Does John really think he can dig up Colin's body without being caught?
"Well he's got away with a lot so far, so yes! He tells Fiz at 10pm that he's off to work and she finally makes the connection and follows him. She arrives at the factory to see John with a dead body."
How does Fiz react to what she sees?
"It's the most bizarre situation really, because at first she just thinks that he's found a body. He doesn't deny it initially because his brain is just racing and thinking, 'How am I going to get away with this?' And then it's only after a while that she starts to think that it might be Chesney, because obviously Chesney's missing. It's only at that point that he kind of goes, 'No, no, no, it's not Chesney', and then says basically, 'You remember Colin Fishwick?'…"
How does Fiz feel as John tells her the truth about Colin's death?
"Her reaction is just absolute horror, really, at what's gone on - she can't quite comprehend it. It's like her image of who her husband is gets completely shattered throughout that conversation - it's like he becomes a different person to her. Although he's insistent that he's the same person and trying to get across how it all happened and why it happened, all she can see is him stood there with a dead body."
Is Fiz's love for John killed straight away?
"I don't know if it kills her love for him, but certainly she's disgusted with him, in a way that she never has been before. Considering everything that's gone on in the past before, I think this is the first time that you genuinely see that their relationship changes forever at this point."
What happens to Colin's body?
"He's still got to be got rid of, obviously, and part of this thing with Fiz is that she then realises she's in deep trouble, because she took the inheritance money not realising that Colin was dead. She's kind of made herself very complicit in it all. He asks her to help get rid of the body because they've both broken the law. I'm not saying whether she agrees to help get rid of this body, though!"
John continues to tells Fiz that they need to run away together. Does she agree?
"No, she refuses to go anywhere until Chesney's back. She's absolutely insistent that she must find Chesney first or must wait until he comes home, as she can't leave him."
In a further twist, Katy is planning to have an abortion because she thinks Chesney has abandoned her. How does this change things?
"Ironically this is probably the final thing that really does it for John. Katy turns up and says, 'I'm going to have an abortion today'. He can't just say nothing, for all his mistakes he just can't have that on his conscience, he can't let her do it. So he first of all tries to talk Katy out of it, but when it's clear that he's not going to be able to, he thinks, 'I'm going to have to get Chesney out and let him speak to Katy to let her know that he does want the baby'. And that's really what makes it all come tumbling down for him."
What happens next?
"At the Hoyles', he runs downstairs and is going to get Chesney out and get him to phone Katy, and then him and Chesney start having a row. In the middle of this row, he basically threatens Chesney and in threatening him kind of admits that he killed Charlotte, just as Fiz is walking in. She basically hears him confess to killing Charlotte which doesn't go down very well with anybody!"
Doesn't John go on the run after that?
"Yes, he does. Literally his whole life has completely fallen apart, he's clutching at straws and just grappling with anything. Without any shadow of a doubt, he's forgotten to take his pills on the run with him, and literally he's losing his grip on reality big time."
We know that John eventually ends up on a hospital roof with Hope. How does that come about?
"He's at the hospital with Hope and as he is making his way out of the front door, the police arrive. He then panics, runs back inside and goes up some stairs, which take him to the roof. At this point, he's lost the plot and hasn't had any happy medicine for days. All he wants to do is escape, but he's 60ft up and surrounded by police. The fear you see in his eyes is real because heights make my legs buckle!"
We also know that everything reaches a climax with a showdown on the roof. Can you tell us anything about what happens?
"Well it's a long way up! And by that very nature, it's also a very long way down! As for what happens, that would be telling - it is aired after the watershed, so we can do things we don't normally do. John is right back to animal instincts. He has nowhere to go, so anything could happen."
As John has Hope in his arms on the roof, would he harm his own daughter?
"Well, under normal circumstances absolutely not. But like I say, it is that fact that he's completely losing his grip on reality, he's a rabbit caught in the headlights, and I think under those circumstances anything is possible really. That's what's great about those last few episodes, he does go to a place of anything is possible. And I think that's what's interesting - I don't think any of you will work out what happens, because it's very much deliberate the way it's been done, that's what will be great for the audience. If you are into this world of possibility, with him at the end literally anything could happen."
Are you pleased to have such a dramatic ending to the storyline?
"Yeah, I am, I'm pleased. It's a story that's gone on for nearly a year and a half now, which is virtually unheard of in soap terms. And I know it's a big thing for them to do that, and for them to make that decision to play this story out over such a long period of time. We always knew that this story would have to come to an end at some point, and we were always assured that when it did it would be big. I hope that it's a fitting wind-up to the story. The whole week is a big week of telly, they've really gone for it, and from my point of view as an actor and as somebody who's played John Stape for the past four years, I'm really grateful that it's all finishing up like this."
Will next week be the last time we see John Stape?
"All I can say is, you won't be seeing him anywhere near the Rovers Return!"
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