Coronation Street: Phelan gets a new hostage - "He's at his most dangerous," says Connor McIntyre

Corrie fans can expect to see Pat snap and make a final decision about the future of those he's holding captive. And it's all going to get very dark indeed...Here's actor Connor McIntyre on what we can expect to see as Phelan faces his toughest week yet:

So why did Phelan decide to promise Andy freedom in the first place?
If he could get Andy out of there without any risk to himself, he would. But now he realises he can’t trust Andy so now he's thinking, 'Now what am I going to do?'

So will he go ahead with his plan to find a replacement hostage?
Phelan thinks if Andy does something as bad as what Andy has on Phelan, then Andy can’t ever go to the police. So there is a certain logic to it. As the pressure is mounting, he starts looking at Nicola, Anna, Daniel and all the other people that he has encountered - because Phelan never forgets an injustice or an injury to him. So who knows how many people from his dark and distant past he could be thinking of? But certainly there are a lot of potential replacements aren’t there.

Could this be the week that Phelan gets his revenge on those who have wronged him?
Yes - if he's thinking about a replacement it must be like a Smörgåsbord for him at the moment.

Phelan is usually very confident in himself - how confident is he that he won't get caught this time too?
He's feeling the pressure but that's when he's at his most dangerous. When things are all cool, we see him very benign. But when the heat gets turned up for him, he gets more decisive in his actions and actually, he starts to see things very clearly.

What are his thoughts when Nicola starts asking about his past?
Nicola's been trawling back through Phelan’s history so, in short, she's starting to present a different picture to Pat than he has of himself. And when you're dealing with a narcissist, that's always very difficult.

Phelan makes a final decision about his hostages - is this the darkest side of Phelan we have ever seen?
To date - but he can go darker, I'm sure of that. If you cross a particular line, that’s it. So can he get darker? Yes, certainly.

What has been the viewers' reaction to his current actions?
I think they really feel there is a good man in there struggling to come out and they were rooting for him to turn the corner and then the Andy shock was like, ‘Oh no!’ The response was very interesting because, at times, we've seen the potential for him to turn. He does have redeeming qualities. It’s all good, but it’s only one component of Coronation Street which, at the moment, is on fire.

How much fun is it playing a bad guy?
A gift. I have absolute gratitude to the writers, to the storyliners and to Kate Oate,s who give this guy all the room to maneuver, to really unfold as quite an extraordinary character. I am very proud to be up there with the very illustrious list of Corrie baddies because Pat Phelan is definitely one of them.

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