Please spend the entire day preparing yourselves because in tonight’s Coronation Street, Paul Foreman (Peter Ash) will sadly die.

Last Friday, after much persuading, Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank) decided to go out for a few drinks with David (Jack P Shepherd), Todd (Gareth Pierce) and Kit (Jacob Roberts).

He returned home fairly tipsy, collapsed onto the sofa and drunkenly waffled on to Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove), who was looking after Paul.

In tonight’s episode, Billy spends the morning complaining of his hangover. He then realises he’s lost his phone and is thrown into a massive panic, given the device has so many photos and memories of him and Paul.

As he sets off to retrace his steps, Summer (Harriet Bibby) and Bernie are horrified to discover Paul is unresponsive on the sofa, struggling to breathe.

Summer calls an ambulance but at the same time, she realises they have no way of contacting Billy.

‘[Executive producer] Iain [MacLeod] said from the beginning there’s no time scale on this, we’re not going to rush it’ actor Peter Ash told us.

‘So they would tell me in advance, this is the story coming up, this is the next symptom, or thing Paul loses control of. So there was time to tackle each progression of the illness.’

Bernie, Summer and Kit attempt to support Paul, who is struggling to breathe while in his chair in Corrie

Billy wakes up on the first day after Paul’s death in Corrie

Whether Billy arrives in time to say his final goodbye to Paul remains to be seen. Later in the week though, he wakes up on the sofa and stares at Paul’s empty wheelchair – a reminder that life is about to go on without him.

Amid their grief, the family must begin to think about Paul’s funeral. But with tensions running high and emotions all over the place, can they come together and organise it?

Speaking of his final scenes, Peter continued: ‘It was quite hard to not get emotional during that scene where they’re all there giving all those beautiful goodbyes.’

‘I had to pretend to not hear it, pretty much. Especially when he does pass, it’s that thing of trying not to breathe at all, which gets a bit tricky after a while!

‘The scene in general was just beautiful. It was a really nice way to end it. I’m not going to give anything away apart from that but it was great to have all the favourites there in my last scene.’