Coronation Street Coronation St's Ian: 'Owen slips and slaps Faye!'

Coronation Street's Ian Puleston-Davies tells Soaplife how Owen loses his violent temper and hits Faye - then loses Anna!

How does Owen feel about his relationship with Anna?
"He thought he would never find love again so I think this for him is a big honeymoon period in his life. She's thawed him out and that's nice to see in Owen."

He's not getting on so well with Faye, though, is he?
"He loves his daughters and was a good dad to them and he wants to do his level best to make his relationship with Faye work, not just for Anna, but because he's a responsible, loving adult. But at times he's rattled and we'll see that Faye does eventually get under his skin."

Why does he volunteer to look after Faye when Anna needs to go to help her injured brother?
"He wants Anna to know genuinely that he's there for her. He thinks he can handle Faye because he's got this history with his two girls and he thinks maybe it will give them time to bond."

And how does that go?
"He soon realises he's got a bigger task on his hands than he initially thought. It's a gradual realisation that Faye is going to be a harder nut to crack than either of his daughters and this isn't going to be as easy as he thought it was."

She's not just playing him up, though... She kills his fish!
"And he's absolutely furious!"

In fact, he hits her!
"It's a knee-jerk reaction, but it's still a slap. In that nano-second he thinks he'll give her a slap on the back of the legs. For him it's conforming to some sort of old-fashioned discipline but, of course, that doesn't mean he's right. It comes out of him losing his temper and that makes it far worse; it scares him."

How does Faye react?
"We learn that she comes from an abusive family so I imagine for Faye the nightmares suddenly come reeling back... It brings back all the bad feelings just when she thought she was safe."

What happens when Anna returns home?
"She's understandably unforgiving and I think the scenes are just brilliant. It's that earth mother roar protecting her daughter, her reaction is spine-tingling."

Can they repair their relationship?
"I hope so. I think when she calms down and when she hears enough of his defence he'll be able to persuade her to realise that it was a mistake, that he's accepted and acknowledged it was wrong and that he crossed the line. He believes that their love is stronger than this mistake and he believes it won't ever happen again."