Coronation Street bosses have spoken out about the controversial scenes aired last night, which showed villainous builder, Pat Phelan, force Andy Carver to kill Vinny Ashford, before shooting Andy himself.
Phelan then went on to dump both bodies in a lake.
Read more: Corrie fans appalled by pre-watershed double murder
Shocked Corrie fans flooded social media, lashing out at the violent nature of the pre-watershed scenes.
ITV warned that some viewers might find the scenes upsetting before both of last night’s Corrie outings at 7.30pm and 8.30pm.
Now bosses have clarified their stance even further, saying that Phelan’s actions were in character and that a comeuppance is winging its way to him.
A spokesperson said: ‘Coronation Street has always been recognised for its mix of drama and comedy, as well as hard hitting storylines.
“Phelan has already been established as a villain in a long line of murderous Coronation Street villains and so his actions, evil though they are, won’t have come as a surprise to viewers.
“In addition the programme is always careful to limit the level of violence actually shown to a minimum to convey the drama and tell the story. And, of course, one day, Phelan will get his comeuppance and justice will be done.”
Viewers were also outraged when Phelan’s daughter Nicola (played by Nicola Thorpe) discovered she was the product of a sexual attack by the unhinged builder on her mum.
He was exposed after Lydia, a friend of Nicola Rubinstein’s parents, revealed that Nic’s mum didn’t have an affair with Pat as the builder claimed.
He was recently revealed to be Nicola’s biological father.
Viewers had wondered why Lydia had seemed so horrified after seeing a picture of Phelan a few weeks back – and last night they finally discovered why.
Lydia made the disturbing revelation and warned Nicola to stay away from Pat.
Nicola was left shaken to discover that she wasn’t the product of an intense love affair – as Phelan had pretended – but a sexual assault.
Lydia explained that Phelan was friends with Nic’s mum and Isaac, the man she had grown up believing was her dad.
She went on to say that there had been a major row one night in the street with Phelan, just before Nicola’s parents moved away.
Nicola asked Lydia: “So you don’t think it was an affair. It was a one off?
Lydia replied: “I only know what you mum told me. She said…she said Pat forced himself on her.
“And then when she came back a few months later to pick up some bits she was pregnant with you.”
A tearful Nicola asked: “Hang on she, she said, he forced himself on her. You mean…he raped her.”
Read more: TV presenter slams Corrie for being too ‘grim’
The storyline left a nasty taste in the viewers who claimed it had now gone too far and called for it to end.