Coronation Street Wiki
Register
Advertisement

David Platt (previously Tilsley) is Gail Rodwell's youngest son, half-brother of Nick Tilsley and Sarah Barlow, husband of Shona and father of Max and Lily through his deceased first wife, Kylie.

Born on Christmas Day 1990, David became troubled in his teenage years, especially after almost being drowned by stepfather Richard Hillman and when his father Martin Platt moved to Liverpool to start a new family with Robyn. David tormented his family by sending them cards supposedly from Richard and tried to ruin Sarah's wedding by faking a suicide attempt. In 2008, when David's girlfriend Tina McIntyre aborted their child with support from Gail, David pushed his mum down the stairs and went on a vandalism spree in the street when she refused to punish him, resulting in him spending six weeks in a Young Offenders.

In 2011, David met and got engaged to Kylie Turner on holiday, a former cage dancer, much to Gail's disapproval. He married her the same year and started to mature when he helped Kylie regain custody of her son Max and became a father figure to the young boy. Their own daughter, Lily, was born in 2013, amid uncertainty over whether David or Nick had fathered the child following a one-night-stand between Kylie and Nick. David reverted to his old ways when Kylie was fatally stabbed by fifteen-year-old thug Clayton Hibbs and she died in David's arms. It took nearly hitting Lily with his car for David to give up his revenge plot against Clayton, who was imprisoned for Kylie's murder.

David's first girlfriend after Kylie's death was Shona Ramsey. The relationship survived even after David's discovery that Shona was Clayton's mother, though it remained a point of contention. In 2018, David was raped by Josh Tucker and, suffering psychologically, battered Gary Windass during a charity boxing tournament, resulting in a second stint behind bars. A third took place the following year, after David aided Nick in his mission to steal £80,000 from their grandmother Audrey Roberts. A remorseful David signed his new barber shop Trim Up North over to Audrey to show how sorry he was, and on the day of his release he and Shona were married.

Now keeping his darker side in check for his family's sake, David lives at 8 Coronation Street with Shona, Max, Lily and Gail, and works as a hairdresser at Audrey's salon.

Biography

1990-2003: Early years and Richard Hillman

Gail with baby David

David as an infant with his mother Gail

David is the son of Martin Platt and Gail Tilsley, born on Christmas Day 1990 and weighed 8lb. He was the result of an unplanned pregnancy after Gail began a relationship with his much younger father. Gail initially planned on having David aborted and booked into a private clinic, but Martin stopped her from making the decision at the last minute by convincing her he was ready to be a father.

At birth, David was registered with the surname Tilsley, as this was still his mother's surname. After he was accidentally hit by a cricket bat in August 1991 and Martin was questioned by the receptionist at the hospital, it became clear he was unhappy with his son carrying Brian Tilsley's surname. David's surname was subsequently changed, his parents got married and Martin adopted his older siblings.

David Platt 2000 2

David in 2000

In 2000, David's stable family life faced significant upheaval when his parents divorced after Martin had an affair with Rebecca Hopkins, a nurse at Weatherfield General where they both worked. David originally believed his sister Sarah to be the reason for the break-up, as she had recently given birth at the age of thirteen, which had put a strain on the family. Both of these events impacted on David's behaviour, particularly after Martin moved out and he shoplifted, wet the bed, bunked off school and even set fire to the garden.

Richard Kidnaps David

2003: David is kidnapped by his stepfather Richard

Later in 2001, Gail set her eyes on financial advisor Richard Hillman, whom David wasn't very keen on, calling him "Trickie Dickie". Richard managed to win David's affections with expensive gifts and in 2002 he proposed to Gail and moved into the family home.

In February 2003, Richard was discovered to be a murderer after killing three people, including neighbours Duggie Ferguson and Maxine Peacock, and attempting to kill David's grandmother Audrey Roberts and neighbour Emily Bishop. Gail and the children evacuated to Audrey's while the police investigated and upon returning they were hounded by press outside the house and David was attacked by a school bully. When Richard returned to the Street a couple of weeks later, he kidnapped David along with Sarah, niece Bethany and mother Gail, who were bound and gagged in the car in the garage where Richard intended to gas them all and himself in a suicide pact. However, Martin, along with Kevin Webster and Tommy Harris, burst the doors of the garage open to save them, only for Richard to drive off with them in the car and driving it into Weatherfield Canal. David along with his family managed to escape with the help of Martin, Tommy and Kevin who gave pursuit. Richard however, drowned. This event traumatised David and had a lasting effect on him.

2005-2007: Tormenting the Platts

David Martin leaving 2005

2005: David makes up with his father Martin before he leaves for Liverpool

David made life hell for his mother Gail over a number of years. He was upset when his father was going to leave Weatherfield with new girlfriend Robyn in 2005 and refused to speak with him, instead, he got drunk at school resulting in a temporary exclusion, but eventually made up with Martin before he departed for Liverpool. David still decided to keep in touch with him and visit on a regular basis. David wasn't happy when Gail started going out with Phil Nail, a reflexologist at Rosamund Street Medical Centre, and began a hate campaign against their relationship.

Gail david 2006

2006: Gail finds out David is the Richard card sender

In January 2006 when Gail was out, David started hatching a plan to break the couple up, however this provoked a violent reaction in Phil who grabbed David and shoved him up against the wall, although Phil put David down when he eventually saw sense. David told Gail about the attack, only for Phil to lie his way out of it, and Gail slapped David for "lying". In David's cruellest trick yet, he began sending his family cards, from his deceased killer stepfather Richard. He first sent a card on Sarah's birthday, signed "Richard". In March, Phil was under suspicion by Gail, and during dinner, Phil tried to protest his innocence, but in a rage threw David across the table. Gail ordered Phil out of the house for hitting David. However, David continued to send the Hillman Cards to scare his family, leading Gail to suspect her own son as a subject. In May, she told David that Richard's birthday was coming up and gave him the date. David then wrote out a card by "Richard" saying that he couldn't make it for his birthday, and David fell right into Gail's trap. She then confronted him and told him that Richard's birthday was really in December. David was shocked at getting caught and Gail was disgusted with him. He claimed it was a sick joke that got out of hand. Sarah and Audrey were furious with David, and Gail considered handing him over to the police but later dropped the charges when she realised it was her fault for introducing Richard into his life.

