With Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre) now officially out of Coronation Street for good, following his stabbing by his first Weatherfield victim Anna Windass (Debbie Rush), McIntyre has been opening up about his time playing one of the soap’s nastiest villains, and why he thinks this was the perfect way for him to exit the show for good.
Connor McIntyre's Pat Phelan has finally left Coronation Street / Credit: ITV
“The viewers deserve that pay off because love him or hate him, we’ve taken them on a fine year odyssey and we’ve frustrated them, entertained them and delighted them in equal measure so it had to reach a conclusion,” the actor explained.
“And I also feel it had to be conclusive because it had to square the circle in terms of the Anna story; she had to be involved to put those scales in balance. The next baddie, whoever that may be or whatever form that may take, needs to get on with their business instead of it being about whether Phelan is still around.”
Asked about whether he was pleased with the final scene and how Phelan kept some control even up to his last breath, he replied: “Yes I was because that’s real spite. We see earlier that he has made his mind up that the game is up so he gives Anna a little snigger before his eyes go and really nobody has won. The snigger is not about anything other than him winning, going out on his terms to the very end.”
The actor concluded: “I am never going to escape him, am I? And I am very happy about all of that. But miss playing him? Sure, he is a treat isn’t he and he offers up so many possibilities. But working in my studio, The Alamo, will help with that, I am sure. And I am signed up for the Manchester panto so me and Les Dennis will be playing the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella – what a beautiful counterpoint and the perfect antidote.”
Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on ITV.
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