Coronation Street killer Stephen: All his victims and who could be next
The villain is making his exit next week.
The end is nigh for Coronation Street serial killer Stephen Reid (Todd Boyce), who looks set to claim one more victim before his explosive exit from the ITV soap.
Busy plotting his escape to Thailand, Stephen is unaware that the police are onto him.
With the promise that the villain will destroy anyone who gets in his way, we’ve been looking at who could be in danger as the ITV soap airs the climax to this year-long storyline next week.
Read more: Soap spoilers
So read on as we round up all the possible victims for Stephen’s final chapter, and look at his existing hit list.
Who might Stephen kill next on Coronation Street?
Tim Metcalfe
Tim (Joe Duttine) is intrigued when Brian Packham (Peter Gunn) mentions Stephen’s interest in the canal dredging project.
Tim heads to the canal and finds a corpse’s hand. When he calls 999, he’s interrupted by Stephen, who tries to strangle Tim, knocks him out with a brick and traps him in the boot of his cab before covering it in petrol.
Tim looks to be the most likely fatality, but is this a red herring?
Carla Barlow
Knowing Stephen previously drugged her with LSD, Carla (Alison King) finds his one-way tickets to Thailand and warns both the police and Jenny (Sally Ann Matthews) that he’s dangerous.
If Stephen learns that Carla has blocked his escape plan, might he target her once more, silencing her for good?
Peter Barlow
Carla’s husband Peter (Chris Gascoyne) is furious over Stephen’s plot, and he attacks the killer. The pair’s altercation is interrupted by Stephen's mum, Audrey (Sue Nicholls), but will Peter seek Stephen out a second time?
Peter may well underestimate Stephen, leading to his demise. After all, Peter is also set to exit, and we can't see him leaving Carla by choice.
Jenny Connor
Jenny is planning to move abroad with Stephen. But if she listens to Carla’s warning, she could be the one to confront boyfriend Stephen. If she threatens to hand him over to the authorities, will Stephen turn on Jenny, despite his feelings for her?
DS Swain
Swain (Vicky Myers) has been appearing on the cobbles in her professional capacity since 2021. Next week, she finds out that Stephen has moved his flight to Bangkok forward, and she rushes to stop him fleeing.
If she finds him, will Stephen take violent action, ending Swain's life before she can arrest him for his crimes?
Michael Bailey
Oblivious Michael (Ryan Russell) is tricked by Stephen into helping him transfer the Underworld balance into a fake account. But might Michael come to realise just how dodgy Stephen is?
Unaware of the danger he’s in, could Michael challenge Stephen on his actions, resulting in the latter striking him down?
Sarah Barlow
Sarah (Tina O’Brien) will tell the Platts that Uncle Stephen has defrauded her gran Audrey and drugged Carla. She’s already given Stephen a series of ultimatums over his betrayal of Audrey.
Now that Sarah knows the extent of her uncle’s behaviour, could she take it upon herself to stand up to him? Would Stephen resort to murdering his niece?
Audrey Roberts
Audrey soon confronts her son for stealing her house. We can see Stephen attempting to lie his way out of trouble here, but what would it take for him to end iconic character Audrey’s life?
This outcome would be the ultimate shock for fans, and we did hear Stephen swear on her life this week. A bad omen if ever there was one...
Stephen’s victims so far
Leo Thompkins
Leo (Joe Frost) dated Jenny but had a punch-up with Stephen after the latter kissed her. When Leo found out Stephen was stealing the equity on Audrey’s house, he confronted him.
But Stephen pushed Leo to his death, then buried him - only for Leo’s body to be unearthed when building work began on the site a few weeks ago.
Teddy Thompkins
Teddy (Grant Burgin) revealed suspicions that son Leo had been murdered by Stephen. So Stephen grabbed a large hole punch and hit Teddy over the head, murdering him.
Stephen put Teddy’s body in the roof box of Audrey’s car, and clueless locals even helped him lift the box! Stephen later threw said box and body in the canal, and it's set to be discovered next week.
Rufus Donahue
When Rufus discovered Stephen had been drugging Carla with LSD, he blackmailed Stephen. So Stephen paid Rufus a visit, lacing his drink with a large amount of the drug.
He pushed Rufus into the nearby pool, holding him underwater until he died. The body was found by a housekeeper, and Rufus’s death was ruled an accident...but not everyone was convinced.
Coronation Street airs Stephen's downfall from Monday 9 October on ITV.