Charliedrownsdavid

2006: A frightening moment for David when Charlie Stubbs attempts to drown him in the bathtub

David developed a crush on hairdresser Maria Sutherland, who worked at the salon with Audrey, but discovered that she was having a secret relationship with Charlie Stubbs, who was also going out with Tracy Barlow at the time. When David attempted to blackmail Charlie about the affair, Charlie bundled David into the back of a van and threatened him to keep quiet about it, however, they were disturbed by Liam Connor. Charlie then lured David to his flat by texting David using Maria's phone.

Charlie ran a bath and began dunking a terrified David under the water, but were interrupted by Maria who walked in. David then made a run for it while Maria, horrified, immediately told Tracy about the affair.

When Tracy murdered Charlie in January 2007 claiming it was self-defence, David came forward as an eyewitness much to Tracy's surprise. Knowing he was lying, she confronted him and he told her that he was willing to back her up in court on the condition she would sleep with him. Desperate to avoid prison, Tracy agreed. However, upon taking the stand, David's plan backfired when the prosecution saw right through his lies and tore his testimony to shreds. Tracy told David that she'd never had any intention of sleeping with him, and was later found guilty and sent down for fifteen years in April 2007.

During one of his GCSE exams at Weatherfield High, David set fire to his exam paper, leading to him being kicked out of school, although he did get an "A*" in the only exam he completed. David could have continued to sit the rest of his exams if he had signed a behavioural contract but he refused, to the fury of Gail. Gail insisted that David find a job if he was going to throw his education away and convinced Bill Webster to give him a job at the Builder's Yard and got Sarah's boyfriend Jason Grimshaw to keep an eye on him. Within days David was sacked after taking away a ladder and leaving Jason stranded on a roof. He was given a second chance but got sacked again when he destroyed building materials. Determined to sort her grandson out, Audrey then employed him to help out at the salon.

In September 2007, David offered to keep hold of Ecstasy tablets for his friend and neighbour Darryl Morton, as they belonged to a friend of his. David was also looking after his niece Bethany as she was sent home after a gas leak at Bessie Street School. He hid the tablets in one of her dolls, and when checking up on her to see how she was doing, he realised she had taken one. David panicked and got her to swallow salt water in order to bring the tablet back up, but this made the situation worse. When Sarah arrived back, David insisted Bethany wasn't feeling well, and when she began fitting, an ambulance was called, but David was too scared to reveal about the tablet. It was only in hospital when Bethany was in critical condition, that David confessed to Jason, who knew that David may have had something to do with it. This caused him to be disowned by his entire family, especially his mother Gail, who later threw him out of the house. Audrey, despite also being furious with her grandson, refused to see David thrown out on the streets and took him in with the intention of drilling some discipline into him.

David drives into the canal

2007: David drives into the same canal where Richard tried to kill him four years earlier

When David learned from Sarah that he wouldn't be invited to her wedding to Jason, he vowed that there wouldn't be a wedding. He later loosened the bolts of the scaffolding at the Builder's Yard, which caused Jason to fall and injure himself, although he was later discharged from hospital. On the day of the wedding, David left a suicide note for Gail, however unknown to him, Sarah found it first and ripped it up, knowing that he was lying. When he saw everyone leaving for the church, David was furious, believing that Gail had seen the note yet had chosen to ignore it. He then took his car and went down to the same canal where Richard tried to kill them four years earlier. After leaving a message on Gail's phone telling her about him killing himself, he played the song "You and Me" (the same song Richard played when trying to kill them four years earlier), and then drove his car into the water, which was noticed by a passer-by. However, he survived and managed to escape, but caused panic for his mother Gail and angered Sarah after ruining her wedding. He later turned up unharmed, but drenched, at the house much to the relief of his mother. He later confronted Sarah and revealed that he never intended to kill himself, only to ruin her wedding, but Gail still believed it was a suicide attempt. David couldn't be happier, as not only did he have Gail back on his side; but he had also caused a rift between her and Sarah as she had thrown away his suicide note.

Sometime later, David was offered a job in Milan by his uncle Stephen Reid. This angered Sarah because of everything David had done, and she planted Ecstasy on him to make it look like he had been doing drugs. When the pills were found, David naturally protested his innocence however no one believed him and Stephen withdrew the job offer, instead giving it to Sarah. However, she left for Italy on her own with daughter Bethany after telling Jason about planting the drugs, who revealed everything to Gail and David. Gail apologised to David for not believing him.

2008-2010: First girlfriend and feud with the Windass family

Tinamcintyre new

2008: David with girlfriend Tina McIntyre

In January 2008, David began dating Tina McIntyre after she accidentally knocked coffee over him following an argument with Gail at the medical centre. They quickly started sleeping with each other, which shocked Gail, although she and Tina became close. In March, when Tina found out she was pregnant, she consulted Gail about it, who supported her and was there for Tina when she went to abort David's baby. When David found out about this and the fact that Gail knew about it, he got into a furious argument with her and ended up pushing his mother down the stairs.

Desperate to avoid prison, David persuaded Tina to give him an alibi. She agreed but dumped him. Heartbroken, David realised the misery he was piling on his family and set about smashing the Street's windows with a pole as well as assaulting Ken Barlow and a policewoman, getting himself arrested. In court, David was sent down for four months (which David was happy about, knowing he needed to pay for his previous actions). While in Larchfield Young Offenders Institute, he struck up a friendship with his cellmate, Graeme Proctor who was in for burning down his gran's house.

After being released from young offenders, David began to pull himself together after resuming his relationship with Tina. He began working with her father Joe who was a kitchen fitter. In November 2008 they fitted a kitchen for the Windass family, but they refused to pay for it. David later went round and smashed up their kitchen. This caused them to dispatch Gary and Len Windass to tear up Gail's kitchen in revenge. In December, the family conveniently moved next door to 6 Coronation Street after the Mortons had moved out. Anna Windass didn't want further arguing and met up with David and family in the Rovers to straighten things out, however, he refused to shake hands with son Gary.

