Coronation Street favourite Carla Connor is one of the toughest soap characters in history, but she’s been on a disturbing downward spiral ever since the Underworld tragedy that took the life of Rana Habeeb.
The factory boss blames herself for the disaster, as she failed to act on the knowledge that the roof was in desperate need of repair…
In an attempt to save money, Carla ignored the damage – with fatal consequences.
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In ever distressing scenes, Carla begins to buckle under the pressure of the scrutiny – and begins to show signs of her impending psychosis.
Her unravelling continues as the whole Street start to turn on her… Kate blames her for Rana’s death, and Roy kicks her out – but that pales in comparison to the hatred she has for herself.
On Monday 8 April, Carla begins to lose her grip on reality when she receives creepy messages from a user accusing her of murder. And the user is calling themselves ‘Rana’.
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She’s horrified when she receives a message saying “you destroy everything you touch”, sent by ‘Rana’.
While the usually streetwise factory boss would normally see through this and realise it’s someone messing with her head, mixed-up Carla starts to believe Rana is still alive and it’s a conspiracy to get back at her.
With her paranoia increasing and her behaviour getting more erratic, worried Peter Barlow takes her to the GP later in the week (Friday 12 April).
But she flees at the suggestion she needs to see a mental health specialist and disappears, leaving Peter frantic.
So who is behind the sinister messages? Is it the super villain who is REALLY responsible for the factory roof collapse?
While Carla is busy blaming herself and paranoid that everyone hates her, viewers know that a mystery culprit climbed onto the roof and tampered with it ahead of the disaster.
Sharon Marshall told This Morning on Tuesday that the storyline will be a long-running one.
She said: “It gets worse and worse, Carla starts to completely unravel. It’s paranoia and it’s going to go into a complete mental breakdown.
“It is going to go into psychosis where she starts imagining things. The soap worked with the charity Mind and have actually met with people who’ve been through it.”
Meanwhile, actress Alison King told Radio Times: “Carla absolutely thinks she’s to blame for Rana’s death. She knew the roof needed replacing and didn’t have the work done.
“It starts off as all-consuming guilt, the paranoia doesn’t start until after she receives the message from ‘Rana’.”
"She knew and she did nothing."
Kate and Imran have reported Carla! What do you think will happen next? #Corrie #Kate #Imran #Wayne #Roy #Peter #Carla pic.twitter.com/qNxqbTbS7B
— Coronation Street (@itvcorrie) April 1, 2019
She explains that when Carla receives the message, the clue to her psychosis is in the fact she “believes everyone is in on it”.
She adds: “She believes that Rana must be alive and they’re playing some sort of cruel trick on her. […] She’s gone into a state of paranoia which spikes and then calms.
“The first signs of her having these episodes are that she just isn’t being herself which she tries to hide from Peter, but then she becomes more secretive, writing down what’s going on in her brain.”
Carla is eventually put on anti-psychotic drugs after having a mental breakdown.
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