Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street producer Iain MacLeod has detailed the emotional fallout from Joseph Brown's disappearance twist.
In next week's scenes, the youngster informs his dad Chesney that school bullies are targeting him because the family can't afford to buy him anything.
Joseph insists that confronting the teacher would be a mistake, but Chesney ignores his wishes and does so, leaving the poor lad devastated.
Hoping to have a chat in the backyard later on, Chesney comes to discover that his son has gone missing.
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In conversation with Digital Spy and other press, MacLeod commented: "The story causes Joseph to run away, which provokes widespread panic and spins off into another story for neighbouring households.
"But ultimately, it's the beginning of Chesney struggling to deal with his son."
He went on to stress that Joseph won't morph into a "classic tearaway teen" though – "it's a story that's got much more vulnerability and sensitivity to it, so he's not the new David Platt but it's a really heartbreaking story about a kid having an incredibly hard time.
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"Joseph's family, however well-meaning, will struggle to contend with that. The wider family makes terrible decisions too. Bernie [Winter] for one, in the aftermath of Joseph's disappearance, makes a decision that is for all the right reasons at the time, but will ultimately cause the whole family to be brought into disrepute," he further teased.
"Bernie's decision jeopardises burgeoning friendships and it makes the whole of the street really look sideways at the wider Winter-Brown family. The choice she makes is very relatable but it transpires to be a terrible decision."
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7.30pm on ITV.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage.
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Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
