Corrie doctor Ali to struggle to come to terms with dark decision

Coronation Street actor James Burrows has said his character will struggle to come to terms with his decision after he allows drug dealer Ronan to bleed to death.

In dramatic scenes aired on Friday, doctor Ali Neeson, played by Burrows, pulled out a fence post which had impaled drug dealer Ronan Truman (Alan McKenna), causing his death.

Ronan had crashed his car after chasing the Connor family as he sought revenge on Ali’s brother Ryan Connor (Ryan Prescott) for the part he played in his son Cormac’s death.

Ali tried to treat the gangster but, after spotting a gun in his car and realising he had planned to murder the family, he pulled the post out and let him die.

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Burrows said: “Ali is not a murderer or anything. I think he is generally a good guy, but he has had to make a sacrifice for his family.

“I think he’s done it for the right reason, so I don’t think he’s going to go completely dark, but I don’t know what they’ve got planned for the future.”

He said the decision would have a lasting impact on his character.

“Ali goes on a huge rollercoaster of emotions,” he said.

“He’s up, he’s down, he’s up and down like a yo-yo. The minute he has done it there is this instant regret. I think we’re going to see him really struggling.”

The gory scenes were filmed using prosthetics and a pump to squirt fake blood.

However, Burrows said in real life he would be more likely to have fainted at the sight.

“I am squeamish in real life,” he said.

“I’m alright with fake blood because I know it’s fake, but if I started bleeding now I’d pass out, I hate blood.”

The actor, who plays the son of Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) who was swapped at birth, said he had welcomed the storyline.

He said: “When I first started it was a bit slow introducing Ali into the show and the storylines were a bit monotone. When I got the opportunity to do this storyline, it was really exciting for me.”

Burrows said it had been refreshing to play a nice guy since Ali returned to the Street earlier this year.

He said: “I’ve played a lot of horrible, horrible people – villains, murderers, rapists, drug dealers and all that sort of stuff.

“It was great for me, with Ali I thought this is going to be a different ball game.

“But then when I got this storyline I thought ‘oh, hello, where are they going with this, is he going to be the next mass murderer?!'”

The 27-year-old actor said having actress Marsh as his mother was “dead cool”.

He said: “We’ve got a really good relationship. Most of my scenes have been with Kym and she’s made me feel very welcome.”