In the wake of a devastating domestic incident, Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) can no longer hide Theo Silverton’s (James Cartwright) violent rage when two Coronation Street residents find him picking up the pieces. Is this the lifeline Todd’s been waiting for?

Like so many abusers, Theo has been gradually normalising his toxic behaviour towards Todd throughout the course of their relationship; from baseless accusations of infidelity and cutting him off from friends, to force feeding him a kebab, dunking milk over his head and smashing his face into a mirror.

Viewers have seen Todd’s self-esteem and sense of worth ground down by relentless ritual humiliating and bouts of anger in a domestic violence nightmare.

At long last, that nightmare may be coming to an end.

In a special episode focusing on Theo and Todd’s increasingly disturbing dynamic, viewers saw the police swarm onto the street, responding to a report of a domestic incident. Something terrible happened in their flat.

In the aftermath, Todd is frantically sweeping up the breakages inside the flat as he desperately tries to piece together last night’s harrowing turn of events. Theo’s violent outbursts have put Todd in similar situations before, but this time, there’s a witness.

When Bernie reveals that she saw the state of the flat, she worries to George that there is definitely more to last night’s events than either Todd or Theo are letting on. George is left deeply unnerved by Bernie’s suspicions…

… But when George and Christina arrive for lunch, Todd and Theo paint on smiles as they welcome them in and acts like nothing’s wrong. Then George throws a curve ball by offering Todd his old job back at the Undertaker’s.

This will be a bone of contention for Theo, especially as he secretly caused Todd to lose his job by sabotaging his work, engineering a rift between him and the man who was the closest thing he had to a father.

However, despite all of Theo’s manipulations, George still refuses to give up on Todd as he quizzes the couple about their row before dropping the bombshell – Bernie saw the destruction in the flat.

Will the truth come out?