Coronation Street star Connor McIntyre has said villainous Pat Phelan will be at his most dangerous when he returns to the Cobbles.

The murderer has been hiding out and plotting his next move while his neighbours believe he is dead.

But he will make a dramatic return to the show in a string of special episodes, when he will be confronted by Joe McIntyre (Reece Dinsdale) and Gary Windass (Mikey North).

Phelan will also be desperate to secure his legacy, in the form of his grandchild.

McIntyre said: “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.”

Asked if being trapped by Gary and Joe makes Phelan his most dangerous, the actor 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.”

McIntyre added that Phelan’s wife Eileen (Sue Cleaver) will bear the brunt of his anger.

“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.”