The Windass family later joined the Platts for Christmas as a peace offering, however, David got fed up with Gary flirting and bothering Tina and kicked off at him. This led to Joe angrily flying off the handle and throwing them out, which shocked everyone.

David Fights Gary

2009: David fights Gary Windass

In January 2009, Gary continued to bother and wind up David, especially when he discovered his past misdeeds. This later led to David hitting Gary which sparked a fight leading to David being badly beaten up. Gary was arrested, and David asked Tina to lie to the police that Gary threw the first punch, with the hope of him being locked up. However during the trial - with persuasion from Joe - Tina told the court the truth and Gary was released with a caution. Tina later dumped David after being fed up with lying for him and his trouble.

David began to take a dislike to Joe and was scared Tina would end up with Gary. In June 2009, David noticed Gary was having trouble finding work and offered to rob a house with him. David picked grandmother Audrey's house - 5 Grasmere Drive - as Gary was unaware she lived there and he planned to set Gary up for robbery. David emptied the property of photographs and returned to No.8 to watch TV with Joe leaving Gary to rob the place and with Graeme Proctor keeping watch. However, David's grandfather Ted Page arrived to house-sit, and was knocked over by Gary trying to escape and later ended up in hospital due to a heart attack. Gary was sentenced to two months in prison, and even though the Platts discovered David had set the whole thing up, they didn't bother handing him over to the police.

During the summer, David began tormenting Joe over his painkiller addiction and blackmailed him to convince Tina to take him back, however, Tina was no longer interested. The torment soon ended as Joe's addiction was revealed when he attempted to rob the medical centre.

In February 2010, shortly after Gail's wedding to Joe, she summoned David up to the Lake District when Joe had gone "missing" the night before and he helped her get his boat back to Coronation Street. However, Joe had actually gone to fake his death for life insurance when being bothered by a loan shark called Rick Neelan but unknown to Gail and everyone, he'd drowned. A couple of weeks later, his body was discovered bringing much shock to the family. Gail was imprisoned awaiting trial after being accused of murdering Joe.

Over the next few months, David began to try and prove Gail's innocence and travelled up to the Lake District with Graeme to get answers but were later warned off by the police for trying to tamper with witnesses. Gail was eventually found not guilty regardless, although her cellmate Tracy Barlow tried to lie to the courts that Gail made a confession but they saw through her. Gail was released and reunited with David and the family.

2010-2011: Epilepsy diagnosis

David Platt ran

2010: David breathalysed after running Graeme over

In October 2010, David stole his gran’s car following an argument between Graeme and Tina, who were now in a relationship. While driving the car, David accidentally hit Graeme – who was left severely injured and taken to hospital. Tina informed the police that David had ran Graeme over on purpose as a result of their argument and he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Despite claiming that he couldn’t remember running Graeme over and that he was innocent, nobody believed him – not even his own mother.

While David waited to go up against the jury in court he collapsed and was taken to hospital. The doctor discussed the possibility of David having epilepsy which would explain why he couldn’t remember running Graeme over as he would have been unconscious at the time. In November, David was diagnosed with epilepsy and the court case was dropped.

Later that year, in December, David became a suspect in another attempted murder case after Tracy Barlow was discovered unconscious in the back yard of No.1. David had slept with Tracy not long before she was left for dead and Tracy used the fact that she’d slept with David, as well as his half-brother Nick Tilsley, to upset Gail. The attacker was later revealed to be Claire Peacock who had lashed out after Tracy had insulted her recently deceased husband Ashley Peacock.

2011-2012: New life with Kylie Turner

While on holiday in Tenerife in 2011, David met Kylie Turner who was the half-sister of his neighbour Becky McDonald. When David arrived home he announced the engagement to his mother but kept Kylie’s identity a secret, calling his new fiancée "Candy". When Kylie later turned up on the Street the pair’s relationship shocked residents – even more so when their plans to get full custody of Kylie’s son Max were revealed. Refusing to let Max go without a fight, Becky and her husband Steve prepared to go to war with David and Kylie – which is what Kylie had been trying to avoid as, unbeknown to David, she had actually sold her son to the pair the year before which had paid for her holiday to Tenerife.

David insisted that Becky and Steve weren't fit to look after Max and was able to prove this when he saved the boy from being run over. Eventually, Kylie was interviewed by Social Services and lied to them about how Steve and Becky came to be in charge of Max. Steve later exposed the truth that Kylie had sold Max to the McDonalds, news which horrified David who wished that Kylie had told him. David decided to ignore the fact that Kylie had sold her son and the pair continued to fight for him. Later that year, when Tina threw Graeme and Xin Chiang out of her flat, David offered them a place at Gail's house. When the pair got married and left for China, David and Graeme bid each other farewell.

David kylie wedding

2011: David marries Kylie

Despite Gail's misgivings, David and Kylie got married in April and Gail started to slowly warm towards her new daughter-in-law. With her help, they convinced Social Services they could provide for Max (who was quickly removed from Becky's care once the deal with Kylie was revealed to them) with a stable home and were awarded custody and David became a father figure towards Max. All went well for David and Kylie until the lead-up to Christmas 2012, when David decided that it was time for him and Kylie to have a baby of their own. Kylie wasn't interested in having another child at that time, wishing to focus on her new job at Nick's Bistro. As a result, the two had bitter rows and David's drunken cruel words about her former stripper career drove her into bed with David's brother Nick on Christmas night. With Nick having jilted his fiancée Leanne Barlow that very day, the pair immediately regretted their actions and Kylie quickly made up with a remorseful David, but was horrified when she found out that she was pregnant and unsure which of the brothers was the father.

Kylie decided to have an abortion to end the issue there and then, but David found the pregnancy test in the bin and rushed to the clinic to stop her. Under pressure from David's pleading, she reluctantly decided to go ahead with the pregnancy despite the uncertainty of the baby's paternity.

As the months passed, David started working more and more in order to help provide for his growing family as well as give Kylie a break and was delighted to find out she was expecting a baby girl. However the long hours took their toll and, while taking Max and Joseph Brown to the park, his epilepsy flared up and he had a fit. However, as he realised what was about to happen and had his mobile phone out to call for help, Max phoned Nick, and David was taken to hospital where he quickly recovered.

