Roy Cropper’s (David Neilson) ordeal is showing no signs of coming to an end any time soon in Coronation Street, with next week set to see a much-loved member of his clan taken prisoner.
The legendary cafe owner, as viewers know, has been jailed for the murder of Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton), who vanished without a trace a number of months ago, leading detectives to believe that she was killed.
Roy was put in the frame by Bobby Crawford (Jack Carroll), who reported his suspicions about the upstanding cobbles resident to the police, with DS Swain (Vicky Myers) subsequently arresting him.
With his name now in the public domain, Roy has been subjected to serious amounts of abuse online, with a number of internet sleuths taking it upon themselves to try and solve the crime – targeting the cafe owner with vile social media attacks.
After Roy is charged and refused bail, his loved ones rally around him, with Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan) agreeing to take Freddie the dog for a walk before school. Sam, however, is followed by one of the social media sleuths.
Subsequent scenes see the school boy return home, revealing that Freddie ran off while out on the walk. Evelyn Plummer (Maureen Lipman) swoops into action, offering to mind the cafe while Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) and Nina Lucas (Mollie Gallagher) set out on a search mission to locate the missing dog.
Things, however, take a sinister turn when – at the cafe – Nina, Evelyn and Asha Alahan (Tanisha Corey) watch in horror as a video is uploaded online by one of the sleuths, who confirm that they’ve taken Freddie hostage!
In order to secure his safe return, the social media troll insists that Roy must confess to Lauren’s murder!
Will Freddie be returned before it’s too late? Just what will the sleuths do next? And how will Roy react when he finds out about his beloved Freddie’s ordeal?
That remains to be seen but, while out on the search for Freddie, Toyah stumbles upon two sleuths digging up an area of the red rec, which they believe is where Roy buried Lauren’s body.
Toyah seethes with rage and picks up a shovel, attacking their car and smashing the glass, which leads to police invention as detectives want to ask her some questions. Toyah later opens up to Nick, confirming that she had a stillborn baby girl at the age of 19, which she buried in the park.
The father was rapist Phil Simmonds.
Roy, meanwhile, remains unaware of Freddie’s vanishing, and knowing that new evidence has come to light, he believes there’s a chance he might get released. Dee-Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown), however, is forced to reveal that his bail application has once again been denied.
Knowing there’s something going on in regards to Bobby’s latest statement, Roy calls Carla Connor (Alison King) from his cell, telling her he that needs a word.
One to watch: Monday April 22 at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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