Pauline McLynn has warned viewers of Coronation Street that history could be about to repeat itself when it comes to Maggie Driscoll amid the soap's Murder Week.
Pauline McLynn Teases Maggie's Fate
The actress, 63, arrived as the no-nonsense Irish matriarch on the world's longest-running TV soap towards the end of last year, where she and her family took over the famed Rovers Return Inn. Never short of drama, Maggie has made an enemy out of teacher Megan Walsh (Beth Nixon), who has been having an illicit relationship with her teenage grandson Will. The pair had an epic showdown that aired at the end of Thursday night's episode.
The programme has undergone numerous format changes in recent years, moving away from traditional linear storytelling. Earlier this year, a flashback episode set in Ireland revealed that Maggie had killed her husband Alan years ago by pushing him down the stairs.
Murder Week Format
Viewers are now in the middle of a much-hyped Murder Week. A flashforward earlier this year confirmed that either Maggie, Megan, or one of her fellow antagonists — Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard), Theo Silverton (James Cartwright), or Jodie Ramsey (Olivia Frances Brown) — would be killed off. Each episode details the same day's events from each character's point of view.
Pauline has teased that her character's killer past could come back to haunt her, and she may have to pay for her historic actions after crossing paths with Megan. She said: "I do seem very dead at the end of the week. Assume nothing. You might be being fed one thing which is true, but it could be more than one. It's also brilliantly clear that any one of the five could be a killer, whether or not they've killed the person you believe to be dead or not. It's brilliantly seeded in. There is a justice in Coronation Street, if you do a crime, you have to pay the price."
Showdown on the Stairs
At the end of Thursday's episode, released early on ITVX, viewers saw an enraged Maggie follow Megan up a flight of stairs and shut the door. Speaking about the suspense-filled scene, Pauline said: "It was a tragic accident when Maggie's husband fell so tragically down the stairs and died [laughs]. The line had been put in - I can, [Maggie has] done it before. At this stage, I don't mind if people do think it's murder. She's so far put to the pin of her collar, why not. We haven't seen whether I do push her down the stairs!"
Pauline, famed for her role as Mrs Doyle in Father Ted, also admitted that she was made aware of the intention to kill Maggie off when she first signed up. She said: "I will say this, when I joined the show, I was told that the plan for the character was to kill her. So we shall see! I think you'll find when you watch all of the five stories that it's very possible more than one person is dead, that's another thing I will say."
Producer's Perspective
Coronation Street boss Kate Brooks said of the big week: "It was a very complicated storylining process! I did lose a bit of sleep and my hair went a little bit greyer. Usually in a murder week you've got one victim, then the suspects — we had five potential suspects had to make sure all the stories aligned, made sense and they were all getting to the right place and coming together."
Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
