In Soapland, one attack over Christmas is expected. But two? Someone’s been very naughty this year…

Coronation Street bosses have confirmed that one unlucky Weatherfield resident will be beaten and left for dead in a ginnel on Christmas Day, another will be the victim of a horrific beating – and both victims will be linked to the Driscoll Family.

Early this year, the chaotic Driscoll clan crashed onto the Cobbles and brought a familiar face with them – Eva (Catherine Tyldesley). Since we last saw her, Eva’s got herself a new fella, her disarmingly charming fiance Ben Driscoll (Aaron McCusker) who moved from Hull with his two sons, Ollie (Raphael Akuwudike) and Will Driscoll (Lucas Hodgson-Wale), to start a new life running Weatherfield’s favourite boozer.

Eva’s no stranger to the Rovers Return and is keen to step behind that bar again. But she’s barely been back five minutes when the Driscolls find themselves at the centre of the Christmas day attack. Actress Catherine Tyldesley spills the details.

‘It’s a big shock.’ She confesses. ‘Christmas is supposed to be that time where seemingly everyone gets on, you hang out with friends and family, and everything’s lovely, but it’s not like that in Weatherfield on Christmas Day! It isn’t exactly how any of them envisaged their first Christmas in the Rovers.’

What could link the Driscolls to these Seasons Beatings? Enter Eva’s monster-in-law and co-landlady, the formidable Maggie Driscoll (Pauline McLynn).

This brilliant battle-axe has a fierce protective streak when it comes to her family and has more barbed putdowns than Blanche Hunt and Norris Cole’s lovechild. Safe to say, Maggie and Eva don’t exactly do girly trips and spa days together. Catherine describes their spiky relationship. ‘It’s boiling point on Christmas Day.

‘Eva and Maggie have always had that sort of relationship where they are going to hurl insults at each other, but most of the time, they laugh it off. But for Maggie, it certainly runs a bit deeper than that.

‘I don’t think anybody would ever quite be good enough for her golden boy. Maggie’s just constantly is hurling things at Eva, and she hurls something really big at Eva on Christmas Day, and everything just kind of explodes’.

We love a good soap explosion here at Metro. But what could it be? Coronation Street bosses have already aired a special episode centring around Maggie’s birthday, which revealed the drastic lengths she’ll go to just to protect her family. That’s bad news for Eva, who’s keeping a big secret of her own from Ben.

‘Other than this particular thing, she doesn’t hide anything from Ben’ Catherine explains. ‘But this was the one thing that she’s found really difficult, and, in a way, she has absolutely done it to protect Ben, to protect him from feeling hurt and that all comes out on Christmas Day. It’s something that she does feel guilty about and that she’s been carrying around with her.’

Of course, because this is Soapland, Eva doesn’t keep this juicy whopper of a secret to herself. She confides in Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson), who suggests that she write her feelings down in this letter.

Catherine reveals how this decision comes back to bite her character.

‘Often I think people find writing a letter therapeutic. Eva pours all these feelings out  because there is something that triggers her to remind her of this section of her life that she wanted to forget about. And Adam says to her, ‘Look, why don’t you write everything down?’ ‘Why don’t you write a letter? It might make you feel better,’ and it does, but things very quickly backfire. I think what she probably should have done is burnt the letter after writing it. But you live and learn!’

Live and learn? Let’s hope so…