Bill Ward has looked back on a ‘horrific’ scene he had to film for Coronation Street during his stint on the ITV soap.

The actor, 58, starred as the villainous Charlie Stubbs on the ITV soap opera in the 2000s and spoke out on the infamous storyline in which he abused barmaid Shelley Unwin (Sally Lindsay). The harrowing plot saw Shelley become the victim of coercive control, but Bill noted that that there was only time he was physically violent with her.

In the scene, which aired in January 2005, builder Charlie is accusing Shelley of blabbing to her best friend Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati) about his dodgy invoices. Despite protesting her innocence, Charlie pins Shelley up against a wall, rips out her earrings and spits on them after throwing them on the floor.

The episode ended with a shocked Shelley noticing blood coming from her earlobes, and now Bill has admitted just how tough it was to create that moment on set. He said: “What we decided very early on about him was that it wasn’t about violence. It was important that it had violence in his locker but what it was more about was control. I talked long and hard with Women’s Aid about that. It was about controlling behaviour, so when the violence when it is used was a tool for coercive control.

During an appearance on the Conversation Street podcast, he added: “So there was only one kind of specifically violent moment where he rips out Shelley’s earrings, which was horrific to film but also brilliant because in that moment you saw what he was capable of, and Shelley knew. You don’t need to do that again because you’ve got that hanging over the character for the dynamic of the relationship between the characters.”

Charlie eventually got engaged to Shelley, but, amid tensions with her mother Bev (Susie Blake), she decided to jilt him at the altar to bring their relationship to a dramatic close. He then went on to have an relationship with Maria Sutherland (Samia Longchambon) and attempted to drown David Platt (Jack P Shepherd) when he threatened to reveal the truth to his girlfriend Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford). They split up, but things came to a fatal head when Tracy and Charlie rekindled their romance, and she decided to claim that he was abusing her as an act of revenge.

In the end, he discovered her plot and tried to call things off for a final time but she retaliated him by hitting him over the head with a large ornament. When Charlie died from his injuries in hospital, Tracy was sentenced to life in prison but was later released after the evidence in her trial was discredited, and returned to the cobbles just after the programme’s 50th anniversary in 2010.

Since his stint on the cobbles, Bill went on to play James Barton in Emmerdale, and has also had an illustrious career in theatre with major roles in Legally Blonde, The Full Monty and is currently on the road with The Shawshank Redemption. But Bill, whose time as Charlie has recently been re-aired during episodes of Classic Coronation Street on ITV3, still looks back fondly on his signature role.

He added: “I hadn’t done much telly when I started doing Charlie. So, for me, he was a real opportunity. And I loved it, I learned so much. From all of the crew about making television, but also about acting and so in that kind of a way, it is a job that is a big part of me and is very close to my heart.”

Despite the dark nature of his character, Bill found joy in the job at the time as he noted: “It was brilliant fun to do. I loved it, and I am very fond of it still. He was just interesting, great fun to play.”

Bill’s comments on the impactful storyline with Charlie and Shelley comes shortly after his former co-star Sally, who has gone onto huge success with dramas such as The Madame Blanc Mysteries, admitted that she hasn’t watched since she left in 2006. After surviving her domestic abuse storyline, it was a happy ending for Shelley as she left Weatherfield to run a country pub in the Peak District, but Sally told The Mirror : “I don’t really watch them anymore because I left 20 years ago.”

When asked why, she explained: “Because I was in them, so you tend to not bother when you leave.” Back in 2018, Sally revealed that she couldn’t face watching Coronation Street any more because so much had changed, and 10 years later, she’s stuck to her decision. Back then she said: “I don’t actually watch Corrie. It’s difficult watching it as it’s changed so much – it’s like looking back at an old place of work.

“The dark storylines happened when I was there. We got 20 million viewers doing it with Richard, and that was gruesome. People will always moan – it’s too violent or it’s not as violent as it should be. If people didn’t want it, they wouldn’t make it. So there’s ­obviously a need for it – but there’s also a massive need for comedy.”