Coronation Street star James Cartwright has confirmed “terrifying” new scenes for Todd Grimshaw in the Theo Silverton abuse storyline. Scenes next week will see Todd descend further into despair as the villainous Theo stirs more drama.
The uncomfortable scenes come amid Theo’s birthday celebrations, and when Todd arrives late he cruelly hands his fiancé the bill, James explaining it is part of his character’s “really manipulative” agenda as he knows Todd has no money.
“He’s trying to make a public display in his way of, ‘You need me, Todd, you’ve got no money. You can’t control your money’,” he said. “And outwardly, he’s trying to make it look like Todd’s useless, and without Theo, he’d be no good whatsoever.”
Theo then plays the saviour by paying himself when Todd’s card bounces, though privately “berates him” as part of his “carefully orchestrated” plan.
“There’s been a lot of stuff that’s been opportunistic, but now, he’s actively trying to narrow Todd’s circle of friends and his opportunities for pleasure that don’t involve Theo,” he added. “He’s trying to make him completely dependent.”
Later on, Theo loses it with Todd at home, which Todd has sadly “become conditioned to” as the violence “takes on a life of its own and becomes more extreme every time it goes unchallenged”.
“Violence is an awful, awful thing; in a relationship, it’s just unthinkable,” James noted. “And it becomes another tool of control for Theo. Theo’s just trying to absolutely give him the consequences of not doing his will. It’s just abhorrent.
“And the more Todd bites back, the more Theo is trying to knock that out of him and impose himself physically,” the actor continued, further pointing out that their “big size difference” gives Theo an “advantage”.
Theo is spotted the next day by Gary sleeping in his van, claiming he and Todd had an argument around money issues, and when Gary goes over to the flat, Todd admits he wants to patch things up with his fiancé.
However, Gary brings Theo to the flat without telling Todd, and his departure to let them sort it out among themselves puts Todd in a frightening position.
“You don’t know which way it’s going to go, because that home they share can either be a place of happiness or it can be a dungeon of misery. Todd just doesn’t know,” James said.
“Once that door clicks shut, it’s the fear, the unpredictability and the irrationality of Theo, that you never know what you’re going to get. He might hug you and say sorry or he might come at you with a steaming iron.”
“For Todd, it’s terrifying,” he added. “For the viewers, it’s unmissable, that’s what’s kept people interested – the unpredictability and the unexpected outcomes.”
Coronation Street airs on weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
