Stephen Reid (Todd Boyce) is not going to go down without a fight! The Coronation Street serial killer takes his last stand tonight, but is he set to kill again before the end?
It’s no secret that the villain’s time is up; needing his passport to escape the country, he has been forced to return to Weatherfield.
Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews) swiped the passport, which has now placed a target on her back.
After Jenny catches some kids invading the closed Rovers, she lets herself in and is joined by Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien), who has been worried about her.
At this stage, Jenny has no idea that Stephen is a killer, so when Sarah reveals what he has done, the former landlady is staggered by what happened to her late boyfriend Leo and his dad Teddy.
In a darkened Rovers, it quickly becomes clear that they aren’t alone – and escape is too late, when Stephen strikes, knocking Sarah to the ground with a bottle and leaving her in a seriously bad way.
Stephen then closes in on a terrified Jenny as she fears that Sarah is dead. Demanding she hands over the passport, Stephen ends up in a scuffle with Jenny and a chain of events leads to him holding the broken bottle to her neck as he emerges onto the street with her.
Stephen is dangerous and has little to lose – as a crowd gathers to the horrifying events, Jenny fears the worst.
‘She’s cacking her pants!’ Sally Ann Matthews told us. ‘She suddenly realises and it all starts to come together, she realises that if he did this with Leo then how long has this been going on for?
‘Leo’s been dead a year, was this his intention all the time, he did this and was comforting her, it’s just a betrayal on every single level.’
The actress explained that Jenny resigns herself to her fate, thinking she’s a ‘goner’.
So instead, she focuses on finding out everything that Stephen has done.
‘Jenny is definitely terrified, she does believe what she’s been told about him killing Teddy, so then it makes sense that he might’ve killed Leo, and then he confesses that he also killed Rufus.
‘I think at that point, she’s angry and wants to get the truth, she thinks Sarah’s dead and when she sees that she’s breathing, Jenny wants to find out exactly what Stephen has done. She disregards her own safety because she just wants to get to the truth.’
A fight explodes between the pair, and Sally Ann told Metro.co.uk that she used a very famous Corrie storyline as a means of reflection when filming.
‘I say I don’t do any stunts because I don’t, I’m not a physical actor at all – but I really wanted this to be messy,’ she smiled.
‘That’s why I wanted to be on the floor to kind of recreate that Rita [Tanner] and Alan [Bredley] fight – that was messy and scrappy and not choreographed. It’s not a punch to here and a kick to there…
‘So, I had a lot of input in that and I wanted to be dragged around, a bit like Rita was because that’s what we were going for, for that grubby, very real fight.’
The special episode brings the whole story to a close of sorts, with the end of Stephen nigh.
So what can we expect, given that there are still some dramatic twists to come?
‘There’s an awful lot going on!’ Sally Ann declared. ‘But I think what it does brilliantly is it ties up the last 18 months with Stephen at the centre, and it permeates out with everybody that he’s affected in his entire time on the Street.
‘But it’s very much about love as well. His love for Sarah, his love for Jenny, Audrey’s love for him. Then what he’s done to Elaine, what he’s done to Tim, what he’s done to Jenny, what he’s done to Carla. I think it’s a really interesting way to tie all of those people together.
‘Audrey and Jenny have known each other for a very long time so their paths are going to cross a little bit more because of Stephen now. And I think that’s a really nice thing.’
Co-star Tina O’Brien added: ‘I think that the fans will find [the ending] a very satisfactory situation. I think there’s so many ways this could go.
‘Obviously, the audience know that there’s going to be some form of ending. It’s interesting though, because although it’s satisfactory, I think that Audrey also in that moment is so beautiful, and again gives it another little spin to make it feel more heartfelt.’
MORE : Rita Tanner legend Barbara Knox, 90, confirms if she is retiring from Coronation Street
MORE : Coronation Street legend Sue Nicholls warns of Audrey death twist after Stephen’s ending
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