Coronation Street killer Theo’s next murder victim ‘confirmed’ after Billy’s brutal death

Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) is one of the most vile men Coronation Street has ever seen – and for a neighbourhood that has counted Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre), Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) and Geoff Metcalfe (Ian Bartholomew) among its residents, that’s quite the feat!

While initially appearing as a troubled-yet-sympathetic man who’d been traumatised by his experience with evil conversion therapy and being forced to live a lie, it soon became clear that Theo is a serial abuser and his sheer torture of boyfriend Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) continues to intensify.

From initial coercion and manipulation to physical humiliation, gaslighting, controlling his diet, to abject, horrific violence, Theo has employed every tool in his arsenal to break Todd physically and mentally, while also ensuring that he remains cut off from anyone who could help him.

One such person was Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank), who’d become deeply suspicious of Theo’s behaviour. At the incredibly ill-fated wedding of Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) and Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan), Billy witnessed more of Theo’s abuse, before finding a shirtless Todd in the bathroom, his body covered in bruises and welts.

Todd showed Billy the incredibly edited video Theo had created from Todd’s security cameras, painting him as an abuser. Billy, though, found the raw footage and tried his hardest to convince Todd, despite his protestations, that his relationship was toxic and the behaviour that Theo displayed wasn’t love.

It worked, and Todd asked Billy to take him home, finally planning to cut ties with his torturer. Theo, however, wasn’t prepared to let Todd go, and got on the bus. The moment Theo realised that Billy was fully aware of what had been going on, his fate was sealed.

After the Corriedale-sized vehicle pile up, Billy was trapped on the flipped-minibus as it rapidly became engulfed in flames. Unhooking his seatbelt, he saw momentary salvation as Theo approached, though all hope was lost when Theo fastened him back in, scarpering and leaving Billy to die in the ensuing explosion.

Now Theo has crossed the line from abuser to killer, is there any going back? Well, considering this is Soapland, we’re gonna guess not. A soap characters first taste of blood is rarely their last and now Theo has discovered the true extent of his capabilities when it comes to removing obstacles, who’s most likely to be his next victim?

George Shuttleworth

George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley) was Todd’s stepdad while in a relationship with his mum, Eileen (Sue Cleaver), and has continued to serve as a parental figure even after their split after Eileen’s departure, and that’s something Theo has been eager to destroy.

Both George and his girlfriend, Christina Boyd (Amy Robbins), have been suspicious of Theo’s behaviour on more than one occasion, though they’ve not come close to discovering the true depths of his evil.

We truly believe George would go to any lengths to help Todd, and should he discover what’s really going on in that flat, he’d move Heaven and Earth to ensure his protégé and surrogate son got away from his tormentor.

But, as we’ve seen with Billy, trying to free Todd can be deadly. Could the undertaker be next in like for a burial?

Summer Spellman

Theo despised Billy from the jump, simply due to his status as Todd’s ex-boyfriend. The only remnant of their previous family unit? Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby).

Summer raised Theo’s ire over Christmas, with her cheeky gift for Todd rubbing him the wrong way and driving him to concoct a scheme to ruin it.

In the aftermath of Billy’s death, Theo has used the loss as ammunition to further torment Todd, who, having been a parental figure for Summer, is trying his hardest to manage his own guilt, Theo’s abuse and his burden of duty to look after Summer, who’s moved in with them.

If Summer continues to monopolise Todd’s time, we think Theo would have no problem eliminating her, even less so if she ever discovered what he did to her beloved Billy.

Danielle Silverton

We didn’t get the the chance to get to know Danielle (Natalie Anderson). Furious and heartbroken to learn that her husband and the father of her children was leaving her for a man, she was, quite understandably, seriously narked off.

Which leads us to question – was she abused by Theo, too? Theo’s ex-boyfriend Owen (Dominic Vulliamy), who Theo would have to have been seeing while with Danielle, was certainly the victim of Theo’s abuse.

If he was victimising Danielle, she’s yet to disclose it. Her battles with him over their children, though, does put her in danger. If she continues to find herself in conflict with him and his new willingness to end lives, could she find out all to late who her husband truly was?

Gary Windass

Gary Windass (Mikey North) were friends for a time, going into business together. Gary, though rough around the edges, possesses a strong moral compass and stepped in to defend his new buddy when Theo crumbled amid the re-emergence of former friend and conversion therapy practitioner, Noah Hedley (Richard Winsor).

Gary went on to deliver a brutal beating to Noah in defence of his friend and, despite their business trouble, has remained a friend of Theo, and serves as the only ally he’s made outside of Todd’s inner circle.

Does this place him closer than anybody to Theo’s true nature, though? And if he did discover the extent of what Todd has suffered, would that moral compass lead Gary to confront Theo which, as we now know, could prove fatal?

Todd Grimshaw

Domestic abuse cases can, and do, end in the death of the abused partner.

In the UK, there were 108 domestic homicides in the year ending March 2024 and 66 of these victims were killed by a partner or ex-partner.

Todd’s body is covered in marks, bruises and scratches, which further drove home that he’s been subject to even more hideous violence than we’ve seen on-screen.

With Theo evidently dead-set on keeping his behaviour masked, if Todd did finally speak out, would Theo move to shut him up for good? As dark an ending as this would be for this harrowing storyline, it would reflect a heart breaking real life trend of abusers going too far and killing their victims.

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