Coronation Street’s knife crime episode was a masterclass in issue-based storytelling
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Coronation Street is certainly grabbing 2025 with both hands. While there is understandably a lot of talk around the many cast changes coming thick and fast, it’s their first blockbuster storyline of the year that is also grabbing some well deserved attention.
![[Mason lies alone after being stabbed and attacked in Corrie]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/06_01_coro_mason_alone-080f.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
I know there has been quite a lot of discourse around the ITV soap’s delving into darker territory over the last couple of years – I wrote not all that long ago about how exhausting it was becoming. So new boss Kate Brooks launching into a hard-hitting knife crime plot that saw the death of Mason Radcliffe was a risky opening gambit amid the calls for more humour and community.
![[Dylan and betsy sit on the swings looking sad in Coronation Street]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/13_01_coro_dylan_betsy_02-896b.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Had the scenes not been handled with sensitivity and landed impactfully, it may not have paid off – but the episode is an extremely early contender for one of TV’s highlights of the year. The young cast in the storyline – led by up and coming star of the screen Luca Toolan as Mason – went all out seizing the opportunity to nail this.
![[Abi attempts to help Mason, who has been stabbed in Corrie]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/06_01_coro_abi_mason_01-4bd3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
It’s not easy for young actors to be thrust into a soap demanding six episodes a week with very little (often zero) rehearsal, while they are still honing their craft and their understanding of the industry. Luca, who is clearly destined for great things, managed to turn feelings of hate towards a detestable Mason around in a short space of time, leaving us aching to lose a character we would previously have been happy to see the back of.
![[Betsy and Mason talk in the cafe in Coronation Street]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/25_11_coro_betsy_mason_01-603e.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
