Coronation Street villain Stephen Reid will get "more desperate" as the months go on, the show's executive producer has warned.
When Stephen arrived on the Cobbles, he just seemed to be a concerned son, worried about his mother Audrey Roberts after her nasty fall. However, it soon was revealed that he had worries of his own - namely financial ones and his plan was to fleece his mother of her money in a bid to pay off the debts he had subjected his estranged wife Gabrielle too.
Now the ITV soap's executive producer Iain MacLeod has teased that the killer is set to get even more desperate, hinting at more death and destruction to come as Stephen's life continues to unfold.
Iain says Stephen's worries continue to grow - as in a bid to fix them, he makes more rash decisions.
Speaking to The Mirror and other press, he said: "The story is a bit like a film noir – due to his fatal flaw of arrogance and egotism, a man's need to be top dog drives him into increasingly desperate acts over the next 12 months.
"There's lots to come, in the best tradition of Corrie villains. If you compare him to our esteemed bad guys of the past.
"He's got shades of Richard Hillman for me. It's that kind of pompous refusal to accept you're on the bones of your behind. He has the desire to present the image of the successful guy. Everything about what he's doing and about this story I find really exciting."
Actor Todd Boyce admitted in the past that Stephen is struggling with the extent of his lies. After killing Leo, he tried to hide from Jenny and Teddy that Leo was gone and instead sent texts from his phone pretending he was in Canada.
Todd previously said: "I love the episodes where he just kept popping up in the pub, trying to convince Jenny and Teddy to let it go. But for him there's still that fear because there are those two people who are looking for Leo. That just keeps the whole fear of being caught alive and he's always telling lies, his life is a whole series of lies now, imagine the pressure of trying to remember all those lies."
Teddy and Jenny have remained suspicious of Stephen's interest in Leo's disappearance, but both are convinced he's just trying to help them out. If they do catch him out, will they be at risk of being Stephen's next victim? Only time will tell.
