There are testing times ahead for David Platt (Jack P Shepherd) and Shona Platt (Julia Goulding) in Coronation Street, after the shock discovery at a routine scan that the baby they’re expecting has a mass on its neck.

As they face urgent medical appointments to find out how serious the situation is and whether anything can be done about it, the couple try to support each other – but it’s soon clear that they’re reacting to the news in completely different ways.

A special heart-wrenching episode will highlight this by following the same timeline from each of their viewpoints as they prepare for the appointment with the consultant. While Shona is terrified that her baby’s life could potentially be at risk, she’s left wondering how David can act so casual.

Viewers then see things from David’s point of view and discover he’s trying to be the strong one in the relationship and is struggling to hold himself together, but his calm facade isn’t actually helpful to Shona, as Julia Goulding explained.

‘She’s not feeling as confident in his support, whereas he’s feeling really lousy about probably knowing that’s how she’s feeling but not really being able to express it because it’s David Platt.’

Sadly for them both, the consultant confirms what they’re both fearing most: the baby has a tumour and, if they decide to go ahead with the pregnancy, Shona will have to undergo very complex surgery in the hope of saving their little girl’s life.

With such a massive decision ahead of them, Shona prefers to keep things private between her and David until they can decide what to do. When David suggests they should tell their family what’s going on, Shona tells him she’s not ready for that.

As David continues to feel the enormous pressure of worrying about the implications of surgery for both his daughter and his wife, he can’t bottle up his feelings any longer. In the bistro he blurts out that the baby is seriously ill and may not even survive.

Nick (Ben Price), Toyah (Georgia Taylor) and Bethany (Lucy Fallon) are shocked and saddened to hear this news, but Shona reacts with fury as David has gone against her wishes and gone public with the news she wanted to be kept private. She storms out.

At the moment when they need to be closer than ever, it seems there’s a huge gulf between them. Can they make up and support each other through the tough decisions ahead?