2013: Lily's paternity

In June 2013, David began to suspect that Gail and Kylie were keeping a secret from him, not knowing they were booking a surprise break for him and his wife. Coming down the stairs one afternoon, he overheard the two discussing what happened and learned everything about Nick and Kylie. Devastated, David briefly considered suicide and stood near the edge of a Cheshire hillside until Max rang him, snapping David out of it. He chose to direct his rage at Nick, not blaming Kylie for what happened, deciding to play a long game and set about trying to ruin his life. David's attacks included smashing up Nick's flat and watering down the spirits at Nick's Bistro, leading to a police investigation.

David's games to ruin Nick's life came to an end when Nick twigged that David was behind the hate campaign. In August, Nick lured David away from Coronation Street making up a story they were going to sample some drinks. Nick then told David he was aware of him leading the hate campaign and confessed that he indeed had a one-night-stand with Kylie. Nick offered to drive them back to Coronation Street and he would confess to the affair if David confessed to trying to ruin Nick's life. David was worried about this as he feared Kylie would leave him if she found out the truth. David grabbed the steering wheel and undid Nick's seatbelt. After a struggle, the car came to a stop, and a lorry plunged into it. David survived with a few scratches, but Nick ended up in a coma.

On 26th August, Kylie gave birth and they decided to name the baby Lily. When Nick began to show signs of waking up but might be brain damaged, David hoped to use this as an excuse to make out Nick was confused if he tried to tell anyone about David crashing the van. Nick however still remembered the accident clearly and blackmailed David into getting a test to prove which of them was Lily's biological father. David was delighted when the results proved that he was indeed the child's father. Although crushed, Nick accepted it. Kylie realised that David knew about her infidelity when she discovered the document confirming David's paternity hidden in a DVD case, and quizzed Nick over the matter. This lead to Nick confessing that David was indirectly responsible for the crash.

David Lily Gail 2013

2013: David with his daughter Lily and mother Gail

During Lily's christening, Kylie told the shocked family about David's actions from the previous months. David was thrown out of No.8 and banished from the street, and went to stay with Tina and later Audrey. David was determined to get his family back and noticed Kylie was struggling with looking after two children. She was developing a drinking problem which caused her to neglect Max and Lily, which David supported her through. David fully reconciled with Kylie after Christmas and returned home.

2014-2016: Family harassed by Callum

In 2014, Max began showing signs of hyperactivity. The family were invited to visit Becky in Barbados but they returned with David annoyed as Max's out of control behaviour had ruined the trip. Taking Max to the doctors, they discovered that he was possibly suffering from ADHD, which was later confirmed and Max was put on medication.

Kylie began to struggle with everyday problems and due to stress, began taking Max's ADHD pills but when David caught her, she swore it was just a one-off and David forgave her on the condition that she would never do anything like that again. Unbeknown to David, Kylie had tracked down her ex-boyfriend (Max's biological father) Callum Logan to get drugs in order to help her to calm down and to try and find out more about Max's ADHD. This carried on for a while but when Kylie tried to give up, Callum wouldn't leave her alone and repeatedly followed her around, offering them to her. On Christmas Day, David finally found out about Kylie's addiction when he found Callum at No.8 offering Kylie drugs. Callum then revealed he was Max's dad. David kicked Kylie out of the house but later regretted his decision and went in search of for her in Callum's flat where he received a firm threat from Callum. Callum told him she had spent two nights at his flat but had since disappeared.

Throughout January and February 2015, Callum started spending time with Max, creating a father-son bond which outraged David. Callum also started to toy with David and his family, tricking them into reporting an empty box to the police and trying to persuade David to deliver cocaine for him, which he refused to do. He even started threatening Gail. When Max learned that Callum was his biological dad he wanted to know more and became rebellious when David tried to keep Callum away. David conceded and started letting Max see Callum. After speaking to his solicitor, Callum started taking David to court over rights to see Max.

Callum David hostage

2015: Callum holds David hostage

In March, Sarah and the now-teenage Bethany returned home after seven years in Milan. This caused further problems for David when Sarah started a relationship with Callum after ignoring her family's warnings about him. In frustration, David blackmailed Andy Carver into planting drugs in Callum's car. When this plan failed, David was held hostage by Callum and two of his cronies Gemma Winter and Macca, but was released after narrowly avoiding a beating. David later ran away to Liverpool with Max and Lily, planning on going abroad, but before he had the chance, Max rang Callum with the mobile phone he'd given him and asked him to pick him up. A few weeks later, David had a custody hearing, which went badly as Callum had learned of David's troubled criminal past.

In June, Kylie returned home after a six-month absence and insisted she was off the drugs for good. She was horrified to see Max spending time with Callum and although David was cold to her for abandoning her family, he agreed to team up with her in order to help him keep his rights to Max. After a few weeks, David forgave Kylie and they got back together.

Sarah eventually broke up with Callum, but only after she learned that Callum had been keeping a gun in Max's bedroom at his flat, which Max had discovered and thought was a toy. Although David was horrified at what could have happened to Max, he saw this as the end of Callum. However, Callum was one step ahead and removed all traces of the gun before the police could search his flat.

Callum was granted partial custody of Max but soon afterwards, beat up Jason Grimshaw with some of his thugs which was witnessed by Max. Max became terrified of his father and refused to see him, later telling Callum he hated him and that David was a better dad. Defeated, Callum agreed to relinquish his rights to Max on the condition that David and his family paid him £20,000 so he could pay off a debt to his drug supplier Denton. The family refused so Callum sent his thugs round to threaten Audrey and wreck No.8 as warnings.

In September, Sarah tricked Callum into going to No.8, telling him she had the money. She was actually trying to record him confessing to his crimes, but when Callum found out what she was up to, he attacked her in a rage. Kylie arrived just in time and bludgeoned Callum over the head with a wrench, killing him. David was summoned to help with the situation. He planned on dumping Callum's body in the canal, but when Callum's car was keyed and stolen by Tony Stewart with Todd Grimshaw tagging along; David was forced to temporarily hide Callum's corpse in a manhole in the garage; which was in the process of being renovated. Before the body could be removed, the manhole was filled in with concrete and the garage later converted into a "granny annex" for Gail.

