Coronation Street boss talks spring storylines - newcomer Kayla to cause trouble for Bethany and Craig

The Corrie producer also revealed that Pat Phelan's downfall is fast approaching in the spring and that Eileen will soon realise that her husband is a murderer:

"When the scales properly fall from Eileen's eyes, she'll be in big trouble. That's the moment when she realises that she's married to a serial killer. That will be imminent.

"Sue [Cleaver] is loving playing it - it's nice for hero get that change in dramatic dynamic. She suddenly looks at her husband in a very different way."

Fans can also expect David's rape trauma in this Friday's episodes to have links to a storyline currently being kept under wraps that is due to be shown in May:

"David's story will dovetail into a bigger story later in May," said Oates. "Once people see how we're linking the stories together, they'll see our message."

There was also confirmation that Rana's mum and dad will take drastic action to stop her from seeing Kate: "Rana's parents will be showing their extreme displeasure at her relationship with Kate.

"Both Rana and Imran will have to stand up for themselves against adversity."

And, finally, Oates did address viewer concern that the current mix of plotlines were setting too dark a tone: "There is the old adage about pleasing some of the people some of the time and none of the people all of the time - and that is true of soap.

"But our viewing figures are up year on year. The storylines are relevant - I feel that people are talking about the show. All I can do is make drama that I find engaging and exciting."

You can watch a 60-second rundown of next week's drama on Coronation Street below

And visit our dedicated Coronation Street page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.