Next week on Coronation Street, Leanne discovers the truth about Rowan, Jack’s day in court brings an unexpected visitor, and Paul has an important message for Billy.
1) Leanne discovers Rowan’s folder of secrets
Leanne (Jane Danson) looks set to finally learn the truth about Insititute leader Rowan’s motives next week, but is she about to discover partner Nick (Ben Price) and sister Toyah’s (Georgia Taylor) betrayal also?
Whilst Leanne has been getting involved with the cult-like Institute, she has been alienating both Nick and Toyah, with the pair pulling together for support. This eventuated in Nick and Toyah kissing before they embarked on an affair.
However, Rowan’s cronies who had been keeping an eye on the flat took photos of Nick and Toyah kissing on the balcony, and he has been using the photo in an attempt to blackmail Nick into investing in the business.
Unfortunately, Amy (Elle Mulvaney) had also been sucked into the Institute, only realising their true colours after Leanne subjected her to one of their malware sessions.
But by that point, Amy had already been convinced to invest the entirety of her £40,000 inheritance, and they’re not in any hurry to give it back.
With Leanne having risen through the ranks, Rowan has tasked her with putting personal loyalty aside and convincing Amy to not carry out her threat to sue the Institute.
Leanne has become uneasy after realising that Rowan was recording Amy’s ‘downloads’, where she revealed some incriminating secrets, and which Rowan intends to use as leverage.
“We start to see everything falling down around her,” Jane Danson tells us. “Her relationship with Nick has become extremely strained, her relationship with Rowan is not quite what it was. He’s not quite as nice with her as he has been and she’s reacting differently to him than she has done previously.”
“She’s still holding onto the fact that the institute is a good thing but deep inside she knows that something’s a bit off. Amy’s a really young, vulnerable kid, she’s connected to Leanne by family, by Oliver, so she feels an added layer of protection.”
Giving Amy her job back at the bistro, Leanne does her best to try and get Amy to rethink her plan to sue.
Later in the week, Amy receives a voicemail which shocks her to the core, leading to her dashing out of the salon.
Meanwhile, Leanne meets with Rowan at the hotel, and whilst he is distracted at the reception, she decides to take a look at his laptop, and is stunned by what she finds—hundreds of files on many of the Institute’s members.
“It’s Amy who starts to question her first, she says she’s found all these files,” Jane explains. “He recorded her upload session, which Leanne knew and was uncomfortable with, but the fact that he kept the files unnerves her a little bit. Leanne thinks if she wipes it clean then he’s not got anything on Amy and her conscience is slightly clearer.”
“But by doing that, that’s when she discovers the bigger picture and all the other things that are kept on Rowan’s computer on her. It becomes a question of how’s he going to worm his way out of this, given that she finds he has things on her too.”
Leanne intends to delete everything, in doing so releasing Rowan’s hold on everyone, but she then spots a folder named ‘Nick and Toyah’…
“Curiosity gets the better of her,” Jane continues. “She’s one click away from finding out everything but Rowan’s also on his way back into the room. One click could cause everything to come crashing down but it’s whether he gets to her first.”
“For a moment she’s truly sorry, it looks like Toyah was right and she’s been blinded to it all. She feels awful for the way she’s treated her but then she opens the file and that changes everything.”
Has Leanne seen the incriminating photo?
Later in the week, Leanne summons Nick to the bistro, but what does she have planned?
2) Paul prepares for the end
It’s a bittersweet week at the flower shop flat as Paul (Peter Ash) remains housebound, realising that his time battling MND is fast coming to an end.
Paul is delighted when Gemma (Dolly-Rose Campbell) calls around with Joseph (William Flanagan) and the four-year-old quads—Aled, Bryn, Carys and Llio—who are all in uniform ready for their first ever day at school.
When Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove) arrives, Billy (Daniel Brocklebank) takes some group photos for posterity.
Later in the week, Paul decides it’s time to record a heartfelt manifesto, listing things that he wants Billy to do once he is gone. Technical issues soon put pay to Paul’s plans though when, after a long session of inputting everything into his Eyegaze machine, the battery runs out.
Summer (Harriet Bibby) takes charge of the situation, and whilst Paul rests she tells Billy to head out for some fresh air. Will she be able to come up with a solution to help Paul?