Kylie and Sarah struggled with keeping Callum's death a secret and David was forced to hold it all together. Kylie was disturbed by David's nonchalance and disgusted when he threatened Sarah to keep her quiet. In December, when Sarah was hit by a car sustaining minor injuries, Kylie accused David of pushing her in front of the vehicle. David told her their marriage was over, as it was clear she thought he was a psychopath, but they reconciled on Christmas Day.

In May 2016, Tyrone Dobbs crashed a pickup truck into the annex at No.8. The concrete over the manhole was destroyed, exposing Callum's body. A murder investigation began and David tried to pin the crime on Jason to help protect his family. Todd Grimshaw wanted to protect Sarah from prison so claimed that Jason's recently deceased father Tony had confessed to the murder before his death. David went along with it and a forensic investigation confirmed Tony was the murderer, as the murder weapon had belonged to Tony.

2016-2018: Kylie's murder and David's recovery

Episode 8946

2016: Kylie dies in David's arms

In July 2016, Kylie persuaded David to move to Barbados with the family to escape Callum's presence for good. A few days later, shortly before they were due to leave, Callum's former best friend Gemma (who had turned over a new leaf) was being attacked by Clayton Hibbs, the brother of Callum's friend Macca. Kylie ran over to help Gemma but was stabbed in the chest by Clayton. David arrived at the scene and promised her everything would be fine and they would still be going to Barbados. However, Kylie died in his arms before the ambulance could arrive.

David became obsessed with revenge for Kylie's death. When he learned that Clayton could have a light sentence because he was only fifteen years old, David started plotting against him and Macca. He put up posters around Manchester identifying Clayton as Kylie's murderer and tried to kill Macca who had been hospitalised after being attacked by a neighbour.

In October, David planned to kill Clayton on the day of his trial by driving a petrol-doused car into the police van Clayton would be in, thus causing an explosion that would kill them both. Gail, Nick and Sarah tried to stop David going through with his plan by locking him in the cellar of the Bistro until the trial was over. However, David was able to escape, by tricking Gail into thinking that he committed suicide. David then doused his car in petrol and drove away.

As he was driving away, David spotted Lily in the middle of the road as she'd wandered away from Fiz Stape, and swerved to avoid hitting her. He ended in crashing into a skip, causing the car to flip over and land on top of Lily and Gary - who had attempted to get Lily to safety. After being pulled from the car, David helped the other residents lift the vehicle to free Lily and Gary. As soon as the car was placed back down to the ground, a spark ignited and caused the car to catch fire. As everyone ran to safety, Anna became engulfed in flames when a fireball shot out of the car and struck her.

In 2017, David began to move on from Kylie's death and was able to start the process of sorting his life out. After inheriting £20,000 from a client who'd passed away, David was able to pay Anna compensation for the injuries she'd sustained in the accident - whilst keeping £1,000 for himself in order to treat his children.

David also began growing close to Shona Ramsey, a new resident who moved in at 11 Coronation Street during the Christmas period, blissfully unaware that she was the mother of Kylie's murderer, Clayton. Gail, who'd discovered the alarming truth about Shona, was fearful of the relationship progressing and after walking in on David attempting to drunkenly kiss Shona she found enough money to bribe Shona into leaving the street. Whilst at first interested in the offer, believing that it would be best for everyone if she left, Shona was later persuaded to stay by her friends - much to the delight of David and horror of Gail.

2018 to present: Raped by Josh Tucker

In February 2018, David signed up to participate in a charity boxing match, which was being held in memory of mechanic Luke Britton, who was murdered the month before. The match was being held by Luke's replacement at Webster's Autocentre, Josh Tucker, who David started to establish a friendship with. In March 2018, David was told by GP Ali Neeson that it would be best if he did not participate in the boxing match, as it held a high chance of triggering an epileptic episode. Nonetheless, David remained determined to fight, and so he was invited by Josh to attend private training lessons with him. The pair continued to spend time together, much to Shona's annoyance, as nowadays either she or Gail was left to look after the children.

David and Josh

2018: David drinking with Josh Tucker

David and Josh went to a nightclub for a few drinks. Unbeknown to David, Josh spiked David's drink with high doses of the psychoactive drug GHB, enough to cause unconsciousness, while he only spiked his own drink with a small dose, enough to induce a feeling of ecstasy. Once the effects of the drug began to kick in, Josh escorted David to his flat, and proceeded to drag David to his bedroom and rape him as he fell unconscious. David woke up naked in Josh's bed the next morning and, realising what had occurred, immediately made his way home, where Shona and Gail hassled him for staying out all night, and took a shower to cleanse himself. When Josh visited the Platt household later in the day to drop off a kale smoothie, David, upon catching sight of his attacker, ran into the garden and vomited. Returning, David was repulsed as Josh frankly admitted he had spiked their drinks, although insisted what had happened was consensual, despite evidence to the contrary. Later on. after Josh left, David and Shona began passionately kissing in the kitchen, only for David to flinch and knock food off of the table when Shona tried to undo his jeans. David feigned cramp, although the real reason for his flinching was because he was still suffering trauma from what Josh had done to him.

David decided to stay at Martin's house. Martin, who was in the process of emigrating to New Zealand at the time, tried to press David as to what was going on in his head, but he couldn't get through to his son. David later decided that he and the children should move to New Zealand alongside Martin and his family, which was likely a reaction to his ordeal, although arguments soon broke out with Shona over the decision, and David furiously told her that she didn't have to come with them. Martin paid a visit to No.8 upon hearing of David and Shona's troubles and tried to talk David out of the move, thinking he was acting irrationally. David reacted badly to Martin's advice, even lashing out at little Lily, who insisted she didn't want to move away. Max was also against the move, but David was in no mood to listen to either of his children. By this point, all started to suspect something was seriously amiss as David also insisted he was no longer friends with Josh, without providing a reasonable explanation. David eventually made up with Martin as he departed once more, and he was also sickened when he confronted Josh, who told his victim that he wasn't going anywhere.

