Coronation Street’s Sue Devaney has opened up about her upcoming storyline, including how she will approach it.
This week, Sue’s character Debbie Webster will visit a doctor to discuss worrying incidents that have occurred over the past few weeks.
Debbie is expecting to be told it’s the menopause, so she’s shocked to hear that she may have suffered a mini stroke and the doctor wants her to have some more tests for vascular dementia.
We know that Debbie will eventually be told she has young-onset dementia.
Sue Devaney has done a lot of research for the plot so far. She has spoken to her friend who works with dementia patients, and has also learnt a great deal from the charity Dementia UK.
As a result of collaborating with the charity, Sue has made a decision about the future of Debbie’s story.
‘We had our initial meeting they told me a lot about the tests you have to do and how you are diagnosed with it and where you go from there’, she said recently.
‘I have decided that I don’t want to know what is coming up for Debbie, I want to wait for the scripts because in real life you don’t know what is coming. I think it’s more interesting to play it like that.’

Reflecting on her reaction to being told about the story, Sue added: ‘Kate called me into the office and she said we’ve got this brilliant story, and we want to give Debbie dementia.
‘And obviously, down the line, you don’t survive dementia. So I knew that the story would eventually come to an end and my character would come to an end. There was a mixture of a lot of things.
‘This was my first job when I was 16 and I left after a year and now it will be coming to an end again. But I also realised this was a really important story to tell and is a really fantastic opportunity to act.’