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Coronation Street newcomer Pauline McLynn has been feeling nervous about her debut, after 'not seeing' the new role on the famous Street coming. The actress has officially arrived in the ITV soap, having made her first appearance as Maggie Driscoll during Monday's (October 27) episode. It was previously announced that Pauline would be joining the show as the 'mother-in-law from hell' for Eva Price, who finds herself back in Weatherfield after seven years away. During the latest episode of Corrie, fans saw Ben surprise Eva with the Rovers Return, saying she is now the new landlady. They waste no time in settling into the pub and welcoming all the regulars with a huge opening party. But it was the arrival of Ben’s mum, Maggie, that ruffled feathers, as she delivered some shocking news for Eva - that she is, in fact, the landlady after Ben had to ask her for financial help. Ahead of the episode airing Pauline spoke to the Manchester Evening News and other press about joining Coronation Street and when asked how she felt upon getting the role of Maggie, she admitted: "Bewildered! I really didn't see this one coming down the line. "I'm not one of those actors who has goals, or even ambition if I'm honest [laughs]. I kind of just stagger from one thing to the next, depending on who wants you. As a result, I didn't have this on a bucket list of things.... "This was huge. It was like, 'Who? What? Say that again? Coronation Street are interested?' I did then go into the ins and outs of it and where this mad idea came from..." While best known for playing Mrs. Doyle in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and Libby Croker in the Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless, Pauline is also no stranger to the world of soap having played Yvonne Cotton in BBC's EastEnders. But Pauline says it's "very different". She told us: "I had a lovely time on EastEnders but I wasn't there for very long and it was quite a few years ago." As for joining Corrie, she admitted: "It's the first time I ever walked into a place and felt immediately at home and immediately as part of that family. We all feel like we've known one another forever and I think, in the best way possible, I feel like I've been her for longer than I have." However, she admitted to feeling nervous about her character being seen on-screen. "But I'm getting a bit itchy now because this is my honeymoon period." Pauline shared. "We're 10-12 weeks ahead with the stories - no one knows anything about what we're going to do and when we begin to be seen, I presume all hell will break loose with fans either liking it or not liking it. So I'm having the most wonderful little honeymoon, squirrelled away and having a fantastic time." She added: "I am getting really, really nervous about it all because it's a huge responsibility, not only to be in the long line of strong women, particularly the strong, older women... But there's also the responsibility - I've just got to realise how huge it is in people's lives here or Ireland. "Because I was just thinking, 'It's busy. I'm very busy,' because it's a blistering pace of filming. So I'm happy I'm busy, then I'm thinking, 'Oh my God, the expectation!' So I've had to have a little chat with myself and make sure that every day is a 110% day or else." But it seems the role may have been meant to be, as Pauline discovered: "Somebody got on touch with me on social media and sent me a picture of the first-ever barmaid in the Rovers Return, between 1960 and 1964, played by an Irish woman, Doreen Keogh, and she was in lots of other things. "She was the Irish neighbour in The Royle Family, she's also the woman Mrs Doyle wrestled to the floor about paying a bill... And she was the first-ever barmaid and she was called Concepta Riley. So there's a long tradition of the Irish in the Rovers." As well as Ben and Eva, Maggie's arrival also comes alongside her grandsons, Ollie and Will, and Eva's daughter, Susie, who she shared with the late Aidan Connor. Asked about Maggie, and what kind of mother and grandmother she is, Pauline added: "It'll be no surprise to everybody that she's just fiercely loyal and protective of her family. I find, and there will be some things happening over Christmas that you think, 'Oh come on! That is very bad behaviour,' at the very least. "Sometimes, and she's dead now so I suppose I can say it out loud, but I know my family are going to say, 'Is that your mother you're playing?' I would like to say that she's just a woman who likes to throw in something and say sometimes the most terrible things, just to see how far can she go and often, the line has been long crossed."