David went ahead with the boxing match, participating against Gary but after Josh taunted him, David took his built-up anger out on Gary and ended up putting him in hospital, resulting in his arrest. David continued to be tormented by the rape and had suicidal thoughts. While his family and friends picked up on his attitude, nobody knew the real reason behind it and Gary suspected that his violence was the result of PTSD over the death of Kylie. After the suicide of Aidan Connor, David told Shona Ramsey that Josh raped him and revealed how close he had come to doing something similar. Having failed to appear in court over his assault on Gary, David was sent to prison and denied bail until the rearranged court hearing. After Gary defended David in court, he was given community service, decorating Jamila House community centre. After David joined one of the other workers, Finn, in making homophobic comments towards Billy Mayhew, Billy confronted David and David opened up to him about being raped by Josh. Meanwhile, David had also decided to tell Gail, Audrey and Sarah what happened to him and reported Josh to the police, although there was not enough evidence to convict Josh.

Billy and David tracked Josh down and Josh was badly beaten up and left blinded by another man he was intending to rape who had been informed of his past by Billy. When David found out that a guilty Billy was allowing Josh to stay at his flat, he angrily confronted Billy and had thrown out after revealing he had also raped Dec and other men in the past. Later when Josh turned up at the salon, David bundled him into his car and convinced him that he had driven him to the police station to hand himself in, when in actual fact they were nowhere near. After seeing Josh in fear, David drove off and left, feeling he had got some closure at last.

In January 2019, David discovered that Nick was responsible for stealing £80,000 from Audrey and not the recently deceased Lewis Archer who had been blamed, given his past form. Initially intending to reveal the truth David instead blackmailed Nick into using what remained of the money, after he had paid off his wife Elsa, to go into business with him and open a new barber on Victoria Street, Trim Up North.

David and Shona's relationship was threatened when Clayton escaped from the police at his father Dane's funeral and went on the run. Furthermore, David discovered that Shona and Nick had kept Clayton's attempts to get Shona to smuggle drugs into the prison secret from him. After Clayton took Shona hostage however and she narrowly escaped, they were reconciled and when David proposed again, Shona accepted. However, when Nick's stealing of Audrey's money was exposed, this strained things between Shona and David, but they were able to patch things up before he went inside. David was sentenced to four months in prison in July and Shona looked after Max and Lily with the help of the family. On the day of David's release in November, he and Shona got married.

Norris cole with tea 5
"You haven't heard the latest, then?"
This article or section is out of date.
Please edit the article to add any relevant information from recent episodes or the real world, and remove this message when finished.


Personality

David pushes Gail down the stairs

2008: David pushes Gail down the stairs

David was once a decent kid, but after almost being murdered by evil stepfather Richard Hillman, he began to change. After his father Martin moved away from Coronation Street with his new girlfriend Robyn, David started to show a nastier streak, and even sent his sister and family cards from "Richard Hillman" as a sick joke, showing how unstable he had become, with Gail blaming herself for David's personality. He also began to hate his family and mother, and even told Jason in 2007 that he wanted them dead.

As time went on, David began to mature as he aged. In 2010, when Gail was in prison after being accused of killing her husband Joe McIntyre, David was very caring and concerned and upset by how Gail was wrongly accused, even attempting to pay someone to be a fake witness. A year later, David showed more signs of maturing by wanting his wife Kylie's son Max to stay with them instead of Kylie's sister Becky and husband Steve looking after him.

By 2013, David had become a surrogate father figure to Max, and he and Kylie were due to have a baby of their own. However, David's nasty side returned when it transpired Kylie had slept with Nick, resulting in David launching a heinous reign of terror against Nick, culminating in Nick sustaining brain damage after a car accident that was partly David's fault. Much of what made David the evil so-and-so he was back in the day recurred in the period that followed his estrangement from his family after it was found he'd caused the accident. It later emerged that Lily was indeed David's daughter. With time, David settled down again and he was re-accepted into his family.

Traits

David was officially diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy in November 2010, the effects of which have since been felt on a number of occasions. While walking Max and baby Joseph in a park in May 2013, David fell unconscious after suffering an epileptic episode. Max alerted Nick via telephone and David was taken to hospital. In March 2018, David was advised by trainee GP Alex Neeson to avoid taking part in a boxing match as it was likely to trigger an epileptic episode. However, David ignored the doctor's advice and participated anyway.

Relationships

Gail Rodwell

David is famously known to regularly refer to his mother by her first name, "Gail". He disapproved of her dating new men (such as Phil Nail) as he felt he couldn't trust them after Richard. When Martin moved away, and later had a child with his girlfriend Robyn, David rarely visited his father. David made his family's life hell, sending cards from "Richard" as a sick joke, and also made his sister Sarah's life as impossible as he could manage. However, he seemed to get along with his little niece Bethany, and was devastated when she swallowed an Ecstasy pill while he was looking after her (David was looking after the drug for his friend Darryl Morton). David at one point pushed Gail down the stairs during a heated argument, but despite this; she stood by him and over time David began to mellow towards his mum, although he would on occasion make hurtful remarks towards her. He even did his best to support her and clear her name when she was accused of murdering husband Joe.

Martin Platt

David was very close to his father when he was a child and was very upset when Martin divorced Gail and moved out of the family home in 2000. When Martin left, David begged him to let him go with him but Martin reluctantly told David that he had to stay with Gail and Sarah and look after them. Over the next few years, David remained close to Martin and often stayed over at his flat on weekends. David reacted negatively when he found out about Martin's relationship with teenager Katy Harris and conspired with Craig, his best friend and Katy's brother, to come between them and split them up. When this failed and Martin was involved in a car accident due to Craig tampering with the brakes, David reconciled with his dad and accepted his relationship with Katy. In 2005, David was upset when Martin announced he was moving away to Liverpool with Robyn and refused to speak to him as a result, getting drunk and excluded from school. Although David and Martin made up before he left and David remained in regular contact with his father, making occasional visits to see him and Robyn, he was never as close to him after he moved away. Troubled teenager David resented his father for leaving, especially after he found out that Robyn was pregnant, believing Martin had abandoned him to start a new family.

