Actress Pauline McLynn arrived on the cobbles back in October and has teased that her time in the ITV soap could already be up
Maggie Driscoll in Coronation Street(Image: ITV)
Coronation Street star Pauline McLynn has revealed she was told her character, Maggie Driscoll, would die, as she teased the outcome of a dramatic murder plot.
The actress, famed for the role of Mrs Doyle in Father Ted, arrived on the ITV soap’s famous cobbles as new character Maggie back in October and quickly revealed herself to be the owner of the Rovers Return.
She followed her son, Ben Driscoll, onto the cobbles, after he brought Eva Price back to Weatherfield after seven years – alongside their children, Susie Price and Ollie and Will Driscoll – and surprised her with the beloved boozer, telling her she was the new landlady.
Click here to sign up for more Coronation Street updates in our newsletter
A delighted Eva wasted no time in settling into the pub and welcoming all the regulars with a huge opening party. But it was the arrival of Ben’s mum, Maggie, that ruffled feathers, as she delivered the shock news to Eva that she is, in fact, the landlady after Ben had to ask her for financial help.
Since then, light was shed on Maggie’s own past. Back in December, she was seen celebrating her 65th birthday with a party at the Rovers, which coincided with Corrie’s own 65th anniversary, but a series of flashbacks gave a glimpse of the matriarch’s true self.
The final flashback scene showed a row between Maggie and her husband in which it was revealed that Maggie had previously had an affair. Then, in a moment of rage, Maggie pushed her husband down the stairs, killing him, with the incident witnessed by their youngest child, Finlay.
While Maggie continues to keep her deadly secret, news of her affair has since been revealed to Ben, as he discovered that his father is the late Jim McDonald, making local cabbie Steve McDonald his half-brother.
But amidst the reveal, the Driscolls had another drama on their hands as it was revealed that Ben’s youngest son, and Maggie’s grandson, Will, had been being groomed by his coach and teacher, Megan Walsh.
Maggie and Megan are set for a dramatic showdown(Image: ITV)
For now, Megan is getting away with her crimes with her and Will sticking to their story, and there’s no other evidence that can prove the relationship between the pair, with Megan claiming to have suffered a miscarriage when she actually had an abortion. But, as Corrie fans know, Megan and Maggie are both among the five possible victims of a murder set to rock the cobbles, and the pair are set for a showdown during Thursday’s (April 30) episode of the ITV soap.
Speaking ahead of the drama unfolding, Pauline was asked if she knew when she started on Corrie that Maggie would end up within the line-up of some pretty evil villains, she told the Manchester Evening News and other press: “It’s nearly the biggest compliment I’ve been paid for a long time! I’m not interested in nice people. I far prefer to be a villain. I will say this, when I joined the show, I was told that the plan for the character was to kill her. So we shall see!
“I think you’ll find when you watch all of the five stories that it’s very possible more than one person is dead, that’s another thing I will say. And the third thing, is that the wonderful Kate Brooks said to me once, you’re going to get a set of scripts and it looks like you’re dead – and you might be. I just wanted to warn you! We don’t know.”
She continued to tease: “I do seem very dead at the end of the week. Assume nothing. You might be being fed one thing which is true, but it could be more than one. It’s also brilliantly clear that any one of the five could be a killer, whether or not they’ve killed the person you believe to be dead or not. It’s brilliantly seeded in. There is a justice in Coronation Street, if you do a crime, you have to pay the price.”
Pauline added: “It’s a huge compliment to be part of it. And off the back of the wedding of the year as well. As it’s Corrie, while there is a happy event, some terrible things are happening. You’re in for five mini films during the week and like all movies, there’s trailers as well, that was fascinating. I’ve been in the business 40-something years now, but there were things we did during the week that were so filmic. It was really fascinating to be part of all that process as well. It means as an actor you’re growing all the time.”
But the unpredictability means that while Maggie may not be the victim, she could be the killer. Describing Maggie now, Pauline shared: “Capable of anything. Which is great. I think there is so much joy in being let loose on a story and such great storytelling. You’re in for such a treat for the week and beyond. It gives you the joy in being able to just go for it.
“As long as you can ground it in some empathy or reason why people are doing what they’re doing, I believe you are allowed to luxuriate in the decisions you’ve made, or deal with them. One dodgy decision, you have to keep covering that up. In that way, I think Maggie has reached the point where she is capable of anything. She’ll worry later about how to deal with the fallout. That’s a brilliant and liberating place to be.”