Coronation Street: Ali kills Ronan - actor James Burrows reacts to shock twist
"He had to make this decision for his family," argues the Corrie star
Coronation Street GP Ali Neeson crossed the line in dramatic style in Friday's double bill when he ended the life of the sinister Ronan Truman. Violating the physician's promise to "do no harm", Ali brought about Ronan's bloody demise in the aftermath of a car crash - but can he now live with what he's done?
"Ali has done a naughty little thing there," actor James Burrows admitted to RadioTimes.com. "But it wasn't planned. He's not a Pat Phelan or anything like that. He had to make a very tough decision and it was a spur of the moment thing. But he instantly regretted it and he's now really going to struggle with it mentally. He's not a killer, he's a doctor and a good guy."
At the climax of a dramatic week of episodes, the Connor clan were seen attempting to go on the run after being threatened by Ronan, only to be pursued at speed by the man himself. After Michelle's car suddenly died, Ryan exited the vehicle and was mown down by Ronan. But a previously unpublicised twist came when Leanne - who had spotted the accident from the taxi in which she was travelling - ran to help but ended up getting run over by Ronan, who was attempting to flee the scene.
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After losing control of his own car, Ronan then crashed into a ditch and was later found by Ali with a metal fence post piercing his stomach. When Ronan asked Ali to remove the post, the doctor refused, pointing out that it was keeping him alive.
However, when Ali spotted a gun in Ronan's car, he realised the gangster was planning to murder them and - reaching a decision - took Ronan's hands and forced him to grip the fence post before pulling it out.
As blood poured from the injured man's wound, Ali scrambled away and left Ronan to die. "He had to make this decision for his family," added Burrows. "But he's now going to go on this massive rollercoaster of emotion where he relives what he's done."
Later on, Ali was forced to swallow his guilt when he lied and told a paramedic at the scene that Ronan pulled out the post himself. Next week's episodes of Corrie will see Ali's lies continue to spiral when, under police interrogation, he's asked about the firearm in Ronan's car but denies all knowledge of having seen it. Robert, meanwhile, is getting increasingly suspicious of how Ali has been behaving in the wake of the collision.
Scenes to be shown on Wednesday 17 October then see the pressure become too much to bear for the panicked medic and he opts to pack his bags to leave. But can mum Michelle convince him to stay? And will Ali open up about his deadly actions?
Speaking about his hopes for his character, Burrows said: "I like playing a likeable character - I don't want to be the bad guy. But maybe that's what Ali is going to be now!"
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