Pat Phelan’s violent Coronation Street exit will be shown after watershed

Coronation Street villain Pat Phelan’s exit will be shown after the watershed in order to accommodate the storyline’s violent scenes.

Five special episodes will air from 9pm on ITV following the live semi-final shows of Britain’s Got Talent.

In preview pictures released ahead of the episodes, a bloody Phelan can be seen strangling and pointing a gun at some of the characters he has returned to exact his revenge upon.

Connor McIntyre, who plays Phelan, was quoted in The Sun saying the soap’s later billing allowed it to push boundaries with his character’s dark plot resolution.

McIntyre said: “It gives us a bit more of a licence to go further with the story.

“We’ve pushed the boundaries, we’ve pushed the edge of it so we’ll have to see what the reaction is.”

Phelan’s reign of terror over Weatherfield has been one of a recent series of challenging storylines to run on Coronation Street.

The soap’s outgoing producer, Kate Oates, has defended the show’s more shocking content from criticism, and has said viewing figures “are up year on year”.

During his dramatic return, Phelan will be confronted by Joe McIntyre (Reece Dinsdale) and Gary Windass (Mikey North).

Asked if being trapped by Gary and Joe makes Phelan his most dangerous, McIntyre replied: “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.”

Coronation Street continues on ITV.