As David grew up and matured however his resentment of Martin for leaving passed and he would visit Martin during times of need. In 2018, David was annoyed to hear that Martin and Robyn were having another child and emigrating to New Zealand as it stirred up his feelings of abandonment. After being raped by Josh Tucker however, David visited his father again as he wanted to get as far away from Josh as possible and considered emigrating with Martin. Although pushed, David wasn't able to confide what had happened to him to Martin.

Sarah Platt

Growing up David had a close relationship with his sister Sarah, although they had a natural sibling rivalry and would often fight. David was unhappy when Sarah gave birth to Bethany at the age of 13 and the family had to adjust to accommodate the new baby. David blamed Sarah and Bethany for Gail and Martin's divorce shortly after which lead Sarah to tell David the truth, that Martin's affair with Rebecca Hopkins had broken up the marriage.

Duckworths 1983
"If you've owt to say, spit it out before it flamin' well chokes yer"
This article or section is unfinished.
Please edit this article to fill in the missing parts and remove this message when done.

Bethany Platt

Despite coming to resent practically every member of his family as a teenager, David still showed some signs of affection towards Bethany.

In 2007, Bethany accidentally swallowed some Ecstasy pills which David had hidden in one of her dolls as a favour to friend Darryl Morton. Bethany collapsed and was rushed to hospital and when David admitted what had caused her sickness, Gail and Sarah disowned him and threw him out of No.8. Despite all of his other recent misdeeds towards his family, David was upset that they believed him capable of intentionally hurting Bethany. That December, Sarah and Bethany emigrated to Milan, Sarah having taken a job opportunity with uncle Stephen that was originally offered to David as revenge against him.

The siblings remained in contact but David played a minimal role in Bethany's life until she returned to Weatherfield in 2015. Now David had matured into a family man, looking after children of his own and Bethany was the troublesome teenager. David is still very fond of Bethany and is protective of her. David urged Bethany to stay away from his nemesis Callum Logan knowing how dangerous Callum was and when Bethany was being bullied by Lauren, David stepped in and threatened Lauren at the salon, getting her to back off. David later got a beating from Lauren's father as a result. In 2018 David sided with Bethany against Sarah when she refused to testify at the potential appeal by abusive Neil Clifton, believing she had already been through enough.

Nick Tilsley

David's relationship with his older brother Nick hasn't been the best, as David had viewed Nick as the golden boy and favourite son. When David was younger he looked up to Nick but later came to resent him for leaving the family in 2004. When Nick returned for Gail's wedding to Joe McIntyre, David grew jealous that Nick was flirting with Tina and began to mock him, and made a remark about Brian Tilsley being stabbed to death which nearly resulted in David being beaten by Nick. The pair had managed to resolve their differences and work together when Gail was accused of her husband Joe's murder. For a while, David and Nick maintained a solid brotherly relationship.

The lowest point in their relationship came when David found out Nick slept with Kylie and the possibility that she was carrying Nick's child and he wasn't the father. David launched a hate campaign against Nick, including trying to sabotage his business and marriage to Leanne Tilsley. This had dire consequences when Nick drove David to an undisclosed location to confront him over the matter. Scared his scheming had been caught, David attempted to stop Nick from telling the truth which resulted in the car being hit by a truck while they were fighting at the wheel. Nick was in a coma for weeks but when he woke up, Nick blackmailed David to get a DNA test for his daughter Lily which revealed that the baby was David's.

Although the relationship had soured a lot since Nick's accident, the pair had teamed up together again the following year to threaten burglar Michael Rodwell, who Gail had taken a liking to following his conviction for breaking into the Platt household.

Audrey Roberts

David has a fairly good relationship with his gran. As a young child, Audrey and Alf Roberts were the main grandparents in David's life. Although Martin got on reasonably well with his parents, they lived some distance away and David never saw much of his paternal grandparents, Barry and Barbara. Another elder figure in David's earliest years was Ivy Tilsley, Sarah and Nick's gran. Although Ivy was not biologically related to David and originally resented the fact that Gail was having a child with Brian, she came to begrudgingly accept him as a grandson and would babysit him and buy him Christmas presents and David knew her as 'Granny Ivy'.

By the time David was nine, Audrey was the sole grandparent in his life. Despite his many wicked schemes and trouble-making, Audrey was willing to discipline him but would never see things taken too far. For example, when David had caused Bethany to end up in hospital after hiding drugs in her dolls, Audrey took David in at her home when he was banished from the Platt household and was looked down upon by the residents of the street. Six years later, Audrey would come to his aid once more when David was again banished after indirectly causing Nick to end up in hospital after his hate campaign. After David refused to sit his GCSE's in 2007 and left school with only one qualification, Audrey took him under her wing and put him to work at the Salon, making tea and sweeping floors. Here David flourished, becoming popular with Audrey's elderly regular customers and Audrey encouraged David to train further and progress to hairdressing.

Duckworths 1983
"If you've owt to say, spit it out before it flamin' well chokes yer"
This article or section is unfinished.
Please edit this article to fill in the missing parts and remove this message when done.

Kylie and Max

When David returned from a holiday in Tenerife, he announced that he was engaged to Kylie Turner. The couple married just a few weeks later. David's marriage to Kylie began to mellow him, and he had taken to her young son Max acting as the father to the boy that he had never had. However, the marriage wasn't without its rocky patches. Kylie slept with David's older brother Nick after David had made snide remarks about her pole dancing past when Kylie refused to have more children. When David had discovered the affair, he spent months hating his mother and Nick, resulting in his brother ending up badly injured in a car accident. Kylie gave birth to a daughter Lily, David's first child, although not long afterwards they split up over Nick's accident.

David and Kylie rekindled their relationship but had to deal with Max's behaviour problems after discovering that he had ADHD. The couple separated once again after Kylie took drugs given to her by her ex-boyfriend Callum Logan, although after disappearing for months, Kylie returned and helped David fight a custody battle over Max against Callum; eventually resulting in Callum's death. In July 2016, Kylie was stabbed in the street by an adolescent named Clayton Hibbs. Her injuries proved fatal, and she died from blood loss in David's arms, leaving Max and Lily motherless.

