Is Phelan sitting there plotting revenge on the people of Weatherfield in this caravan?
I personally don’t think so but he has set up the fake page on the mum’s internet group to be in touch with what’s going on with Nicola. Keeping in touch is a control thing, but can he control at a distance? At least he is in touch with what is going on with the baby so he is at a holding position.
When Joe and Gary trap him, is this Phelan at his most dangerous?
Absolutely, and for everybody. For them to do to him what he has done to other people, that won’t go down well, they are pushing all the wrong buttons. And of course, in typical Corrie style, a really bad decision has been made because Gary really should have just told the police where Phelan is but it seems as though fate has dictated this to be resolved where it started, on the cobbles, full circle.
Are you pleased about the drama? Do you feel like this is a fitting end to five years of an amazing story?
All the historical places are re-visited in terms of the Phelan storyline and all his pathologies are revisited. It’s really about the baby and what Phelan thinks is his legacy. With him being a control freak, if he knows the game is up, his focus will go to preserving his legacy, being the narcissist that he is.
The two times that Phelan has exposed himself and put himself at risk of being caught or killed, are the two times that he has let his guard down like falling in love with Eileen and his grandson. Is love his downfall or is it to do with his narcissism and his control?
This is Pat Phelan wounded and spiteful so he does something spiteful to Eileen that dismantles the whole love thing. He doesn’t make a lie of anything that they’ve felt in their relationship in the past because he does love her but he does say something spiteful and it is quite a moment. When people see that they will be divided; “Oh I knew he didn’t love her,” “Oh, he really does love her” but he wants to hurt her because he is hurt. This is the last stand.
Have you been involved in the development of his character? Did you ever in your wildest dreams think that we would reach this point?
Never. The writers see the potential for that and the thing that has made Phelan work is that the relationships with Summer and Eileen are real.
Is it gratifying for you as an actor that the writers start to write for you as that character and use what you are bringing to it? Are you proud of this character?
Very, it is a real statement of trust, going from a domestic love situation to immediately down the cellar for example. I am proud of that because you earn that, it’s because they know that you can handle it. We have really created something, collectively, that is going to be around for a while; for Phelan to be mentioned in the same breathe as Alan Bradley, Richard Hillman... these are household names and ones that still terrify me.
Did you enjoy the false death moment?
It is heartening because here we are, invested in a character like this, and all of a sudden there is the possibility that we are not going to see them anymore. The overwhelming reaction to see him at the B&B was phenomenal, it was great. It just adds to this supernatural aspect of him, he survived again.
Obviously you’ve enjoyed your time on the show, what have you got from this experience? What has Corrie given you?
That’s an understatement. What Corrie has given me, if we are talking about practical terms, it has given me a platform. Where else do you think you could get the opportunity to do what we do? So on this platform, we deal with the extraordinary as well as the mundane and to make that as truthful as possible. It has given me a platform to work in that way, the confidence to handle that and the pace is quite something.
Equally as important to me, it’s secured my studio, The Alamo, for the next couple of years and that means an awful lot to me. I have a large studio which is run by my partner, who is also a painter, and we take in graduates and mentor them, whether that is in visual arts or dramatic arts because we have a lot of actors who come there too. It’s the largest independent lead studio space in Plymouth, possibly the South West, and we don’t get money from anybody. And so my time on Coronation Street has also given me a window to other places to talk about these things.
Friendships and awards as well; recognition by your peers and the industry and by the public. We get together for a short time to produce something collectively... there’s probably a very long list of things that Coronation Street has given me.
What’s next?
If someone said to me, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life playing bad guys?” I’d say, “Sure what’s the script like?”
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