*Trigger warning: some readers may find parts of this article upsetting.*

Coronation Street producers have revealed some of what's in store on for 2018.

The soap will go in a dark direction with a storyline involving male rape next year, according to the Mirror. David Platt is to become the victim of a serious sexual assault. The popular character, played by Jack P Shepherd for the past 17 years, will go on a night out with a new character and black out, only to wake up the next day and find he's been drugged and assaulted. While the actual rape will not be shown, the storyline will see him struggling to come to terms with what's happened and feeling ashamed as he weighs up whether or not to report the crime. It's set to kick off in January with the arrival of the new character, Josh, and the show's producers are eager to do the issue justice. They're currently working closely with Survivors Manchester, a sexual assault charity, to fine-tune the storyline. It's the first time in Coronation Street's 57-year history that it'll tackle the subject of male rape. It's something that EastEnders shied away from five years ago over concerns that it was too dark a topic for pre-watershed TV. Hollyoaks has featured the issue more than once though; first all the way back in 2000 when Luke Morgan was attacked.