Shona Ramsey

Shona is David's first romantic relationship since Kylie's death. They first met a few months after Kylie's death, with Shona stealing David's wallet. Once she realised just who's wallet she had stolen, she returned it. She later moved to the area, much to David's suspicion. They started to develop romantic feelings for one another but they were derailed once David discovered Shona was the mother of Kylie's murderer. However, they were able to move past it. They have a loving relationship, and Shona proves to be a great mother figure to Max and Lily, although their one sore point appears to be Clayton. Shona disowned Clayton after he held her hostage in March 2019, and David proposed to her, which Shona gladly accepted. However, when Nick's stealing of Audrey's money was exposed, this strained things between Shona and David, but they were able to patch things up before he went inside. David was sentenced to 4 months in prison in July and Shona looked after Max and Lily with the help of the family. On the day of David's release in November, he and Shona got married.

Duckworths 1983
"If you've owt to say, spit it out before it flamin' well chokes yer"
This article or section is unfinished.
Please edit this article to fill in the missing parts and remove this message when done.

Friends

Two of David's earliest friends were Macca and Simon Green with whom he attended Bessie Street School. Simon and David were a bad influence on each other and got in to various kinds of mischief such as stealing Norris Cole's census forms and setting fire to rubbish in the back garden of No.8. David and Simon had grown apart by the time he started secondary school in 2002 and he found a new best friend in Craig Harris. Another friend from school was Bradley Diggins.

David also grew up with Rosie Webster, they were born just a day apart and their mothers were close friends. As a toddler, David and his siblings were babysat by Rosie's mother Sally as both his parents were working and the families went on a camping holiday together in 2001.

Background information

David Platt 1999

David as played by Thomas Ormson.

David was originally played by Thomas Ormson from the character's birth in December 1990 until March 2000. 12-year-old actor Jack P. Shepherd took over the role the following month and remains with the programme to this day. It wasn't the first time Shepherd and Tina O'Brien, who plays David's half-sister Sarah, had acted alongside each other - they had previously played brother and sister in the BBC drama Clocking Off.

David is arguably one of Coronation Street's best known characters of its modern era. The "Demon David" phase of his character in the late 2000s received considerable attention. His behaviour included sending greetings cards to his family supposedly from his murderous ex-stepfather Richard Hillman (Brian Capron), setting fire to his GCSE exam paper in front of dozens of his fellow students and driving himself into the canal (mirroring Hillman's attempt to murder his entire family in 2003) in an effort to ruin Sarah and Jason Grimshaw's wedding day. David's antics helped Shepherd to the Inside Soap Award for Best Bad Boy in 2007. The following year he also landed the Villain of the Year award at the 2008 British Soap Awards.

A scene in October 2006, featuring Charlie Stubbs (Bill Ward) repeatedly forcing David's head under water to scare him into keeping quiet about his affair with Maria Sutherland (Samia Ghadie), attracted 31 complaints to the television watchdog Ofcom. Some claimed the scenes were unacceptable before the 9pm watershed due to risk of imitation, but Ofcom ruled the scenes were "editorially justified".

In March 2018, David became the first character in Coronation Street's history to fall victim to male rape. His abuser was Josh Tucker, a mechanic who David had formed a friendship with. The hard-hitting storyline helped Shepherd to the Best Actor award at the 2018 British Soap Awards.

Appendices

List of addresses

Address Duration
33 Hammond Road December 1990 to 23rd December 1991
8 Coronation Street 23rd December 1991 to 21st September 2007
5 Grasmere Drive 21st September 2007 to 31st October 2007
8 Coronation Street 31st October 2007 to 16th October 2013
19a Victoria Street 23rd October 2013 to 13th November 2013
5 Grasmere Drive 17th November 2013 to 6th January 2014
8 Coronation Street 6th January 2014 to 18th January 2021
Paul Robeson Estate, Wythenshawe 18th January to 10th February 2021
8 Coronation Street 10th February 2021 onwards

Employment history

Duckworths 1983
"If you've owt to say, spit it out before it flamin' well chokes yer"
This article or section is unfinished.
Please edit this article to fill in the missing parts and remove this message when done.

David worked as a hairdresser at the salon owned by his grandmother Audrey Roberts for a number of years. He currently works as a barber at Trim Up North.

See also

Current characters
Ken Barlow | Rita Tanner | Gail Rodwell | Tracy McDonald | Audrey Roberts | Nick Tilsley | Kevin Webster | Debbie Webster | Jenny Connor | Sally Metcalfe | Sarah Barlow | Steve McDonald | David Platt | Daniel Osbourne | Roy Cropper | Leanne Battersby | Toyah Habeeb | Tyrone Dobbs | Dev Alahan | Eileen Grimshaw | Maria Connor | Kirk Sutherland | Bethany Platt | Adam Barlow | Todd Grimshaw | Fiz Dobbs | Simon Barlow | Sean Tully | Chesney Winter-Brown | Amy Barlow | Aadi Alahan | Asha Alahan | Ryan Connor | Carla Barlow | Dylan Wilson | Gary Windass | Mary Taylor | Liam Connor | Brian Packham | Izzy Armstrong | Max Turner | Jack Webster | Hope Dobbs | Beth Sutherland | Craig Tinker | Joseph Brown | Ruby Dobbs | Tim Metcalfe | Jake Windass | Lily Platt | Alya Nazir | Yasmeen Metcalfe | Gemma Winter-Brown | Billy Mayhew | Alex Warner | Harry Platt | Shona Platt | Summer Spellman | Abi Webster | Paul Foreman | Evelyn Plummer | Bertie Osbourne | Ed Bailey | Michael Bailey | Aggie Bailey | Bernie Winter | Aled Winter-Brown | Bryn Winter-Brown | Carys Winter-Brown | Llio Winter-Brown | Nina Lucas | Elaine Jones | George Shuttleworth | Sam Blakeman | Daisy Midgeley | Ronnie Bailey | Glory Bailey | Stu Carpenter | Alfie Franklin | Eliza Woodrow | Glenda Shuttleworth | Dee-Dee Bailey | Lauren Bolton | Cassie Plummer
Advertisement