Imran (played by Charlie De Melo) has been on a mission to find out who caused the factory roof collapse on Coronation Street which killed his sister Rana Habeeb (Bhavna Limbachia), most recently blaming Carla Connor (Alison King) for the disaster.
With Imran leading the charge against Carla alongside her sister Kate Connor (Faye Brookes), the factory boss has spiralled into a deep state of depression, leading her to flee Weatherfield in Friday night’s episode.
As Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) tries to get Carla’s loved ones on side to help him track down the factory boss, Imran will carry out his mission to discover who caused the tragedy on the ITV soap this evening, leading to a confrontation with health and safety inspector Wayne Hayes (Adam Barlow).
However, when it appears Imran has stolen the report about the disaster from Wayne’s car, the lawyer will find himself facing tough interrogation from the police as the health and safety inspector tries to put an end to the lawyers vendetta.
Following an argument in Roy’s Rolls cafe which is seen earlier in the episode, Wayne reports Imran to the police after he finds the lawyer holding the report in his hands when he leaves it on the table by mistake, putting him in the frame later on when the inspector’s car is broken into.
Knowing his legal position having trained in the rule of the law, Imran is able to fight his corner after the arrest but is thrown a curveball when Carla’s business partner Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) crops up in the conversation.
When the police ask Imran about Nick, the lawyer begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together and comes to the conclusion the factory boss is somehow mentioned in the report about the roof collapse.
It’s already been revealed to viewers the tragedy was caused by the latest cobbles super villain, with the factory roof collapse marking the beginning of their reign of terror in Weatherfield.
With Nick one of the five suspects in the running to be identified as the super villain in the coming weeks and months, could the police have made a fundamental error, leading Imran to expose the factory boss as the criminal mastermind?
Teasing the identity of the super villain, Coronation boss Iain MacLeod revealed: “One of the things when I joined the show, I thought it would have been fun to have a play with Phelan for a bit and I never got to, so not that we would ever try to recreate that character because he was so unique and of that type and of a level of extremity.”
He continued: “You can’t really go there more than once a decade. So we aren’t looking to recreate that.
“But we are trying to design a new Corrie through and through villain. The factory collapse will be the start of that process.”
Before the factory collapse, Nick was facing financial hardship as he was being blackmailed to pay Natalie (Cassie Bradley) over her role in scamming his grandmother Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls).
With his brother David Platt (Jack P Shepherd) clued up about his brother’s dodgy dealings, the barber shop owner claimed his brother could have caused the carnage as a insurance scam to get Natalie off his case.
However, Nick pleaded his innocence and never paid Natalie the money, resulting in the schemer getting a job at the barber shop as an alternative, putting his secret at greater risk of being revealed.
Has Nick really turned to the dark side to ensure his con against Audrey remains a secret but tripped up along the way, causing his misdemeanours to be exposed? Or could it all be a red-herring as to keep the real culprit’s identity a secret?
Another face in the line-up is Bistro owner Robert Preston (Tristan Gemmill) who swore revenge on Carla believing she was the reason he and partner Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) split.
This week, Michelle and Robert will come to blows following Carla’s mystery exit from the cobbles as the feisty former barmaid blames her ex for causing the factory owner’s breakdown.
Robert was the one who told Carla’s neighbours she knew the roof was unsafe and could have prevented the disaster, sparking Imran and Kate’s vendetta against the factory boss.
Coronation Street continues tonight at 7.30pm on ITV.