On Friday, Paul makes known his desire for a haircut, and so Kit (Jacob Roberts) requests for David (Jack P Shepherd) to come over. After the trim, David suggests that Billy come out for a drink with the lads later, and though Billy is reluctant to leave Paul, Paul insists that he should go and have some fun.
In the meantime, with Paul realising his time is growing shorter, he and Kit agree that they should spend all the time they can together, making up for all the years that the brothers were apart.
3) Jack’s day in court
At the Webster house, Jack (Kyran Bowes) is nervous as he prepares for his plea hearing in court.
Jack has been charged with arson with intent to endanger life after he set fire to Stefan Brent’s (Paul Opacic) car, in retaliation for the deepfake videos of Abi (Sally Carman-Duttine) being spread over the internet. Unfortunately for Jack, the fire spread to the office building, where Stefan was still working.
Following the hearing, Abi watches with intrigue as Stefan argues with a woman named Coral (Kate Cook) outside the courtroom. Coral later comes to the garage and Abi is thrown when she introduces herself as Stefan’s wife.
How will Abi react to meeting the mother of her son’s killer, and what does Coral want?
Later in the week, Kevin (Michael Le Vell) and Abi support Jack as he faces his sentencing… will he be going down?
4) Dee-Dee digs dirt on Joel
Despite the police’s case against Joel (Calum Lill) being dropped, both Dee-Dee (Channique Sterling-Brown) and Lisa (Vicky Myers) are determined to take him down.
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Next week, whilst at the hospital visiting Lauren (Cait Fitton), Dee-Dee is furious when Joel waltzes in, having recently reported Lauren to the police after goading her into hitting him.
After he makes a further threat towards Lauren, Dee-Dee tells Lisa who lets slip that Joel used to work for a firm of solicitors named Walcott Associates.
Walcotts specialise in helping vulnerable young people, and knowing these are exactly the sort of people that Joel has preyed on, Dee-Dee decides to pay them a visit.
As she speaks to one of the partners in his office, can Dee-Dee dig up any dirt to help build a case against Joel?
Meanwhile, when Carla (Alison King) meets with a potential supplier at Chariot Square Hotel, she notices Joel arriving at the bar for a drink with a lady.
Not one for subtlety, Carla approaches the bar and makes it known to the entire room that Joel is the woman-beater who was responsible for the disappearance of Lauren Bolton.
How will Joel react to his public shaming?
5) Lisa and Carla’s friendship blossoms
Elsewhere on the cobbles, relations between Lisa and her daughter Betsy (Sydney Martin) come under further strain.
The last few months have seen Lisa strike up a friendship with Carla, which had been particularly unexpected considering Lisa had not long had Roy (David Neilson) imprisoned for the suspected killing of Lauren.
In a rare show of vulnerability, Lisa had opened up to Carla about her relationship with Betsy, who has been struggling following the death of Lisa’s wife three years ago.
Next week, Betsy attempts to talk to her mum about Mason (Luca Toolan), who she had recently had a short fling with, but is left frustrated when Lisa is preoccupied with work-related calls on her phone.
In frustration, Betsy walks out. Over at the factory, Carla tries to persuade Betsy that she needs to cut her mum a bit of slack, and whilst it may seem that she’s always prioritising her career, she does love her.
Later in the week, it’s becoming obvious to Betsy that Lisa and Carla’s friendship is growing, but how will she react?
6) Ken asks Cassie to stay
At No.1, the time has finally come when Ken can stand on his own two feet again. Since fracturing his pelvis in a fall back in June, Ken has been employing Cassie as his carer during his recovery, despite her lack of qualifications.
Spending her days at the house, sparks have flown between Cassie and Steve (Simon Gregson), though neither have acted on them thus far.
Next week, Ken tells Cassie that he no longer requires her services as his physical injuries have now healed, but having enjoyed her company over the past few weeks, he would still like her to stay on.
Despite having left Steve for a life in Spain with Tommy O (Matt Milburn), Tracy (Kate Ford) is incredulous at the idea, in the belief that Cassie is simply trying to get her claws into her ex-husband.
Cassie denies that there’s anything between them, but will Tracy believe her?
