Coronation Street fall: Phelan to die in liquid concrete? Connor McIntyre interview

With the pumping on the lake well underway, Phelan is left with little option but to return to the scene at night and drag both bodies out of the water. Hoping to bury them in concrete in the foundations of the Mill, Pat soon finds his plan going awry when a call from Eileen tips his vibrating mobile phone off the scaffolding.

As Phelan tries to retrieve it, the conniving killer falls into the unset concrete below and starts to lose consciousness as the levels rise. So could this be it for the Coronation Street villain? Actor Connor McIntyre tells us more...

So, how does Phelan feel about going back to the Mill?
Phelan is desperate now. He gets there knowing that he has to move really quick. He has to get this thing done. He's thinking he needs to get the bodies out of there and in to the concrete footings. But the Mill is very symbolic for him for a couple of reasons and this is his one chance to do away with any evidence that these murders link to him. It’s real desperate measures for him, it’s fire-fighting. It’s all starting to fold in.

You’ve said before that Phelan is a narcissist - is he panicked by this?
Phelan is panicked in the sense that he has to do it quickly. If they find those two bodies and identify them then everything is going to start coming back to him. So, panicked? Certainly, but again, he thinks eventually everything will work for him. He thinks he has a perfect plan; get them out of the water and get them in to the concrete. No one is going to find them in there, right?

Tell us what happens when he tries to get the bodies out of the water.
Phelan gets the bodies out, drags them across planks to get them in to this footings, so it’s a proper night’s work. It’s a real job to get it done.

What happens when Eileen starts to call Phelan?
Can you believe it?! He has just text her to say he is on his way, then puts his phone down for a second. But then she phones at that moment and it starts vibrating on the plank. Just as he gets there to it, it drops in. He climbs in because it is not that full by then, not realising that once he's in he actually can’t get out.

Does Phelan believe this is the end?
Yes. To see him in that moment he thinks, 'wow, this could be it'. He is incredulous. He could end up being entombed in the concrete with the bodies.

What were those scenes like to film?
Fantastic. We had absolutely the worst weather, only this time we had rain machines as well as the cold and we even had lightning! So to say it is Shakespearean is not an exaggeration - this is real jeopardy for him.

How was the atmosphere this time in comparison to when you filmed at the Mill last time?
It was remarkably different. It was colder and I don’t just mean that that affects us - the tone out there is colder because Phelan is very clear what he has to do. When he was at the Mill previously, it was a chain of events leading to a double murder. This time, this is an actual plan to get to this point. A lot more chilling - literally.

What is the reaction you get from viewers and what do you hope the reaction will be to this storyline this week?
It’s very interesting because I get a lot of positives. On the contrary, they say they hate Phelan, but they just don’t want him to go yet. They are really enjoying it and that is a credit to the writers, the storyliners and everybody else.

What makes Phelan such a good baddie?
The writers and the storyliners have done such a great job of walking this very fine line - he’s a dangerous narcissist and psychopath. But he's got a moral compass at some points and his love for Eileen is true, but that only exists in it’s own special place because we can see what he is when somebody gets in his way or when he perceives somebody trying to derail his plans.

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

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