Even from my family
floorboards, revealing that it was covered in blood. As he traced Ken’s inscription into a new copy of the book, it dawned on fans he had hit his dad over the head with the weighty tome before leaving him for dead.
A special flashback clip, released online and on social media, shows Dan hovering over Ken holding the book he hit him with, angry at his dad and blaming him for encouraging his girlfriend Sinead to have an abortion.
Ken had become convinced his grandson Adam, played by Sam Robertson, 31, was the one who pushed him down the stairs after realising he owned the red training shoes he had seen on the night of the attack.
Adam confessed to being in the house and finding Ken unconscious, but insisted he was not responsible for what happened.
When Adam was arrested, Ken went to stay with Dan and asked him to bring the poetry book he had bought him.
While viewers now know who pushed Ken, he himself and the rest of his family are still in the dark.
But in next week’s dramatic episodes, viewers will see Ken discover Daniel was the person who tried to kill him.
An argument jolts Ken’s memory and he recalls the fight they had at the top of the stairs. As Dan rants at his dad about the way he encouraged his girlfriend Sinead to abort his baby, Ken replies: “You said that before at the top of the stairs – it was you.”
Dan replies: “Yeah it was me. Can you blame me? You took away everything I’ve ever loved.”
Daniel also dubs Ken a “parasite”, accusing him of living vicariously through his Oxbridge success while he had been a “failure” in his own womanising life.
Daniel had to cope with his mum walking out on him – and growing up without a father.
Rob is defensive about his character. He said: “I hope it does not look sinister, it needed to be something that was a row that got out of control.
“It is an end of boyhood thing. Daniel is petulant and moody.”
Show boss Kate Oates said: “Once we established his back story, and how his mum Denise abandoned him, Dan was so incredibly damaged.
“Because he is Ken’s golden son, he is the one with the best chance of forgiveness.
“We built it in such a way that there was scope that he can stay in the family. But it will be interesting to see how the rest of the family react.”
She also insisted there was never a moment’s thought given to killing off Ken once and for all.
She says: “I’m not going to get rid of Bill Roache. I think I would have been very brave or very stupid.
“Ken is the heart of the show and we wanted to expand his family.
“He is so vibrant and into the show and everyoung. He is quite amazing. This has given him real engagement and an extra level. He is hungry for more and more stories.”
Roache is the longest-serving Corrie cast member and has been in the show since the first episode in December 1960.
More than 1.2million people voted in the “Who Pushed Ken?” online poll and, right up to last night’s episode, Adam was the No1 suspect with Dan way down the list.
Next week is a Corrie “superweek” with nightly episodes at 9pm and other dramatic storylines, including the exit of Nick Tilsley, who has been played by Ben Price, 45, for eight years.