Connor McIntyre is pleased 'Coronation Street' will continue to "push the boundaries" with a violent conclusion to evil Pat Phelan's reign of terror.
Connor McIntyre
The soap villain will lose either his life or his liberty by the end of next week, and the episode will see darker scenes as the long-running storyline emotionally builds to a climax - and the 57-year-old actor is glad the show doesn't shy away from a hard-hitting conclusion.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz at a media event on Monday (21.05.18), Connor was asked if he thinks - given the violent scenes - it's important 'Corrie' moves with the times, even if the soap receives a backlash for doing so.
He said: "I do, and I respect everybody's opinion completely but thankfully it's not my problem. My obligation is between action and cut.
"The scripts have been great, the story, we've really taken it as close as we can get. Some of it has been as good as any drama we've seen on television, in my opinion. Set against Aidan's story, set against Bethany's story - it's just fantastic, isn't it?"
The tense scenes will even see Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) dramatically taken hostage on her wedding day, as she gets caught in the crossfire after Phelan storms into the Bistro armed with a gun.
The episodes will be aired post-watershed - after 9pm - and the soap star admitted the change in timing gave the writers more "license" to push the boundaries with Phelan's aggressive antics.
He added: "It gives us a bit more license, doesn't it, to go further with the story. I haven't seen [the episode yet], so I don't know ... I mean we've pushed the boundaries again.
"Phelan's one component, but we've really pushed the edge of it - so we'll see what the reaction is at nine o'clock.
"It's always fun, I always love to be at work... I mean in the sense that any actor to be given those things to play out is an absolute pleasure."