By Laura Denby

Published: Friday, 28 October 2022 at 12:00 am


Spider Nugent (Martin Hancock) found himself issued with a strong warning from sinister activist Griff (Michael Condron) in tonight’s Coronation Street (28th October).

Griff was introduced as a pal of Spider’s, who seemingly shared his environmentalist views. Griff bonded with Spider’s girlfriend Toyah Habeeb (Georgia Taylor), and later Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) took a shine to him when he showed support over Peter’s grievances with the surgeon who botched his operation last year.

But as events began to get out of hand, with Griff often at the centre of the drama, it soon became clear that he wasn’t to be trusted – and fans realised that undercover cop Spider was actually trying to infiltrate Griff’s group.

This week, Griff invited Spider, Toyah and Peter to a gig which was to be held by a mystery band. Peter was keen, but Toyah decided to give it a miss. Spider agreed to swerve the event so they could spend time together, but after contacting his superior officer, he was forced to change his mind as he was instructed that missing the gig was not an option.

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Martin Hancock as Spider Nugent in Coronation Street.
ITV

Toyah was disappointed when Spider revealed he wanted to go after all, and asked if it could be a ‘boys only’ occasion. He and Peter arrived at the venue, but Peter was unimpressed by Griff’s mates. Things soon took a worrying turn when Peter walked out, confronting the group over the band’s racist lyrics.

Spider was careful not to appear biased on either side as a fight broke out between Peter, Griff and friends, but he dragged Peter away and went after him. As they bumped into Toyah, Peter revealed the agenda he had just witnessed, before Toyah sheepishly explained that she had accidentally got him in trouble with his wife Carla (Alison King) for lying about his whereabouts.

While Peter grovelled and admitted to Carla that Griff was indeed bad news – just as she had thought – Spider was quizzed by Toyah over the racist band. Spider pretended that he couldn’t hear the music properly thanks to a dodgy sound system, and promised that good, clean activism and Toyah were still his number one priorities.

Later, Spider met with his undercover handler, telling him he wanted to walk away from the risky operation. But he was informed that he had to stick at it, as Griff was planning something big. It seemed that Spider’s involvement could save lives, so he reluctantly agreed to carry on.

When he headed to see Griff, the far right lads doubted Spider’s allegiance as they probed him on backing up Peter earlier. Playing up to his role, Spider said he simply needed to prevent Peter from turning Toyah against him, so he could keep her sweet.

Griff therefore allowed him to stay – but not before he menacingly warned Spider not to cross him…

Will Spider be able to keep fooling the gang? And how long can he keep lying to Toyah?

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