‘It’s not a job for life’: Coronation Street star indicates Sarah exit after she kills Theo

As Coronation Street’s ‘whoisit’ turned into a ‘whodunnit’, we were left with one big question: who killed Theo Silverton? (James Cartwright)

It was a tough case to crack for the cobbles coppers, Lisa Connor-Swain (Vicky Myers) and Kit Green (Jacob Roberts), with half of the street wanting Theo dead.

The ‘official’ suspect line up was vast: Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce), the victim of months of extreme levels of brutality and abuse, Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby), the adoptive daughter of Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank), who Theo had killed, Danielle Silverton (Natalie Anderson), Theo’s embittered ex-wife, George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley), Todd’s father figure, Christina Boyd (Amy Robbins), George’s girlfriend and Gary Windass (Mikey North), Theo’s best friend turned bitter enemy.

In the weeks since the beastly builder was finally bashed over the head and sent to the graveyard of soap baddies, Summer had a spell behind bars, with the police thinking they’d found their perp. When Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) finally provided her an alibi, though, the case was again blown wide open.

Gary and Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien) had clearly been hiding something, with their respective partners, Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon) and Kit believing that they were, in fact, concealing an affair.

They weren’t, though. They were scrambling to cover the fact that it was, in fact, Sarah, Todd’s best friend, who offed Theo, and immediately turned to Gary for help.

Shocked? So was Tina: ‘I was really shocked, but for me, personally, I completely understand how it happened, why it happened.

‘For me to get into her character and her head,
I feel like, in that moment, she didn’t feel like she had any other choice.’

After Kit and Maria rained down accusations on Sarah and Gary, accusing them of engaging in some illicit smoochies, we were shown in a flashback that Sarah received a suspicious text from Todd’s phone. Heading to investigate, she was met with Theo.

True to form, Theo spat venom at Sarah, referencing Billy, the son Sarah and Todd had lost as teenagers.

As things got more heated and it became clear that Theo was more than prepared to physically harm her, Sarah grabbed a metal pipe and bashed Theo right in the bonce, sending him plummeting to the ground below with a grisly thud.

‘I think in that moment, as far as she was concerned, it was do or die,’ Tina explained.

Sarah called Gary, desperately panicking. Having dabbled himself in a spot of killing, he ordered her wash her hands, then make sure someone sees her elsewhere to give her an alibi, which ended up working a treat when she got brutally assaulted by Jodie Ramsey (Olivia Frances-Brown).

But why Gary and not Kit? ‘I think she absolutely went into panic mode, shocked, stunned and numb,’ Tina mused.

‘She obviously didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know how to react and I think, in that moment, she thought I can’t call Kit because of his job in the police.

‘And so in that moment, she thought who can I call and it was Gary.’

How did Sarah learn that Tine was to become a killer? ‘There was a lot of debate in the green room as soon as we were told there was going to be a murderer.

‘A lot of people were playing Cluedo, first off some of the cast got told that they were involved in the storyline, but they weren’t the murderer. So by the time it got to me to go for my meeting, I was a bit like, I think it’s me!

Soap justice is a very real thing, and no crime goes unpunished, especially one as serious as murder. Is Tina worried that Sarah’s actions have given her a shelf life?

‘Absolutely, she could be going to prison. If she’d have called the police straight away and explained what happened, she would have been in a much better situation, because it was clearly not pre meditated, it was a situation where she felt she had no other choice.

‘But to cover it up, to actively cover something up, she knows that she crossed a line that she can’t come back from.’

‘At the end of the day this job is incredible, but to be an actor is not necessarily a job for life. So, I just was really excited to be given the honour of being the murderer, and then hopefully, however it plays out, I’ll enjoy Sarah’s arc.’

So how’s Sarah feeling now, as it pertains to her relationship with Kit?: ‘It’s just constant guilt, guilt that she didn’t just call the police when it happened, guilt that Kit thinks it’s Gary, and she knows that she’s responsible for that.

‘It’s guilt that a man has died, it’s guilt that Summer has spent time in prison.

‘There’s a lot of guilt there and I think also, selfishly, she feels like she’s ruined her chance with Kit, because if he knows what she’s done, he might not want her anymore and she so wanted him to be her future.’

…and her friendship with Todd?

‘It’s weird, does she regret doing what she did? I actually don’t think she does.

‘It’s not that I think she wanted to kill him, it’s the fact that I don’t feel that she thought she had a choice in that moment.

I think she feels very guilty about what Todd’s going through, very guilty that she’s lying to him because it’s one of those situations that once she’s started lying, she can’t stop.

‘But I think if she was to go back and be in that moment again, would she still do what she did?
I think she felt so threatened that she would, it was self preservation.’

Sarah and Gary are determined to keep her guilt under wraps, and Tina explains the driving force behind their determination: ‘It’s not just about her now, it’s about her family and her son, and there are times when she can’t cope with the pressure and you think she’s just going to hand herself in.

‘And then she thinks about her son growing up without a mum, if she’s convicted and can’t prove she acted in self defence. And because of those things, she’s so desperate to do whatever it takes to be part of her family’s life.’

But enough about Sarah. How did Tina feel to play out the slaying?: ‘I really enjoyed delivering that final push.

‘James was such a lovely guy to work with, but when he was acting, filming those scenes, it was intimidating and scary, and it really did feel like she was trapped.

‘He played it so well. For me, as an actor, to be the one to be up there on the scaffolding in that moment, it felt really good.

‘You’re like, oh yeah, it’s me, because you know everyone’s going to be like oh my God, it was Sarah. So yeah, it felt really good, especially knowing what he’d done to Todd.

‘I love stunt scenes. We filmed during night shoots, working from 5pm till 5am, up on this scaffolding and there’s just nothing like it really.

‘You’ve got all the big lights on, the cherry pickers, you’ve got all the cameras, all the crew, and it just feels like you’re part of something really important and really good fun.’