{"id":38028,"date":"2023-10-13T22:00:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T20:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1904508"},"modified":"2023-10-14T01:06:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T23:06:49","slug":"coronation-street-almost-stuck-the-stephen-reid-landing","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/coronation-street-almost-stuck-the-stephen-reid-landing\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronation Street almost stuck the Stephen Reid landing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hear us out. <\/p>

By Helen Daly\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 13 October 2023 at 20:00 PM<\/p>

\n\n

It\u2019s a truth universally acknowledged that to be a great soap villain, you have to kill a great soap character.<\/p>\n

Think: Richard \u2018you should\u2019ve stayed at the party, Maxine\u2019 Hillman, Meena \u2018no one\u2019s safe\u2019 Jutla, Lachlan \u2018I killed my whole family\u2019 White, and who could forget Janine \u2018if only Barry\u2019d worn slip on shoes\u2019 Butcher. I could go on.<\/p>\n

Touted as the next big killer, bumbling Stephen Reid (played by Todd Boyce) on Coronation Street<\/a> was refreshingly bad at being a villain. He wasn\u2019t supposed to be a killer, he just accidentally fell into the role.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a more honest take on businessman-turned-desperado, and I liked it. Heck, I loved it.<\/p>\n

Stephen had the potential to be one of the campest, funniest and maybe even most heartwarming soap serial killers of all time. His gentle Canadian accent mixed with his genuine desire just to be liked by his mum had a sort of Norman Bates feel to him. A serial killer of old.<\/p>

As we know all too well, a villain must be found out on a soap and their reign of terror must come to an end. This week on Corrie saw the unravelling and demise of Stephen, in what was genuinely a brilliant week of acting from Boyce.<\/p>\n

We started with a bang \u2013 Stephen was being quietly investigated by loveable Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine), and when he stumbled upon the truth, it was down to the killer to sort out more of his mess.<\/p>\n

A fight ensued before a genuinely awful scene in which Stephen knocked his foe to the ground and strangled Tim while blocking his nasal airways. That was that then, Tim\u00a0had<\/em> to be dead.<\/p>\n

While Tim lay in the back of his cab boot, the Street sort of forgot about him \u2013 they had bigger fish to fry with a suspected killer on the loose.<\/p>\n

Sally (Sally Dynevor) and Elaine (Paula Wilcox) looked hard for their husband and son, but he was nowhere to be seen, leaving them to expect the worst.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Stephen was having showdown after showdown, resulting in him being slammed into by Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) and killed by the brutal impact.<\/p>\n

\"Tim\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Tim Metcalfe was attacked by Stephen Reid.<\/span><\/figcaption> ITV<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

While Stephen closed his eyes, in a forest miles away, Tim opened his. And therein lies the problem.<\/p>\n

Before you come for me, I\u2019m not out for Tim\u2019s blood. He\u2019s a nice guy, a great comedy character, and has an important place in Coronation Street. But that\u2019s why he should\u2019ve died (this week<\/em> \u2013 he could still be a goner if no one finds him!).<\/p>\n

To be great, you have to kill great, and Stephen was a good serial killer, a fine villain, but did he really kill anyone of impact?<\/p>\n

The people who met their demise at his hands were mere C-tier characters, devices used to \u201cbe someone Stephen killed\u201d. None of their deaths were really that shocking.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, the scenes were well-done and well-acted, but the characters didn\u2019t matter much in the grand scheme of things. They weren\u2019t a Tim, Carla, Elaine, or, heaven forbid, a Rita.<\/p>\n

\"Todd\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Todd Boyce as Stephen Reid in Coronation Street.<\/span><\/figcaption> ITV<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

What is Stephen\u2019s legacy? Richard Hillman and Pat Phelan come to mind immediately when you think of an iconic soap killer. Why? Because they killed memorable characters. Because they actually had an impact.<\/p>\n

Stephen had all the ingredients to be up there with the greats. He was genuinely menacing, a little bit silly, and always believable. As a killer, you always really felt he could turn on anyone at any given moment, with any character who wronged him unsafe.<\/p>\n

To be counted as one of the greatest villains of all time, his legacy of killing Leo, Teddy and Rufus doesn\u2019t quite live up to his predecessors. It\u2019s a real shame.<\/p>\n

His final week was portrayed near perfectly. The batch of episodes were filled with genuine horror, suspense in the Rovers showdown, boundary-pushing violence and a grisly end.<\/p>\n

Boyce\u2019s acting, in particular, was the best it\u2019s ever been, with his scenes opposite the iconic Sue Nicholls a particular highlight.<\/p>\n

Plus, there was much-needed humour<\/a> provided by the on-form Platt family. The ingredients for a vintage week on Corrie were all there.<\/p>\n

Stephen was a good villain. Well, rather, a great one. I just wanted him to be legendary<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n