Coronation Street bosses respond to criticism of Pat Phelan violence

"Unbelievable level of violence."

It's fair to say plenty of us sat watching Corrie last night with one hand over our faces. We knew Pat was a baddie but seriously? The episode was introduced with an advisor warning from ITV but even that didn't prepare us for what was to come. Having held Andy Carver hostage for eight months in a cellar, Pat rounded off the storyline with a gruesome twist. Poor Andy thought he might escape if he followed Pat's orders but that wasn't to be - after Andy killed Vinny Ashford, Pat cruelly turned the gun on him and we COULDN'T. COPE. Twitter absolutely went off on one as the scenes were shown. https://twitter.com/733sf/status/924187077994000384 https://twitter.com/yogatronx/status/924164999181979650 https://twitter.com/rudemrlang/status/924026061242978305 https://twitter.com/CrunHenry/status/924000870945230848 The soap's producers have defended the scenes, saying they attempted to limit the violence shown on screen and hinting at what's to come for Pat.

"Coronation Street has always been recognised for its mix of drama and comedy, as well as hard hitting storylines," they said in statement.

"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."

Good to know that things will balance out, but there'd want to be some seriously light storylines coming after all of that. Excuse us, we need to be alone right now.