Yahoo News Coronation Street: Killer Stephen Reid's reign of terror brought to a shocking end
The character's reign of terror is over
Stephen Reid’s (Todd Boyce) murderous reign is over in Coronation Street, with the villain dead after being hit by Peter Barlow’s (Chris Gascoyne) car. It’s a fate dealt to many a soap baddie, and the ITV soap has a long history of killing theirs.
From serial killers Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) and Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre), to controlling abuser Geoff Metcalfe (Ian Bartholomew), perhaps Corrie takes this route too often?
Emmerdale locked up one of its most memorable villains, attention-seeking murderess Meena Jutla (Paige Sandhu), last year, leaving her to be ignored amid three life sentences.
Something like this may have been a better fit for Stephen, whose quest to be someone of importance ultimately led to his downfall.
It might have been refreshing to see Stephen captured by DS Swain (Vicky Myers) and sent to prison for the rest of his days.
The detective’s hunt for Stephen felt like a waste, and given Swain’s stunning interview take-down of Corey Brent (Maximus Evans), who killed Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni) back in 2021, she deserved to be utilised better.
Read more: Soap spoilers
Keeping Stephen alive would still have allowed for character-led drama going forward. Rather than popping back to Weatherfield every few years, Stephen could have reappeared behind bars — perhaps visited by his vulnerable, conflicted mother Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls).
But here we are. And Stephen has, at least, been stopped in his tracks. With the culprit, Peter, already confirmed for his own exit, this presumably paves the way for him to be jailed in Stephen’s place. Audrey is determined to see Peter punished, and time will tell if she can come to terms with her son’s evil deeds.
Stephen’s human side returned after he realised he’d attacked his own niece, Sarah Barlow (Tina O’Brien); and when he confessed to Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews) that he merely didn’t want to appear a failure in Audrey’s eyes.
Bumping off three people was a rather strange way to achieve that, wasn’t it?
But this was actor Boyce’s finest performance yet, with powerful supporting roles from Nicholls, Matthews and O’Brien as Stephen threatened Jenny’s life with a broken bottle. Stephen faltered in his final rant when Audrey arrived with a “What are you doing, my love?”
Lighter moments came throughout the week from David Platt (Jack P Shepherd), who never lets anything — even a siege at the hands of his uncle — stop him from expressing his annoyance.
Flash-forwards were spread across the three episodes, showing Swain questioning Sarah, Carla Barlow (Alison King), Michael Bailey (Ryan Russell) and, eventually, Peter too.
But what we’re really waiting for now is the discovery of Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine), who isn’t actually dead after all, despite being violently, repeatedly attacked by Stephen. If Stephen’s death was disappointing, then the revelation that Tim is still alive was a delightful twist.
Had he been a fatality, as predicted, there’s no doubt star Sally Dynevor would have put in a powerful performance as Tim’s grief-stricken wife Sally. This may still be in her future, though, as Tim is trapped in the boot of his petrol-soaked cab. Will he be found before it’s too late?
Whether or not Stephen’s death was the right call, his exit certainly had us gripped. Farcical and chaotic, Stephen will go down in history as one of Coronation Street’s most memorable villains.
Coronation Street airs on ITV Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and streams on ITVX.
