Todd Grimshaw’s (Gareth Pierce) abusive partner Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) has been murdered in Coronation Street – and a number of people are now on the list of prime suspects.

After a week of episodes looking at the potential murder victims, tonight’s instalment revealed what actually happened in the lead up to Betsy Swain (Sydney Martin) finding the dead body.

Next week, DS Lisa Connor-Swain (Vicky Myers) and DC Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) begin their investigation and start interrogating their friends in Weatherfield.

Given the absolute horror he was put through, it’s very possible Todd was the person to kill Theo, but it’s important to consider the other residents who are close to Todd and fell for Theo’s act.

Discussing the death, and what lies ahead in the aftermath, star Gareth Pierce has now revealed the 7 people we need to pay close attention to in the upcoming weeks, as any one of them could’ve committed the crime.

‘Just as the audience will say that Todd has plenty of motive, they’ll also know that lots of other people have motive as well, especially due to the way that Theo has actively isolated Todd from his closest friends and family’, Gareth said.

‘We’ve seen them start to join the dots and reconnect with Todd and try to extricate him from the relationship over these past few weeks. So I think that those are the people that the audience will have been willing to swoop in as saviours, and they will definitely have the spotlight on them. The audience will be wondering if, rather than just save Todd from the situation, they’ve actually gone as far as taking the law into their own hands.

He added: ‘People like George and Summer had definitely seen Theo for who he was. George, Christina, Glenda we’ve seen become very protective of Todd. Then there’s also Carl very much in the frame having developed this rivalry with Theo and looking in a bad way himself. Also Gary who had that bright friendship and professional partnership with Theo for a time.

‘We’ve seen Gary starting to feel genuinely let down and hoodwinked by Theo and we know Gary’s attitude to bullies. So, yeah, you’ve got a fair few people in the frame.’

Healing after an abusive relationship is going to be extremely difficult for Todd, but Theo’s murder means he’s now dealing with a very complex grief journey as well.

‘I think he definitely has all of those emotions; grief, hurt, anger, even relief. He also knows that he very much has a lens on him and his reaction for many reasons. His friends will be watching him thinking, this man was abusing you, he was being awful to you, how can you even grieve for him?’, Gareth explained.

‘We heard Todd say that about Theo grieving for Noah earlier in the storyline. But he’s also going to know that he’s being watched by the police, by Lisa and Kit. That leads Todd to analyse how he’s genuinely feeling about it but also what his grief should look like and what other people think it should look like.

‘So there’s all of that going on for Todd in the aftermath. There’s no room for his genuine reaction to the news because he must feel very watched.’

Pondering over Todd’s future, Gareth has confirmed that the spark Todd once had inside of him will more than likely return – it will just take time.

‘I think, even when speaking to people just day to day when I’m out, one of the more painful aspects of the story has been witnessing Todd’s spark really leaving him. It’s been very effective and painful, but I think that’s definitely something that the audience have said to me that they really do want to see, his playful side returning. So we’ll be hoping that we get Todd back to that place eventually.

He noted: ‘But I think, consistent with coming out of a relationship like this, it will take some time. I think that when Todd is feeling rubbish about himself, that’s when quite often he masks his vulnerability with a spikiness, a sarcasm and maybe a lack of patience for the people around him.

‘Maybe we will see some of that returning in the immediate aftermath just as a method of self-protection.’