Coronation Street’s police force has its work cut out with all the crime committed on the cobbles, and the job is made even harder when there is a dodgy cop at the helm!
For months we had trusted that DI Costello (Daon Broni) was as straight-laced as they come, as he helped DS Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) bring down Joel Deering, and sought justice for Mason Radcliffe’s killers.
However, it proved too good to be true in recent scenes, where Costello’s true nature was finally exposed.
We got a huge shock when Becky Swain (Amy Cudden) came back from the dead, but we were even more surprised to find out about Costello’s role in the whole situation.
Costello had been the one to tell Lisa that Becky had been killed in the line of duty, after being hit by a getaway car during a robbery.
However, it recently came to light that Costello had known that Becky was working undercover and that things had gone wrong, and helped her fake her own death to get away from the gangsters she had crossed.
Since Becky’s return, Costello has clearly been on edge, and determined to get her back to Spain and out of the picture – and it’s clear he is prepared to go to great lengths to do that.
Last week, Costello admitted to having Tia Wardley killed, and it sparked a new feud between him and Becky that looks set to get ‘darker’ in the coming weeks.
When I sat down to chat with actor Daon Broni about Costello’s antics, he promised lots more drama, and potentially even comeuppance for the detective inspector.
He also teased Kit Green’s (Jacob Roberts) involvement in the whole situation, and confirmed whether or not Costello would be welcome at Lisa and Carla Connor’s (Alison King) wedding.
When did you find out that the story was going in this direction, and how did you react?
I found out when Kate [Brooks], the producer, gave me a call to say, ‘This is what we’re thinking for Costello and how he’s going to develop over the coming weeks,’ and at first I went, ‘You what?’ but then I went, ‘This is brilliant!’
Because I think when we first met Costello, he seemed quite straightlaced and straight down the line, Lisa’s boss trying to reel her back in. He presented himself in a certain type of way and to see him take a curve and go a different way I thought was a really interesting thing, for me to play but also to sidestep the audience a bit and keep them on their toes. It’s been very interesting to play.
What have you made of the reaction from the viewers so far?
It’s been quite interesting because I feel like the reaction I’ve got is a mixture of surprise, confusion and utter excitement about where it’s going to go and what’s going to be revealed next.
For example, online people have been like, ‘What’s going on? We thought you were a good guy and now you’re not a good guy!’ So, it’s been surprising for people and it’s been quite exciting as well.
Will we find out anymore about Tia Wadley’s death?
Yes, you’ll find out more about his involvement there. Becky won’t leave so Costello pulls out the big guns and says, ‘Just so you know, if you think Tia Wardley died a natural death, she didn’t. I had to have her killed, and I’ll do the same to you unless you sod off back to Spain and let the situation be.’ It’s a threat that he pulls out of the bag to try and get Becky to get out of town.
How far is he prepared to go to get her out of the way?
That’s an interesting question, and I’m going to leave it to the audience to decide whether it’s something that he’s saying because he knows he’ll get a certain reaction, or whether it’s something that he would actually do if he needed to. I think that will be for people to decide. And also I think the actual answer will be revealed in time.
Does Costello see Kit as a threat or does he believe he’s bought his silence with the promotion?
I think Kit was a threat in the sense that he wouldn’t stop investigating the situation, despite being told many times by Costello to not do that.
I think the offer of that promotion, or at least the way it was offered, tells me that this is Costello’s attempt to manage the situation and manage Kit, because that promotion came with strings. There were quite a few stipulations, like ‘You know what this means, don’t you, if you take this promotion?’
There’s a kind of quid pro quo thing going on, so I think both of them know what it means, because if Kit doesn’t do what he wants, he’s going to bench him. Kit literally said ‘Are you going to bench me again?’ and he said, ‘No, I’m actually going to give you a promotion, if you do this and this…’ Just exactly what you need in your local DI!
Do you think Kit would ultimately side with Costello or Lisa?
I think there is a kind of mentor thing happening with Kit and Costello, and I think Kit does want to impress Costello. He wants to do well.
But at the same time, he’s got this cat-and-mouse thing with Lisa. They’ve got this annoying brother and sister thing going on, and that’s been going on for a while, so it’s difficult to say which way he will jump.
I suspect he might actually jump with Lisa. It’s really hard to know. He might go with Lisa, but there’s that side of Kit that I think may think ‘Well, I might get more out of this situation if I go with my boss.’
What has it been like working with Vicky Myers and Jacob Roberts, and now Amy Cudden as well?
It’s been amazing. I feel like each one has brought a different thing to set and to the scenes, and I feel like each one has really made me raise my game as an actor, because they’re all so good and all so on it.
The scenes with me and Amy, we were saying that it is like a game of chess, where we’re kind of threatening each other but we’re subtle about it. Or sometimes not so subtle!
My scenes with Vicky and Jacob have also been really enlightening, because you get to see how other people work, you get to see what they bring to a scene, and you get to see how you manage that in the situation. It’s been really exciting to be involved in it and to see the story develop in the way that it’s developed.
What else can you tease about what’s still to come? How dark is it going to get?
Well, I can say that it’s going to get a little bit darker before it gets better for Costello, without giving too much away. I think that he has been a naughty boy and there has to be some comeuppance and arguably that might happen in the next few episodes… Only time will tell!
Do you think Costello will get an invite to the Swarla wedding if it goes ahead, or has he burned his bridges there?
I do think that ship may have sailed for Costello and his relationship with Lisa!
At the moment, because Becky is still so present in Carla, Lisa and Betsy’s life, I think Lisa’s relationship with Costello has been pushed aside for the moment.
I think if Becky were to go back to Spain it would bring Lisa and Costello’s relationship back up to the fore, but to be honest with you, I think those bridges have been quite burnt!
But you never know with Costello, he’s very good at manipulating the situation, so who knows what he would say to get himself out of that situation there. You never know what this guy is going to do.
