenario. But we're doing everything that we can. Hopefully, we'll see some improvement soon."
