In the fantastic Inside Soap Yearbook 2018 there's an interview with Connor McIntyre, who plays Corrie baddie Pat Phelan.
Connor talks about the last year as Phelan in Coronation Street. It's been a year in which he married Eileen Grimshaw, his daughter Nicola turned up and he was revealed to be keeping Andy locked in the cellar. He's also killed two men! Quite a year, and Connor says "it's been a stellar year for me and a fantastic year for Phelan too."
However, now that Phelan has crossed the line surely it will be only a matter of time before his evil deeds catch up with him?
Connor says: "I find myself asking what happens to a person once they realise a problem can be solved his way - does that then become a default position? I haven't seen much further up the road for Phelan but I imagine it will get darker. Let's put it this way - I think my long-term future on the show is in serious doubt!"
The Inside Soap Yearbook 2018 takes a look back at the world in soap over the last 12 months and teases ahead to the next few months too. It's in the shops now and it's well worth a read.
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12 comments:
I can only hope that the character's future on the show is that it won't be on teh show as soon as possible. This character has done a great deal of damage to teh show.
I'd have to disagree with the above comment. The only part of Phelans storyline that failed, imo, is when Phelan made the van crash to test Andy's loyalty. That is where it should have ended. Andy should have got away, and perhaps never to be seen again. Then Pat could have continued on the show with a dark back ground unbeknownst to anyone on the street.
Connor is one of the best actors on the show, and it is because of him alone, this story has worked. Any other actor, it would have become a disaster. Corrie got more than they bargained for with this gent - and that's why they have dragged it out, to keep him around. That's my thoughts anyways ;)
It's dragged on so long that I've lost interest and stopped watching especially when he shot Andy. For him to have kept Andy in the basement, lived on the street where he conned his neighbours with no repercussions, let Michael die, rape Anna, blackmail Gary, find his long lost daughter, frame Anna for murder and kill two men. He kidnapped Vinnie's mum (what's happened to her), torched a house and manages to keep one step ahead of the game by being around just at the right time to hear the right thing. How he manages to find time to work and bring in some money is more incredible considering he's managed all that.
I catch up with this site and will be glad when he's gone so I can start watching again. The production team knew they had a good actor and a good storyline but they made sure they got their money's worth alright. Enough now.
Corrie seem to be missing so many tricks these days (Steve & Leanne would have been magic) but they won't care while awards and viewing figures are on their side. It didn't seem like the actor wanted to leave so the writers could have redeemed Phelan at several points in the storyline: we might have seen Phelan and Andy meet up in Buenos Aires where Phelan's thugs took him. A fleeting glimpse of Andy's prosperous new life and the whole business of being kept hostage never happened. Or Andy didn't need to reappear at all. Nicola could have been Phelan's salvation. That was hinted at, but never carried through. We might have heard more about his violent childhood to understand his behaviour. Too late we learnt - through soap mag interviews - that Phelan was a psychopath and, very strangely and briefly, Andy was suffering from the Stockholm Syndrome.
Pat Phelan could have become a harsher version of Mike Baldwin: always out for number one but with several redeeming features. He could have unexpectedly set up a racing horse rescue, which would have shown him to have a Jekyll and Hyde personality. So many possibilities with this excellent actor; all thrown away.
I can only hope that after all that's happened Phelan has no future on the show. In fact I was hoping never to see that character after his first run so imagine now.
I can't understand why the show didn't recast the actor in another role if they're fans of his talent. I do agree that if he wasn't a great actor he couldn't have made a storyline that had many holes and dumbed down so many characters to keep it from falling apart look even remotely interesting but I hope Phelan is gone soon.
At this point I don't even care if he gets his comeuppance as long as he stays gone this time.
The thing is that even with all these outrageous antics the shows overall ratings still aren't anywhere near as good as they used to be. They're just an improvement over the recent lows.
Anyways, the show is painting itself into a corner. If it continues in this vein that requires all these attention grabbing headlines to get a modest ratings boost what will it have to do to return to the numbers of a decade ago?
He should stay. Look at EE..Phil Mitchell - every bad deed in the book and he's been there forever. Tracy B...cold calculating murderer and is still there so Connor should be able to make our skin crawl for the foreseeable..IMO
With regards to Tracy still being on the Street,she at least served some jail time for her crimes and has somewhat redeemed herself[sort of].
Phelan on the other hand has had a constant crime spree.fraud, kidnapping torture, rape[Anna and Nicola's mother]blackmail and murder with no signs of comeuppance in sight.
Other characters have left or been axed due to lack of storylines while Phelan's storyline has become long and tedious due tot he writers making it up as they go along.
I think it's time for Phelan sooner rather than later and I'm more interested in when exactly that will be rather than another articule being vague on Phelan getting his comeuppance.
Although I have not always found Anna to be a very likeable character, for example due to her treatment of Roy when Gary broke into the cafe, I do not want her to be simply found guilty of the attempted murder of Serb in court due to Phelan's lies, given a lengthy prison sentence and never seen or heard of again. That would be a highly unsatisfying exit for the character and yet another example of Phelan doing something evil and getting away with it. Unfortunately, if the spoilers I have read online are anything to go by, I suspect this is exactly what will happen.
As I have said before, in an odd way I would prefer it if Phelan murdered Anna and was later linked to the crime as well as the murder of Andy Carver and possibly that of Vinny. At least then he would get life imprisonment and receive his just desserts. Although it has been hinted that he will eventually receive his comeuppance there is no indication of when that will be, and I suspect that it will not be soon and that we will have to endure him for a good while yet, possibly for a year or more.
Even if Phelan was eventually linked to the murders of Gary and Vinny there might be nothing to prove that he also framed Anna and she will simply remain in prison in spite of all the abuse she and her family have suffered at the hands of Phelan, meaning that he will never be punished for this. I therefore suspect that Anna's exit next year will be a very sad one as she is jailed for a crime she did not commit, and unlike when Deirdre was wrongfully imprisoned a good number of years ago no-one will be able to prove her innocence. It may just possibly be that her innocence is established by some means in several months time and she is released from prison offscreen without returning to the program, but this is far from certain. Of it may be that there is some twist at the last minute by which she is found not guilty, such as by Seb changing his statement, and she then decides to leave Weatherfield in order to escape Phelan, but again I do know how likely that would be.
One other possibility which did occur to me is that she might suffer a mental breakdown due to all the stress she has suffered in recent weeks and be sent to a psychiatric hospital indefinitely rather than a prison by the court. Phelan told the police that he suspected that Anna was becoming unhinged, which might conceivably point to this scenario, and pictures online have shown that she is apparently to be arrested again on Christmas Day after trying to make a getaway in a car with Faye. The pictures I have seen seem to indicate that the police were concerned for Faye's safety. If Gary is indeed to be killed off in the Ukraine it could be this which finally pushes her over the edge.
Whatever happens, I suspect that Phelan will never have to face the consequences for his treatment of Anna, even if he eventually does for his other crimes.
Just seen some pictures on Twitter which show that Anna receives the news of Gary's death while in prison and is devastated and has to be restrained by the guards. I don't know if this is before or after her trial or if this is her final appearance. I wonder if as a result of this she attempts suicide and either succeeds in doing so or else is transferred to a secure mental hospital?
Todd was supossed to kill him but now that Bruno has been sacked, Phelan will now kill Todd.
Sick to death of the Phelan storyline. Saddened to see Andy and the other guy shot (before the 9pm watershed??) maybe Andy will yet re-appear?? Stranger things have happened in soaps. Please let Phelan get what is due to him and soon now. This storyline has had its day and I am fast going off Corrie until this villain is caught.
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