It’s the dramatic conclusion of Stephen Reid’s (Todd Boyce) tenure as Weatherfield’s newest serial killer that Coronation Street viewers have been waiting for all week. As we begin Super Soap Week tonight, Tim (Joe Duttine) makes a horrifying discovery, prompting Stephen to look to increase his death toll. Todd, Joe, and director David Kester talk to us about the episode’s filming.
Following the recent discovery of Leo’s body, Stephen’s first victim, on the construction site Ed was just beginning to work on, Stephen was compelled to check in on Teddy, Leo’s father, whom he had unceremoniously dumped in the canal in his car roof box.
It’s the dramatic conclusion of Stephen Reid’s (Todd Boyce) tenure as Weatherfield’s newest serial killer that Coronation Street viewers have been waiting for all week. As we begin Super Soap Week tonight, Tim (Joe Duttine) makes a horrifying discovery, prompting Stephen to look to increase his death toll. Todd, Joe, and director David Kester talk to us about the episode’s filming.
Following the recent discovery of Leo’s body, Stephen’s first victim, on the construction site Ed was just beginning to work on, Stephen was compelled to check in on Teddy, Leo’s father, whom he had unceremoniously dumped in the canal in his car roof box.
DS Swain (Vicky Myers) told Carla off-the-record that she believed her, and if they had any chance of catching Stephen, he couldn’t know that they were onto him, even though the evidence of his guilt was only circumstantial and Carla’s conversation with her didn’t help.
Naturally, Stephen was passing and overheard everything. When he later heard Tim’s recognizable Birdie Song ringtone as they were walking down the street, Stephen realized the net was finally starting to rapidly close in on him.
In the dramatic episodes of this week, Stephen is trying to leave as soon as possible but is unaware that more inmates are starting to piece together the puzzle that could send him to prison for the rest of his days.
Carla immediately alerts DS Swain that Stephen poses a flight risk after finding a printout of a one-way ticket to Thailand in the workplace. Despite Swain’s advice to keep things quiet, Carla can’t help but beg Jenny not to travel to Thailand with Stephen, pointing out that he’s being investigated by the police and that she might be about to embark on a romantic getaway with a murderer.
Tim starts to connect the dots after learning that Stephen is interested in the neighborhood canal dredging project and goes back to the towpath where he first noticed Stephen acting suspiciously. Tim is startled when a corpse’s hand rises to the surface as he searches the water with a broken boat hook. While reporting the dead body to 999, Tim quickly runs back to his taxi before the call abruptly ends. When Stephen subsequently gets in the back of his taxi, Tim is horrified!
Stephen waits until Tim is driving before striking, attempting to choke him with a tie.
Tim manages to get out of the cab, but Stephen quickly catches up to him and hits him in the head with an iron bar.
Little does Sally (Sally Dynevor) know that her husband has now been dumped in the boot of his taxi as she waits impatiently for Tim at home, believing he skipped their wedding anniversary celebration to attend the Weatherfield County match with Kevin.
Stephen takes the car to a secluded area of forest, where he fills it with gas and lights a lighter. Is Tim Stephen’s next intended victim?
Stephen arrives home with ease and gracefully avoids Jenny to take a shower to get rid of the blood and gasoline. Stephen later calls the airline to confirm his flight—for tomorrow—after Jenny has been moved out of the way.
“Johnny [Joe Duttine’s real name] is a dream to work with,” Todd Boyce said of Joe Duttine when discussing the scenes with EverySoap and other media at a press event last week. “I had to pinch his nostrils and cover his mouth, both of which I really didn’t want to do. However, I wanted it to look good even though I DID want to do that.
“I was there applying hand sanitizer to my hands while thinking, ‘Poor Johnny!’ It was very close-up and personal. We didn’t really need to talk about it because we were sort of in sync with one another, but it was still fun to do. I had to garrotte him with my tie. When two actors can rely on each other, it’s wonderful.
Joe continued, “It was great to do something different. “It’s great to get out of the building. During lockdown, we used this building frequently, so when you get to go outside, it gives the situation a certain amount of reality. When you’re on location, for some reason, you feel like you’re having a sleepover with the crew.
Todd just doesn’t have an ego, Joe said. He is portraying the lead role, but he is actually cool with that. He was a real joy because he showed up, did his job, and sat where he wanted for dinner.
Regarding the scenes of suffocation, Joe says, “You just sort of get on with it.” Simply put, “Trust each other and go for it. There’s no point in making a song and dance about it.”
Despite having a stunt double in Tom Boney, Joe decided to perform as many of the shots as he could.
“I think the only time I saw the stunt double was when he fell on the floor,” says Joe. As he hit the ground, I noticed that his jeans were a little tighter than mine. I remarked that I would like to do it if we can. He is undoubtedly more physically fit, stronger, and slightly sleighier than I am as a stunt man.
“It’s very much for the stuff that’s dangerous,” the episode’s director, David Kester, adds. We can’t afford for Joe to get hurt. Amazingly, this man simply threw himself onto the concrete.
“There were a couple of shots up this street where I had to have my face on the tarmac, and they said ‘Yeah we’ve cleaned it'” Joe chuckles. “But I was like, ‘Yeah right, how MUCH have you cleaned it!'”
The scenes of Tim’s confrontation with Stephen were shot near Bilbrook and Peary Streets, which are off Rochdale Road to the northeast of Manchester’s central business district. David outlined why picking the right location was crucial.
We looked for the urban location for a very long time, he said. “We literally sent a team in to make it safe for filming, and they just went and cleaned up all the syringes and other awful things that were lying around. When it was safe, we went inside and replaced them all with clean syringes and other trash.
“It was a great location because it is not very far away and is concealed. There are trains passing by every five minutes, giving the impression that help is just out of reach even though you know Tim is in danger and won’t be found easily.
Will Tim be found, or is it already too late, with his seemingly lifeless body now lying in the middle of the woods?
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