UK Edition
Feeds
How does it feel to be back at Corrie?
"It really is the strangest thing - you just walk in and it was nice saying hello to everybody in the green room and stuff but all of a sudden you're on set. It was just me mainly at the start, so apart from one scene with Rob [Beck] - who plays Jimmy - it was just me and the crew in my flat, so it was brilliant - and really, really funny. Banter as usual and you're like, 'But that is my first day, is nobody going to make a fuss?' and of course nobody does because they're all onto the next scene."
You're back for a short period then you're going off again – how do all the dates work out? When will we see you?
"I'm back on screen for two weeks and a lot happens. Then I'm off screen for about three weeks and then full steam ahead. I'm back filming full-time now, though."
"It sparks the beginning of the end for Tony and where I stand with it all. It's all about whether I tell anyone about Tony killing Liam. It's big stuff. If everybody does find out - which I'm sure they will - my name will be muck and I'm going to be on my own again. I don't know who they're going to get for me to play with because unless my brother gets out of prison I'm going to be hated by everyone again!"
Where's Carla been?
"She's been to LA - and there have been about six million references to LA in case you'd forgotten where Carla was! I think she's been with an old school friend. So the one person she's kept in touch with apart from the Connors has a place in LA, so she runs off to visit her any time she's got a problem, which is nice."
What's her motive for returning?
"I think it's just Carla saying, 'I miss the urban grime, I'm sick of wall to wall sunshine'. No, in all seriousness, I think she's probably sick of hiding. You know how it's great to go on holiday but she's made a few roots in Weatherfield and she doesn't have many, so I presume that she does miss the urban life. It's everything she's built up. That's her only empire and she was quite good at it so she can't believe that Tony's holding off contacting her. She's had a bit of time to get some balls back, too."
She returns for baby Liam's christening…
"I think Leanne told her about Maria, so that's probably one of the factors for why she's back. I don't know whether she's heard about the christening or not but she's probably thought, 'I can't let this go on'. But at the same time, she's thought of a beneficial way it might suit her to get the factory back."
"We see her at the graveside in hooded Scottish widow-type fashion! I think it reads like she's arranged to meet him there, which is all quite gruesome, but quite poignant I suppose. I guess in storyline terms, we're near Liam's death so it would be nice if it were all dark and mysterious. I think it's just a reference to his death and that's the place to make him feel under most pressure I guess. My first words when I see him are, 'You're late'. It just goes to show that Carla's completely in control when she comes back - the ball's in her court."
How does Tony react?
"Carla tells him, 'Stop doing what you're doing with Maria or I'll tell her, everybody else and the police that you killed Liam'. She's not going to make it easy for him but he's pretty manipulative himself and whether it's going to be the easy or the hard way you'll have to wait and find out…"
What do you make of Tony and Maria?
"With Maria, Tony has what he's always wanted with Carla. Tony and Maria are the leftovers - they're what Carla and Liam didn't really want. Tony'll be damned if he's going to let Carla screw it up now he's worked so hard to get where he wants. But it's sick - he can't carry on that way forever, not in Coronation Street."
Then there's a shock turn of events involving Jimmy…
"Yeah, the fight… I think Tony says something like, 'I want her dead'. Tony wants Carla out of the way and Carla wants him out of the way, so I keep arranging to meet him but he doesn't show up and I'm left with this skulky figure of Jimmy standing in front of me. Carla ends up fighting for her life and there's an amazing twist, too. It just shifts the control again. The ball's in Tony's court… Tony's so controlling of Carla and in her panic, she has to flee again."
> Click here to read more from Alison King in Soap Scoop
Additional reporting by Philippa Warr
