Coronation Street is taking a leap into the future next Monday, February 16, as it airs its first flashforward episode – and not everyone will make it out alive.

There is set to be a murder on the cobbles and, according to producer Kate Brooks, it will affect pretty much everyone on the street.

The murder itself is set to take place in April, and we won’t know the identity of the body until then.

We’re putting together all the clues ahead of Coronation Street’s flashforward

We imagine that this whoisit? will turn into a whodunnit?, leaving us with plenty of scope to play detective as we hunt for clues that point us to the answers.

So, without further ado, lets look at what we know so far!

Betsy Swain finds a body

Poor Betsy Swain (Sydney Martin) has had more trauma in the last year than some people face in their entire adult lives, but there is still more to come as she stumbles across a body on a fateful day in April.

In next week’s episode, we are set to see a jittery Betsy being quizzed by police about her discovery. Could she have had something to do with it, or is it just an unfortunate case of wrong time, wrong place?

There will be five potential victims

The flashforward scenes are set to be interspersed with scenes from the present day, and by the end of the episode, we will be left with five potential victims.

‘We’ll reveal the five potential victims in that episode,’ Kate Brooks previously revealed. ‘So we’ll know it’s been narrowed down to five.

‘What we don’t know is who it is, because a lot of those potential victims have created a lot of waves in the street. It’s a who-they-dunnit-to, which will probably lead to a whodunnit.’

The biggest storylines could hint at two potential victims

Kate also gave a hint as to who the potential victims might be, as she explained that the flashforward will be a ‘destination point’ for some of the biggest storylines on the show right now.

‘The big stories we have on the table, it gives us a destination for those big stories to all come together and be involved in a much bigger storyline…

‘It’s very complicated and very intricate but essentially what we’re playing is a “who is it?” story where we don’t know who died and what the situation is around the death, but it will give the stories that are currently running a destination point as we try to figure out which person has met an untimely demise.’

So who has taken centre stage recently?

Carl Webster’s (Jonathan Howard) recent antics have certainly made him a prime candidate to be the whoisit? ahead of the whodunnit?. He’s had an affair with sister-in-law Abi (Sally Carman), cheated on her with James Bailey (Jason Callender), and had Tracy Barlow’s (Kate Ford) shop trashed to keep her quiet about his misdeeds. Not to mention that he threatened Ken Barlow (William Roache)!

And it isn’t just crimes of the heart Carl is guilty of. He’s run an MOT scam out of brother Kev’s (Michael Le Vell) garage, used sister-turned-mother Debbie’s (Sue Devaney) dementia against her to steal her cash, organised a break-in at the Chariot Square to claim on the insurance and left Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) seriously injured in a hit and run.

Oh, and he got behind the wheel of a car drunk and drove straight into a multi-vehicle pile-up and has let Debbie go to prison after framing her as the driver. I think that just about covers everything.

So, it’s safe to say that there are plenty of people with motive to kill Carl, though surprisingly he isn’t the only one.

Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) is also high on Metro readers’ list of characters who could be in danger. He’s already killed off Billy Mayhew, and what do they say? What goes around, comes around…

Theo has been absolutely vile in his treatment of Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) and fans are hopeful he will get his comeuppance in one way or another.

Some fans are concerned that Todd may accidentally kill him in self-defence, landing himself in trouble, while others suspect Theo may not be the victim at all, and could end up being the killer.

Several upcoming exits are on the horizon

We can’t disregard the fact that exits have already been announced for two characters this year.

Claire Sweeney is set to leave her role as Cassie Plummer after nearly three years as she heads off on tour to play Miss Hannigan in the musical Annie.

She is set to be on screen until the summer, which would seem to rule her out as the murder victim – but could she be the killer?

‘Maybe Cassie kills Carl after finding out he definitely was the one who ploughed Tyrone down. She’s leaving and has a nothing to lose attitude when it comes to her family,’ Metro reader Kirsty wrote on Facebook – and we can certainly see the logic!

It was also announced today that Catherine Tyldesley will be taking a break from the cobbles to film her exit from The Good Ship Murder, which she starred in before her Corrie return.

A temporary exit is the perfect opportunity for a prison stint, don’t you agree? Could Eva Price be the killer? She’s certainly looked ready to kill mother-in-law Maggie Driscoll (Pauline McLynn) more than a few times since they took over the Rovers together.

But there’s also the fact that step-son Will Driscoll (Lucas Hodgson-Wale) is currently being groomed and abused by sports coach Megan Walsh (Beth Nixon). Could Eva be set to find out and seek vengeance?

A murder… and wedding bells?

Away from the murder, the most striking thing about the new spoiler pictures is Betsy’s outfit. It’s certainly not something she’d wear every day.

Some might even say it looks like a bridesmaid’s dress…

Carla Connor (Alison King) and Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) have finally got things back on track, and Kate Brooks has already promised that a wedding is on the horizon.

‘It’s going to be a romantic spring for Carla and Lisa, which will make many people smile, I imagine,’ Kate teased.

Spring, you say? Like, April, perhaps? We’re connecting the dots…

Could Swarla’s big day be overshadowed by the death of one of their neighbours?