Sooner or later every funny man feels the need to get serious. So Bradley Walsh is following an illustrious line of light entertainment personalities in tackling a highly dramatic role.

Torn is an ITV1 drama about the loss of a child. The former Coronation Street actor plays Stephen, father of a teenage girl who, it's claimed, was snatched from her parents on a family beach holiday 12 years previously.

Playing Danny Baldwin, he faced a mix of humorous and serious soap dilemmas, so that was a sort of halfway house between the comedy for which he made his name and the switch to dramatic actor in Torn.

"When I read Torn, it struck me just how sad and poignant it was and how different it was to my previous work," says Walsh.

He spoke with producer Jeremy Gwilt and writer Chris Lang to see what they needed from the character and from him as an actor. "The script is wonderful and I thought, I really want to do this now. The timing was perfect for me. So, as soon as they were happy that they wanted me to do it, that was that."

He admits it was a conscious decision to take on a different, difficult role like this to put a bit of distance between himself and Danny. "Stephen is just such a departure for me. His character is a highly emotive one and the nature of the piece is just so far removed from anything else I've done before," he says.

"It was precisely the change in direction this offered me that was attractive in the first instance. For actors coming out of long-running soaps it's really important to have a little break from the screen and look for roles that are quite removed from the ones they played.

"I want to try and help shift perceptions people may have of me as an actor."

Surprisingly, the scripts he's been receiving post-Street haven't been for characters similar to Danny. He was given three or four ideas that weren't like that character at all. "I guess I was quite lucky in that sense," he says.

"I was expecting to be offered roles that were a lot lighter, particularly given the fact I've been Mr Entertainment since 1989. Oddly, having done Corrie, a lot of people forget I did all that. I think people have kind of forgotten I hosted game shows.

"But Torn really stood out for me. I really wanted this. Drama is where I want to be at the moment and I have really enjoyed working on this film."

The big difference in making Torn and the Street was time. There's more of it filming a drama, time to film scenes and discuss things. On something as emotional as Torn, that's been invaluable for him.

"I always get in early and make sure I know my lines. I rely a lot on the director Sarah Harding. I always ask what she wants and she'll tell me exactly what she needs. Then I'll go away and literally try and put myself in Stephen's position.

"I used to ask the director on Corrie what they needed, but there are so many actors to cater for there that they understandably can't devote all their time to one person.

"But on Torn, there is more time and we can say 'okay, let's think about that', which I hope translates on screen."

He's learnt a lot on both shows, but both have been very different experiences. Coronation Street was more "crash, bang, wallop" which taught him how to work quickly.

"It's very, very fast-paced. You have one, maybe two chances, if you're lucky, to hit your mark and then that's it, everyone is on to the next scene. Torn is a much gentler pace. I've had time to really get my teeth into it."

Despite the difficult subject matter of Torn - which also stars Holly Aird, Adam Kotz and Nicola Walker - he enjoyed the whole process. "If I'm honest, some scenes are gut-wrenching and just awful to do. It's not a nice place to be in, but having such an amazing cast and crew around made a huge difference," he says.

"It's been much more collaborative than anything I've experienced before. It has just been an absolute joy."

* Torn is on ITV1 on September 19 at 9pm.