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Coronation Street star Paddy Bever on new turmoil for Max Turner
Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street airs some big episodes for Max Turner next week, as he's granted an early release from the Secure Training Centre and returns home to the cobbles.
Max has been locked away at the STC since February, when he received a six-month sentence for encouraging terrorism, after his involvement in Griff Reynolds' far-right gang.
The teenager hopes for forgiveness when he arrives back on the Street. However, he quickly realises there'll be a long journey ahead before life can ever get back to normal for him and those most affected by his crimes.
Here, Paddy Bever – who plays Max – chats about the upcoming scenes.
Is Max remorseful after his time in the Secure Training Centre?
"Absolutely. The whole experience has been quite intense for Max, because it's literally consisted of him looking back at everything he's done – not just everything of late, but everything that's happened in his life. Also everything that's happened to him as well – he's been a victim in many ways, certainly a victim of grooming.
"Those things have really affected Max and ultimately resulted in his incarceration and him looking back at all of the mistakes that he's made. The experience has changed him and that is why he is so sorry.
"It's a result of de-radicalisation and the realisation that he is a victim and yet he has done wrong, and both of those things can be true. Max is done with making excuses about his mistakes by saying that he's had a difficult life. He understands that both of those things can be true, that he's had a difficult life and yet he's made mistakes.
"For years we've seen him making quite a lot of mistakes and now he's facing them."
How does Max feel when he's told about his early release?
"It's not something he wants, actually – I think he's absolutely terrified. There are many reasons for this, one of them being the people who he's grown up around now mostly actively hate him.
"Also, what drives Max is family. He lost both his parents at a very young age. His entire life has been based around finding a family and having that family feeling. We've seen him search for friends in many ways. In prison he has found other prisoners, particularly Gav, and latched on to those people.
"Max doesn't do well alone and now he's found this routine, he's scared to go out into the outside world where nothing is stable and secure.
"In the STC, he knows exactly what time and when he's going to do things. This also helps because he struggles with ADHD, so to suddenly be thrown back out into the world where anything can happen is daunting.
"Of course, he has had a really difficult time there – he's been bullied, but sadly that's all Max knows, he was bullied on the outside too."
How was it to film the scenes where David arrives at the STC to talk Max round?
"It was quite dark. I also felt quite daunted because I wanted to do Max justice, particularly in the scenes leading up to it where Max is talking about his mental health.
"Then there's Max's refusal to leave, where he goes from being frustrated about a TV remote to almost having a breakdown. It was important for me to understand exactly where in that particular day he was and how daunting the prospect of seeing his family must be for Max.
"Anything with David and Max is a really nice opportunity to explore that father/son relationship and see how much Max really does rely on his dad. They're really integral scenes to the characters and to the Platt family, to see that relationship where Max is kind of mirroring David.
"Max finds comfort in the fact that David was once his age and made mistakes too. Working with Jack [P Shepherd, who plays David] is brilliant. I really enjoy working with Jack because I trust him so much."
Does Max feel a sense of shame when he's back on the street?
"That's a really difficult part of this. In prison he does feel like a criminal because he's in an STC, but the other people there have done something wrong as well.
"When he comes out, he knows he's going to be singled out – he's on his own and he's there to be made an example of, particularly by Alya. He apologises to Alya in a letter, and although he feels that his intentions are pure, there's a lot of shame in that.
"Also with his family, to be someone that they're ashamed of is beyond humiliating. It's devastating for Max."
How does Alya react to Max's attempts to seek forgiveness?
"Alya is a victim of immense trauma. For Max to expect that a written apology is going to change that, is quite indicative of how young he is and how unaware he is of the right action is take. The right action is what he's been advised to do by the police, which is stay away.
"But I don't think he can grasp that. He is so driven to do the right thing morally that he ends up doing the wrong thing."
Does that make Max realise how hard it will be to adjust back into his old life?
"He's always reverted to a childlike state of apologising profusely. For as long as I've played him, we've seen Max do that every time he's made a mistake.
"What's interesting now is that numerous characters say to him it's going to take a lot of work – it's not going to happen overnight. That shows Max that what he needs to do is play the long game and not just apologise, but use his actions to show people that he's changed rather than just his words."
Are you looking forward to playing that longer road to Max's redemption?
"Yes, I am. Since Max was 15, we've seen him stealing wallets, doing silly things, and now he's at a stage where he's made some huge mistakes and really got himself into a lot of trouble.
"But we're starting to see a side of him which is maturing and I've never seen that before in Max. We're starting to see him grow up. For most people when they play a character in another TV show, you just play a little window of their life, but what's amazing in a soap is the constant character development.
"You see people like Jack who has played David since he was a young child and seen his character develop into a parent. That's what is such a unique opportunity this show allows you to have – to develop your character and to mature them and to age them with time. That's really cool and it's really exciting."
Max's friend from the STC, Gav, has asked him to track down his girlfriend Bec once he's out. What happens when Max meets Bec to pass on the message?
"When Max comes out, he sees this as his first opportunity to do some good in the world and do something for his friend, who has been very kind to him and really taken him under his wing.
"Max wants to repay that favour and he wants to show that he's changed – and what better way to do that than to repay someone who's been really good to him?
"So he goes and meets Bec and she thinks Max is flirting with her. He's really not, he's just pushing Gav's agenda and trying to make her warm to Gav again."
Does Max worry about how Gav will react if he found out what Max was really in the STC for?
"Gav is unaware of what Max did – he told Gav he was in for stealing a car. Further down the line we will explore that avenue of them finding out about what Max has done and how that makes them feel.
"As people of colour they may feel like Max could be a threat to them, I guess it will depend if they're informed by Max or hear it second hand."
Is Max a totally reformed character?
"I can't say what Max will do in his future, but if anything is going to change him, it's been this experience. All of the things that Max did wrong before, of which there were many – for example, smashing Daniel's apartment up, spiking Amy Barlow, countless other things like stealing, breaking into the barbers – for all of these things Max faced small or no consequences.
"This feels to me like the climax of it all. This has been prison time, this has been serious and that's what's going to change him. In the past, we saw a lot of warnings that 'if you carry on, something bad's going to happen' and it happened. That will make him listen and be less dismissive of warnings.
"Throughout this storyline, we heard Alya warn him, David, Shona and Gail, pretty much every adult – but he wasn't listening. It's teenage nature to feel that you're in control and with Max we've now seen those moments where he's suddenly realised that he's quite a vulnerable person.
"Max is immensely vulnerable and quite sensitive. That vulnerability really comes out in those moments where he's gone against his parents' will and basically said 'I'm an adult, I'm going to do whatever I want, nothing can happen to me' and then it has. I really do think that that's what's changed him."
A new love interest has been teased for Max. Would you like him to find love?
"Yeah, I would like to see him find love with someone who has good intentions for him, with someone who is not going to bring about danger for him. I'd like to see him find love with someone who can weather the storms with him rather than creating them."
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
If you're concerned about someone who's expressing extremist or hateful views then ACT Early has further information. If you've seen or heard something that could potentially be related to terrorism, then report via www.gov.uk/ACT or call 0800 789 321.
If you've been affected by racism and racist hate crime, then organisations including the Equality and Advisory Support Service (EASS), the Monitoring Group, Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI) and Stop Hate UK are among those which can offer help and support.
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