Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) has started walking on egg shells around Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) in Coronation Street. After months of manipulation, he’s now learnt that one wrong move can leave his partner a very angry man.
As we enter the next part of this story, Theo’s behaviour is set to escalate even further.
‘Gaslighting is a word that’s banded around fairly frequently these days, but that’s definitely what has started to happen here and is in full flow by this point in the story’, star Gareth Pierce explained.
‘Todd’s really had what is normal behaviour in the relationship adjusted for him, by a lot of Theo’s micro aggressions and also Todd’s kind of acceptance of elements of it. So we’re in the eggshells phase of the relationship now, where Todd has really anchored his own moods to what mood he’s going to get from Theo day to day.
‘He’s trying constantly to anticipate things that Theo might get riled about to avoid a situation like the kebab scene where it really boiled over.’
Said kebab scene saw Theo scoop pieces of the meal into his hands and force them into Todd’s mouth. It was an utterly horrifying moment, and Gareth confirmed that it left his character scared as well.
‘That kebab moment was genuinely scary for Todd, and he’s tried to communicate that to Theo. There’s definitely a sense now that Theo is a more physically imposing character than Todd is as well so he’s definitely scared of him physically but there is still love there somewhere in the relationship and Todd feels like he can maybe anticipate or fix Theo.’
In upcoming episodes, Todd gives Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien) and Harry a lift in Theo’s car. Unfortunately, Harry spills his milkshake on the seat and Todd is horrified.
Outside the vehicle, Theo takes the situation in his stride and it leaves Todd surprised.
Gareth said of this moment: ‘He has that sort of false hope, when in that initial moment of the milkshake discovery, Theo is much more affable than Todd’s expecting him to be because Sarah is there and Harry’s there. Todd thinks maybe it will be all right.’
Sadly, as soon as the door to their flat closes, the reality sets in.
Theo rails at Todd for his total disrespect of the new car. He’s deeply apologetic and promises to have it cleaned.
Just as he’s finished having the interior fixed though, Todd reverses the car and ends up scraping it.
He looks at the scratch in horror, dreading Theo’s reaction.
Gareth went on to reveal that this entire event with the car will prompt another dark reaction from Theo that leaves Todd facing his abuse again.
‘It’s going to be another spike in that constant vibrating mood there is in that flat now. That flat is such a tense space for Todd, whereas it’s his new home, it should be one of the few places where he feels entirely relaxed’, he said.
‘That’s a horrible situation to be in anyway and it causes great stress and anxiety. There’s a moment where Todd thinks that maybe he’s been able to get everything sorted and repaired and that it’ll be smooth sailing but then sadly in that moment of real tension, he finds out that it’s not all okay and we have one of those real upsurges in fury that we know you can get from Theo. It’s shocking and it’s very much directed at Todd.’
Corrie producer Kate Brooks recently revealed more about the longevity of Todd and Theo’s storyline.
‘He [Todd] feels like he can change this man. And he feels like everything that’s happened to Theo in the past has made him this person who is quite horrific, make no bones about it. He does some really, really vile things to Todd, but Todd’s seeing the goodness in him as well.
‘He’s seeing the moments when they have fun, and the moments when he absolutely goes above and beyond to make Todd feel protected and loved. There’s a generosity there, and he’s charming to his family.
She added: ‘And Todd’s not really has a steady relationship before as well. So this is all new ground for him. So it was important to show the building blocks of why people find themselves in these situations.
‘And we’ve still got quite a bit of a journey to go on with these two. There’s some quite dark episodes, but very important episodes and very raw episodes, very authentic episodes.’
