Coronation Street airs Andy Carver ‘back from the dead’ twist

Coronation Street viewers were stunned tonight when the saga revealed that Andy Carver has spent the past 7 months being held hostage by villainous builder Pat Phelan.

It was thought that Phelan (Connor McIntyre) had done away with the bistro waiter back in January to stop him exposing his nasty deeds. Viewers saw Phelan hit Andy (Oliver Farnworth) over the head with a laptop then swaddle his lifeless body in a rug.

But now the secret is out – Phelan has been leading a double life, keeping Andy a prisoner in the basement of a derelict house, whilst living amongst Andy’s friends on the street.

“I had an inkling about it even before I left last time because I had a meeting with [Producer] Kate Oates who pitched the idea to me and. Obviously I was hugely excited about it and said yes there and then but Kate needed to then go away and speak to the storyline and writing team. I had no idea it would be 8 months away.

 

“When I first read the scripts where Phelan attacked Andy I thought he was dead, I think we all did. Luckily that meeting with Kate came not too far after but nothing was finalised so I was in some weird sort of limbo. Some months later I was finally told the storyline and I thought it was amazing. I couldn’t recall a time it had been done before in a soap and I also felt it was not beyond the realms of possibility because you see cases in the news like this.” – Oliver Farnworth

Tonight the lank haired, filthy, bearded and terrified Andy was revealed for the first time, but the soap has actually been foreshadowing the character’s true fate for a while. 

In scenes carefully seeded over the past eight months Phelan has appeared with a mysterious black eye, made excuses about returning home late and even hidden bags of shopping in his van.

“I have told a few close friends and family an inner circle that I would trust with my life but apart from that no one else really knew, even a lot of people at Corrie didn’t know.

 

“I felt a bit like a movie star being driven in my own personal car to set every day and come out with sunglasses on and a hood over my head to avoid the paparazzi.” – Oliver Farnworth

But as these preview shots show Andy has finally decided the time has come to try and escape his prison and on Monday night (August 21st) he lies in wait for his captor with a rope. As Phelan arrives in the basement he pounces on him in a desperate bid for freedom.

Coronation Street, Monday/Wednesday/Friday on ITV/STV/UTV