Coronation Street aired a shocking stairwell showdown for Rob Donovan during his efforts to escape prison.
In tonight's episode, viewers saw Rob and his prison officer girlfriend Mandy turn on sister Carla Connor in a dramatic turn of events.
Viewers recently saw Rob generously agree to become a kidney donor for Carla, but the convicted criminal's kind gesture was all part of a bigger plan, revealed tonight, as he used his time in hospital in the aftermath of Carla's operation to stage a breakout from prison, with what appeared to be deadly consequences.
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Fans saw Carla come round from her successful surgery, with Roy Cropper, Ryan Prescott and Bobby Crawford all at her bedside. Bobby told his aunt that he was thinking of visiting his dad regularly in prison after his seemingly selfless act to save her life, but Carla warned him to still "be careful" given Rob's track record of trouble.
Elsewhere in the hospital, Lisa Swain dropped in on Rob, who asked her outright if she had managed to overturn his conviction, following her earlier promise. "I'm not going to help you," she responded, leaving him raging.
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Rob then tried to blackmail her by mentioning the recording he had of her promising to help him following the surgery, but Lisa shut him down instantly, saying she'd claim she was under duress when the recording was made.
After Lisa left the room, a visibly angry Rob made a call to Mandy and asked for her help after being "stitched up".
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Mandy wasted no time in enacting Rob's new plan, waking Carla up from her hospital bed and pretending that Rob had been taken ill following the donor operation.
After getting Carla into a wheelchair, she pulled out a gun and held it to Carla's head telling her to follow instructions.
The action returned to Rob, who persuaded the prison guard to release him from his handcuffs by pretending he needed the toilet. The next thing viewers saw was the guard lying in Rob's bed instead, with a bloodied nose, while Rob limped off, dressed in his uniform.
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Mandy successfully escorted Carla out of the hospital without raising suspicion and took her to an abandoned office block. She then sent photos of Carla in her vulnerable state to Rob who confronted Lisa with them in her car, shortly after she arrived at the hospital.
"I need cash, so I'm gonna need you to transfer some money to me," he demanded. "Five grand should cover it."
She agreed to give him the money, but persuaded him to take her to Carla first to see if she was okay.
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Back in the abandoned office building, Carla asked Mandy to do the right thing, but Mandy told Carla about her and Rob's plan to run away together to start a new life.
Carla laughed in response, failing to believe that Rob was really in love with her and warned her to leave him, but Mandy confessed she was pregnant with his child.
Rob and Lisa then arrived outside the building in the car. He demanded the money, but instead Lisa used her phone to call Kit Green and catch Rob out. He quickly caught on and beat Lisa up, leaving her unconscious before he headed in to find Carla.
Inside, he found Carla and Mandy and tipped Carla's handbag out to get her credit card, before demanding her pin number. Carla gave it to him and warned that Rob and Mandy's escape plan wasn't fit for a baby, revealing the pregnancy to an otherwise clueless Rob.
Rob was taken aback by the revelation and told Mandy to get a termination, which led Mandy to believe that Carla's warnings about Rob were true.
Rob accused Carla of "poisoning" Mandy against him and set upon her, pressing down on her surgery scars, causing her to shriek out in pain. Mandy went to help Carla but Rob shoved her away, and she finally realised what a monster Rob is. Mandy then left the scene, leaving Carla and Rob alone.
"I would rather die than go back to prison and if that means taking someone with me, then so be it," he told Carla.
As he went to leave, Rob told Carla that Lisa was in worse shape than he might have let on, awakening her anger. She charged at Rob as he walked down the stairwell, causing him to fall over the bannister and plummet to the ground.
An awakened Lisa then entered the building and saw Rob on the ground – but is he conscious or not?
"What have you done?" Lisa asked Carla.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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