Sarah Killed Theo: Tina O’Brien Coronation Street Interview

Tonight, Coronation Street viewers discovered it was Sarah Platt who killed Theo. Here, actress Tina O’Brien gives her reaction to the plot in a brand new interview.

• Sarah Platt killed Theo in Coronation Street
• The news was revealed in tonight’s episode on ITV1. Catch up on ITVX
• In this brand new interview, actress Tina O’Brien says she was shocked when she learnt of the story development

So it was Sarah who killed Theo, do you think that’s going to come as a shock to a lot of people?

I think, based on previous episodes, there were a lot of people who thought Sarah was protecting Gary or that Sarah and Gary maybe saw something that night and were trying to protect somebody else, when in fact it was actually Sarah, which I think will have come as a shock to a lot of people.

How did you react when you read the scripts and discovered it was Sarah, were you shocked?

I was really shocked, but for me, personally, I completely understand how it happened, why it happened. For me to get into her character and her head,
I feel like, in that moment, she didn’t feel like she had any other choice.

Were you worried about the future and what it might mean for Sarah?

There was a lot of debate in the green room as soon as we were told there was going to be a murderer. A lot of people were playing Cluedo, first off some of the cast got told that they were involved in the storyline, but they weren’t the murderer. So by the time it got to me to go for my meeting, I was a bit like, I think it’s me!
But I genuinely didn’t worry, at the end of the day this job is incredible, but to be an actor is not necessarily a job for life. So, I just was really excited to be given the honour of being the murderer, and then hopefully, however it plays out, I’ll enjoy Sarah’s arc.

Has it been hard keeping it a secret, did you tell anyone?

I’ve literally been a big bag of nerves. It’s been so difficult, I told my mum and I just recently told Scarlett and my son Beau. Yeah. It’s really hard having to keep it quiet for that long, especially when you’re online, you’re seeing all the chat on social media, everyone’s saying I think it’s such a body, I think this, and I think that. Actually filming these scenes the weeks after have been the hardest thing I’ve ever filmed because I felt like my face looked guilty constantly and I was like, everyone’s going to know it’s me instantly. So that’s been really difficult. 

What pushed Sarah to push Theo?

So she’d gone looking for Todd, she rang him, she could hear this phone on the scaffolding, so she went up and there was Theo. She said some things that were pretty threatening so then he wouldn’t let her leave. The way he was talking, it sounded like he’d done something to Todd, as in he was dead, that’s how it felt to Sarah, that he’d done something awful to Todd. Then he said, if you think what I did to Todd was bad, and I loved him, think what I can do to you! He was coming towards her, and I think in that moment, as far as she was concerned, it was do or die. 

In those moments after, what was her initial reaction, her biggest fears?

I think she absolutely went into panic mode, shocked, stunned and numb. She obviously didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know how to react and I think, in that moment, she thought I can’t call Kit because of his job in the police.
And so in that moment, she thought who can I call and it was Gary.

How hard is it hiding the truth from Kit, is this a relationship that she genuinely sees a future in?

It’s just constant guilt, guilt that she didn’t just call the police when it happened, guilt that Kit thinks it’s Gary, and she knows that she’s responsible for that. It’s guilt that a man has died, it’s guilt that Summer has spent time in prison. There’s a lot of guilt there and I think also, selfishly, she feels like she’s ruined her chance with Kit, because if he knows what she’s done, he might not want her anymore and she so wanted him to be her future. 

And Todd, that must be a real jumble of emotions given the abuse he suffered at the hands of Theo, but also the fact that they were still married and he’s grieving?

It’s weird, does she regret doing what she did? I actually don’t think she does. It’s not that I think she wanted to kill him, it’s the fact that I don’t feel that she thought she had a choice in that moment. I think she feels very guilty about what Todd’s going through, very guilty that she’s lying to him because it’s one of those situations that once she’s started lying, she can’t stop. But I think if she was to go back and be in that moment again, would she still do what she did?
I think she felt so threatened that she would, it was self preservation. 

How desperate is Sarah to keep the truth hidden?

It’s not just about her now, it’s about her family and her son, and there are times when she can’t cope with the pressure and you think she’s just going to hand herself in. And then she thinks about her son growing up without a mum, if she’s convicted and can’t prove she acted in self defence. And because of those things, she’s so desperate to do whatever it takes to be part of her family’s life.

She’s now an accidental double murderer, could she be going to prison this time?

Wow, wow, wow, the first one she was an accessory! But yeah, absolutely she could be going to prison this time. If she’d have called the police straight away and explained what happened, she would have been in a much better situation, because it was clearly not pre meditated, it was a situation where she felt she had no other choice. But to cover it up, to actively cover something up, she knows that she crossed a line that she can’t come back from. 

Did you enjoy delivering that push and being the one who finished off Theo?

Yeah I did, I really enjoyed delivering that final push. James was such a lovely guy to work with, but when he was acting, filming those scenes, it was intimidating and scary, and it really did feel like she was trapped. He played it so well. For me, as an actor, to be the one to be up there on the scaffolding in that moment, it felt really good. You’re like, oh yeah, it’s me, because you know everyone’s going to be like oh my God, it was Sarah. So yeah, it felt really good, especially knowing what he’d done to Todd.

Do you enjoy doing those stunt type of scenes? 


I love stunt scenes. We filmed during night shoots, working from 5pm till 5am, up on this scaffolding and there’s just nothing like it really. You’ve got all the big lights on, the cherry pickers, you’ve got all the cameras, all the crew, and it just feels like you’re part of something really important and really good fun.