Actress Julie Hesmondhalgh has criticised the depiction of rape on the small screen.

The former Coronation Street star, 47, played rape survivor Trish Winterman in the third series of Broadchurch, starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman.

Hesmondhalgh said: “Too often we’ve seen rape portrayed on-screen in a titillating way, young women being pursued by unseen predators through dark alleys and woods, the graphic depiction of the act itself, gratuitous images of naked and brutalised female bodies.”

She praised ITV drama Liar, about a woman raped on a date, for sparking conversation and said that the Broadchurch role appealed to her for taking a different approach.