Edward admits he faked Tony's brain tumour - Hollyoaks' Joe McGann on evil twist
Is this his most awful act yet?
Hollyoaks fans feared for the future of Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) after his brain tumour diagnosis but it looks like he's going to be fine - because there was no tumour in the first place, his dastardly dad Edward Hutchinson (Joe McGann) made the whole thing up!
The audacious twist was revealed in Tuesday 12th May's E4 episode when Verity Hutchinson (Eva O'Hara) discovered her brother's 'emergency surgery' was suddenly cancelled, so she confronted her surgeon father who had delivered the diagnosis to her sibling last week.
Cornered, the devilish doctor was forced to confess he had faked the results, leaving his daughter, and viewers, aghast! The question is, why has he stooped so low?
"They really are making him bad now, aren't they?" grins McGann, speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com. "Ultimately his game is control. He still sees a picture of him being with Tony's wife Diane, to fill the hole left by his ex-wife who died in a plane crash.
"Even after Tony found out about the affair, Edward's feelings for Diane remain strong. He thinks if he can prove what he feels to be Tony's instability, the job will do itself and he'll get what he wants."
It's a risky move, even by calculating Edward's clever standards, but McGann reckons such elaborate deception is easy meat for his narcissistic alter ego.
"I would say it's within his powers and skillset to manipulate situations like this. Doctors and surgeons move in rarefied circles, my brother Paul made a film called Paper Mask about a hospital porter imitating a doctor. They're powerful people. Edward is in that world so it's easy to hold a con, cancel the operation and cover it up as he's privy to all the information."
It remains to be seen how Edward will fully explain himself to Verity, or if he can stop her blabbing the terrible truth to Tony and the rest of the family, which will be tackled in the next episode airing on E4 next Monday 18th May.
"I imagine it will be easy for Edward to misdirect and deflect," smiles McGann. "He has to maintain his calm to stay in control. And I would also say between fathers and daughters there is always a deal to be made…"
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