Coronation Street airs ‘dark and upsetting’ scenes as abuse plot spirals further

Coronation Street aired some “dark and upsetting” scenes on Friday night as the long-running abuse storyline involving Todd Grimshaw and Theo Silverton took yet another worrying turn

Coronation Street aired some “dark and upsetting” scenes on Friday night. The world’s longest-running TV soap has been exploring another abuse storyline for several months now, which has seen Todd Grimshaw become the victim of coercive control at the hands of his boyfriend Theo Silverton.

What started as Theo cutting Todd off from his friends one by one led to him causing the death of his best friend Billy (Daniel Brocklebank) in the crossover with Emmerdale. He has also subjected Todd (Gareth Pierce) to bizarre forms of abuse, such as pouring milk over his head and forcing him to eat his dinner cold.

Things have also been physical at times, with Theo beating Todd up and threatening him with a knife. In recent weeks, it has seemed that it was all over for poor Todd as the pair finally called time on their relationship, but Theo is still hanging round and has clearly been planning his next move.

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On the latest episode of the Manchester-based serial, Theo announced his plans to move to Belfast for a new job, and later called into the Bistro where Todd was dining with his personal trainer James Bailey.

For some reason, Todd invited his ex to join them. Todd had been preparing for the Weatherfield Marathon in memory of his best friend, and Billy’s late husband Paul, but Theo seemed hellbent on putting a stop to this.

He waited until Todd had gone to the bar to get him a drink, and promptly spiked Todd’s drink. When he returned to the table, a zoomed-in close up of Todd’s face made it clear that something had begun to take effect, and Theo later walked him home where he promptly fell into a deep sleep on the sofa.

Theo then said said: “Sleeping beauty. But… ..will you be woken by a kiss from a handsome prince?” Theo leaned over the sofa and kissed Todd, but when there was no response, he simply said: “Rude,” as he cruelly switched off all of Todd’s alarms to make sure that he would miss out on the marathon.

Another said: “Theo telling Todd he’s planning to move away and then walking away with a smile on his face. He’s loving this,” whilst a third wrote: “Good episode tonight Theo is so evil he needs to be found out and real quick because Todd is in terrible danger!”

Viewers will know from the flashfoward that aired earlier this month that Theo is one of a handful of potential villains who will be killed off in April, and some are now more convinced than ever that it will be Theo. After their initial split, one fan said: “It’s too much to hope that is it all over for Todd and Theo, isn’t it?

“Theo is somehow going to worm his way back in. This storyline is starting to go round in circles…. I just need Theo to be found out for the abuser/murderer he is!” Another said: “I wish #Corrie would put us out of our misery with this storyline how many abusers does one soap need!!”

Others took to Reddit to discuss the latest development in the story, with one writing: “Oh yeah can’t stand him. The worst part is how he has everyone fooled into thinking he’s a nice guy… How long is this storyline going to go on for?” Another said: “I really have to hold back from wanting to punch the screen everytime he slithers in.”

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.