Corrie legend has been battling debilitating condition since age seven
To most of us, a stain is just a stain, simply a spot on a shirt, or a spilled wine blemish on a tablecloth. But for former Coronation Street star Ian Puleston-Davies it is the start of a spiralling of the mind, which can leave him fearing for his children’s wellbeing.
“Catastrophising that I could be poisoned by touching a tea stain can be a common thought,” Ian explains. “My thoughts are mainly to do with contamination or fear of harm to myself or to others. If I spot a stain, my unwanted thought will tell me it’s toxic and dangerous, that if I or my children touch it something awful will happen.
“I can often go back 10 or 20 times to examine that stain.” Ian, 65, whose film directorial debut Bolan’s Shoes was released last week, has obsessive compulsive disorder. It plagues people with worries about contamination, germs and harm.
Ian remembers how his OCD was a daily battle on the Coronation Street set. He originally only signed up for 18 months to play fiery builder Owen Armstrong but found filming on the cobbles a comfortable environment.
Ian as Owen Armstrong in Coronation Street (TV Grab)Despite the inner turmoil, Ian was supported by his colleagues, who included Beverley Callard, during his stint from 2010 to 2015. “I remember Antony Cotton who plays Sean, who would be behind the bar in the Rovers Return, was very good before a scene, saying, ‘I’ve checked the glasses, Ian. There are no chips’,” he says.
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“He was always very good at assuring me there were no stains on any of the glasses before he served me a pint.” Mikey North, who played Owen’s stepson Gary Windass alongside the builder’s partner Anna (Debbie Rush) and his stepdaughter Faye ( Ellie Leach ), was particularly patient.
“We had a lot of scenes on pretend building sites. If dust got in my eye I’d think I scratched my retina and Mikey would look to check. He was very good at calming me down,” Ian says. Ian was not diagnosed until he was 35 but was aware of his OCD aged seven. He says: “I do remember from a young age being bothered by annoying rituals I did and silent fears I had.
“No one would have known about OCD back then. I’m pretty sure not even many in the medical profession. It was my very best secret. I wasn’t going to tell anyone about these ‘habits’ I had. Not even my parents.
“It’s known as the secret disorder because people are ashamed of it. And that’s the problem. People don’t go to the doctor or don’t tell loved ones because they’re afraid of being ridiculed. I wish I’d have made it clear to everyone that I had OCD when I started my career because I exuded so much energy trying to disguise it.”
Bolan's Shoes is in cinemas now
Ian has explains what having OCD means for him (Joseph Scanlon/REX/Shutterstock)Ian’s children Maggie, 16, and Charlie, 12, have become used to his “peculiar ways.” So too has partner Sue MacPherson. He says: “There have been times it has driven both of us mad, and she is on the receiving end – as are my children.
“A typical fear is when you’ve left the house, you better go back and check the gas in case you left it on. You go back and you keep checking it’s off. OCD doesn’t just destroy lives – it can end lives. I try to raise awareness so people don’t feel alone.“
When Ian was diagnosed in 1995, cognitive behavioural therapy helped. He has developed his own toolbox of tricks to deal with “chewing gum thoughts”, those that stick in his head. Ian says: “I find what’s very useful is to either use your phone or write it in a notepad and promise you will go back to that thought half an hour later.
The actor pictured in his teenage years“That fools the OCD into thinking it will be taken care of. I am happy that I am managing my condition.” However, it did not help Ian with theatre work, which he had to give up.
“I loved performing live but I kept forgetting lines because I was so distracted by the sights and sounds around me,” he says. Although, Ian wonders if his OCD might have helped when writing and directing his first film. He says: “When I’m concentrating, I’m pretty much free of an OCD.
“Would I have that ability to create a character, direct a scene, if I didn’t obsess so much about things I see and hear?” Starring Timothy Spall, Leanne Best and Louis Emerick, Bolan’s Shoes is about kids from a Liverpool children’s home who travel to see a Marc Bolan concert in Manchester in 1976.
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When he sought permission from Bolan’s son Rolan to use his dad’s name in the title, he liked the liked the script so much he became an associate producer.
Ian, as Owen Armstrong, flirts with Beverly Callard, playing Liz McDonald (ITV)Ian’s own childhood could be described as idyllic. Born in Flintshire, he grew up on a farm on the Welsh-English border. He remembers dealing with his condition in the early 70s: “Hormones, girlfriends, exams, peer pressure and feeling part of the gang – but it all triggered huge OCDs along the way.”
Part of the overspill from Merseyside, there was also a crisis of identity. Ian says: “We were called plastic Scousers. We were in Wales supporting Liverpool or Everton and listening to the Beatles, so I was very influenced by what was happening across the water, which is why I wanted to set Bolan’s Shoes primarily in Liverpool.”
Bolan's Shoes written and directed by Ian Puleston-Davies stars Timothy Spall and Leanne BestViewers will see Ian, who has had roles in the Bill, Beowulf, Lewis and Tin Star, back in front of the camera soon as he returns as Supt Ross Beardsmore in the second series of ITV ’s DI Ray. He is also appearing in ITVX’s Archie, which follows the rise of actor Cary Grant from a poor childhood in Bristol.
Despite his OCD challenges, Ian has not ruled out a return to the cobbles. “Owen went to Aberdeen so he could get homesick for Weatherfield. It would be great to be back with my mates,” he says.
Bolan’s Shoes is in cinemas now.
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