Ian likes Corrie ups and downs

Ian Puleston-Davies likes the "pressure cooker" existence of his Coronation Street character Owen Armstrong.

The quick-tempered builder is about to face the revelation - during his grandson Joseph's Christening - that his teenage daughter Katy wants to be a surrogate for older sister Izzy's baby, and his reaction is likely to dismay both his daughters and long-suffering girlfriend Anna Windass.

But 53-year-old Welsh actor Ian says it is moments like this that make his character a joy to play in the ITV1 soap.

"It's been simmering for quite some time now and you know that when a storyline like that comes along, there's going to be an explosion," he said.

"What's lovely about the dysfunction of the Armstrongs and the Windasses is there's very much a pressure cooker existence going on because so many things can go wrong and I think it went wrong fabulously at the Christening. I was very excited by the fact that they decided to have Owen's discovery of the surrogacy care of his youngest daughter to happen by whispers during the service. I thought that was a wonderfully clever dramatic choice."

Ian also thinks that the affect these dramas have on Owen's romance with Anna make for exciting viewing.

"What's wonderful is that these bridges are being made and pulled down all the time," he said. "I love the fact that Owen and Anna are on and so in love, and then something happens among the children and it all goes pear-shaped again. I think that rocky, bumpy ride is what viewers like the most."

Ian also hinted that the drama was far from over for Owen and his loved ones.

"All I know is that it doesn't stop here. It's looking like it's 'to be continued'.

"What I'm looking forward to now is settling in to hopefully a longer storyline, because it just gives you more creativity and it gives you somewhere to go ... It grows, it gets bigger and bigger and it becomes more involving, and it could possibly even involve a bigger family, so we're all really excited about that."