There’s standing room only for bad guys in Weatherfield right now. They won’t miss one. So please, Coronation Street. We’re begging you. When Bernie Winter’s (Jane Hazelgrove)

villainous tormentor Mal Roper (Tim Treloar) is brutally attacked and left for dead, please let him stay down. Am I being harsh? Not at all. This is what happens

when you get in the way of a beloved soap couple like Bernie and Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin).

Mal continues causing trouble

The beloved Queen of Roy’s Rolls was devastated by the death of her close friend Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank) and sought solace by drowning her sorrows in booze. Despite Dev’s best efforts to support her, Bernie pushed him away and partied just a little too hard after Billy’s funeral.

Enter Mal.

The sleazy newcomer made a play for a Bernie and didn’t get too far, but it wasn’t for want of trying. Even when she rejected his advances, he still procured her some pills and together they indulged in a little recreational drug-taking.

After waking up in a strange hotel room with the hangover from Hell, all Bernie wanted to do is go back to her life and forget that her almost-infidelity ever happened. After all, bumping into Mal again would be a million to one chance, right? Right?!

Unfortunately, this is Soapland. Million to one chances happen nine times out of ten. Sure enough, Roy Cropper (David Neilson) gets a visit from the angry husband of his mysterious pen-pal lady friend Alice… who of course, just so happens to be Mal.

So Bernie was understandably less than thrilled to discover that her drunken mistake had been hired by Roy as an electrician to do some rewiring in his flat. Mal assured her that he’d be out of her hair as soon as the job was done.

Spoiler – he was not. He’s staying in Weatherfield and hovering around Bernie, despite the fact she’s clearly still with Dev.

Upcoming episodes will see Mal turn nasty as his pursuit of Bernie becomes increasingly more unsettling. When Bernie rejects his attempt to confess his feeling, Mal’s attention turns sinister… and she’s left well and truly rattled to discover that someone has cut her head out of her wedding picture.

As crazy goes, it’s a bit cliché. Mal might as well have gone full Fatal Attraction and boiled an actual bunny.

However, when Bernie confronts him, Mal plays the innocent and only turns nastier in the face of her allegation.

So understandably, when she hears someone at the door, Bernie picks up a golfclub, fearing that Mal might be back to bother her… but it’s only Kit Green (Jacob Roberts). Bernie is so relieved that she ends up confiding in the Cobbles copper about her secret night with Mal and his subsequent torment.

Then things get worse when Mal storms into the café and publicly rails at Bernie, forcing Roy to intervene and throw him out.

Finally breaking, Bernie spells it out to Mal than unless he leaves her alone, she will kill him. Mal laughs in her face and asserts that he’s not going anywhere…

Famous last words.

At Weatherfield police station station, Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) tells Kit about a bloke who was found lying in the street with a head injury. Perusing the file, Kit is shocked to recognise the name. Making a call to the hospital, Kit learns that Mal is in a critical condition.

Is Bernie to blame? And if not her, then who? Could it be that Dev discovered Bernie’s indiscretion and attacked Mal in a jealous rage? Or is it Roy, going to desperate lengths to keep his mate Bernie safe?

Most importantly of all, will Mal survive? And would it be such a bad thing if he didn’t? After all, Coronation Street is currently playing a whodunnit. Come on, Corrie. Give us this one…