Last night, millions of Coronation Street viewers watched heartbreaking scenes as terminally ill Hayley Cropper took her own life.

The controversial episodes followed a harrowing storyline that has seen cancer take its grip on Hayley, physically and emotionally.

Unable to face the prospect of deteriorating further from her incurable illness, the much-loved character decided to end her life with a lethal cocktail of drugs.

Producers say the aftermath of Hayley’s death will explore divided opinions in the right-to-die debate, with subsequent episodes showing her husband, cafe owner Roy, and their friend Fiz Stape both struggling to accept her decision to commit suicide.

The storyline, which has unfolded over the past few months, has been beautifully acted by Julie Hesmondhalgh and David Nielson, playing a devoted couple trying to come to terms with Hayley’s illness, while clashing in their opinions of how she chooses to deal with it.

It has inevitably sparked controversy. While right-to-die campaigners have welcomed the issue being brought into mainstream television, opponents claim it has not fully explored the issue of palliative care, and efforts being made to help people with terminal illness through the dying process.

There has also been anger that last night’s episodes, showing Hayley saying goodbye to Roy before ending her life, were shown before the 9pm watershed.

Bradford right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy welcomes the way Coronation Street has handled the issue, and says such scenes should be watched by family audiences.

“Lots of people die of cancer at a young age, and I think parents would welcome being able to talk to their children about it,” she said.

“This is life, it happens. Coronation Street has helped to bring this issue out into the open, so families can watch it together and talk about it.

“In Britain we keep children away from death – it becomes a taboo subject, but in other cultures, children are part of the process of saying farewell and are better prepared to cope with the loss of a loved one.”

In 2009, Debbie, who has multiple sclerosis, welcomed the publishing of guidance on when a person might face prosecution for helping a loved one end their life abroad. The following year, she won a long legal battle after Law Lords backed her call for a policy statement from the Director of Public Prosecutions. She continues to lobby ministers for a debate in the Commons on changing the law, allowing people with chronic illnesses to end their lives.

Debbie, of Undercliffe, has watched Hayley’s moving story develop over recent months and is impressed with how the soap has developed it.

“It should be massively applauded,” she says. “Every other soap has done an assisted death storyline, but it’s always been quickly dealt with, and has never been given enough time to develop. Coronation Street have allowed this storyline to build, which has made it very credible.

“It has been handled brilliantly, particularly showing the confusion and problems that Hayley’s husband, Roy, is facing. Roy didn’t agree with Hayley’s decision to end her life, but he decided to support her even though it hurts him enormously.

“If this is going to be dealt with in TV drama it has to be done properly. It has to go into the issue deeply. I think this whole storyline has been exceptionally well handled – they have done it better than any soap has ever done it before.”

Debbie adds: “This isn’t a cut-and-dried issue. It’s not about Hayley wanting to die – she has said several times she doesn’t want to leave the life and people she loves behind – it’s about her wanting to die in a way she chooses, when she’s in a lot of pain and she can see herself changing. She knew she was dying, she hasn’t had a choice about that, but she wanted a choice about when to die.”

While Debbie welcomes Coronation Street bringing the issue into the open, for debate, there has been concern that showing someone ending their life on mainstream television could lead to ‘copycat’ suicides.

The Samaritans provided advice and guidance for the Coronation Street storyline to help make sure it was done in a “safe and responsible way”.

Samaritans spokesman Rachel Kirby-Rider said: “There is extensive research which demonstrates that inappropriate portrayal, or reporting, of suicide can lead to imitative or ‘copycat’ behaviour among vulnerable people. For this reason, Samaritans publish media guidelines on the portrayal of suicide.

“Although challenging, the media has an important role to play in showing the complex realities of suicide. This can help people to understand the permanency of suicide, the devastation left behind and encourage help-seeking behaviour.

“We were pleased that Coronation Street came to us for guidance on their storyline of Hayley ending her life, as a result of her terminal illness. Our role was to help them to cover this as safely as possible, not to approve their decision to run the story at all.”

She added: “Samaritans believes that shutting down coverage of suicide is unhelpful, as this could drive discussion underground and deter people from talking about their problems.

“It is important that programme-makers continue to consult with us, whenever touching on suicide as a subject matter. The consequence of not getting it right poses significant risk."