Coronation Street fans are set for a blast from the past in the next few weeks as Audrey Roberts’ son Stephen Reid returns to the cobbles amid an ongoing storyline with his ailing mum.
Reprising his role as Audrey’s son, Todd Boyce will once again be causing chaos for the Platt family as he arrives on the street in the middle of a crisis.
Fans have already been seen raising concern for Audrey, played by Corrie icon Sue Nicholls, as she continues to hit the bottle far too often as she struggles to come to terms with her own old age.
In upcoming scenes, the street’s long-standing hairdresser will embarrass both herself and her family as after one glass too many, she ends up drunkenly flirting with Ryan Connor while in the barbers.
The event sparks an argument with daughter Gail, who soon storms off leaving Audrey alone in the shop.
Reeling from the argument, Audrey staggers around the barbers and bumps into the motorbike which then falls and knocks her over – with nobody discovering her until a full day later.
Thanks to some intervention from Brian and Elaine, an ambulance is soon called, but just as the paramedics arrive, so too does a taxi containing Audrey’s son Stephen.
Concerned for his mum, Stephen is quick to point the finger of blame at Gail and the rest of the family for failing to have noticed his mum was missing all night before racing to the hospital to be with her.
But who is Stephen Reid and why did he leave the cobbles?
Stephen’s humble beginnings
Stephen Reid is the first born son of Geoff Masters and Audrey Potter, and the older half-brother of Gail Platt.
Born in 1957 when Audrey was still a teenager, the young mum was forced to give him away to Malcom and Joyce Reid, a childless couple who were her neighbours after her father discovered her pregnancy.
Emigrating to Canada, the Reids took their adopted son along with them, leaving Audrey forever wondering what could have happened to her child. however this all changed in 1996, when Stephen arrived in Weatherfield hoping to find his biological mum.
Stephen’s first arrival on the street
During his brief stay on the cobbles, Stephen got to know his family, including his younger sister Gail, and estranged nephew Nick Tilsley. However as Nick’s relationship with his mother continued to sour, Gail made the bold decision to ask Nick to return to Canada with Stephen in the hopes of knocking some sense into him.
The two departed in 1997, with Stephen offering his nephew a job in his company, which Nick gladly accepted.
Stephen’s return to the cobbles
Mentioned only in passing after that, it wasn’t until 2007 that fans saw Stephen again, with the businessman having relocated to Italy before visiting Gail and Audrey at Christmas that same year.
During the festive visit, Stephen offered David a job within his business, however due to David’s relationship with Gail, he soon withdrew the offer and gave it to Sarah Platt instead.
Stephen then returned to Milan with niece Sarah and her daughter Bethany in tow, where the three of them remained for seven years, before Sarah and Bethany returned to Weatherfield.
Role in Callum Logan storyline
Although he hasn’t been seen on screen since 2007, Stephen has frequently been mentioned in the years that followed, with the entrepreneur even playing a key role in David’s plans to dispose of Callum Logan’s body, after he had tormented the family for months and been killed by David’s wife,Kylie Platt.
Following a campaign of sustained abuse, Kylie had unwittingly killed the cobbles villain after she smacked him over the head with a wrench, leading David to dispose of the body in a manhole in the garage.
David had planned to move the body, but Gail’s decision to plough ahead with renovation work and concrete over the area scuppered the plan, leading David to urge his mum Gail to visit Stephen in Italy to keep her out of the house back in September 2015.
The future
Over the years fans have seen Stephen’s turbulent relationship with the Platt family continue to ebb and flow – although he has always shown strong connections to his relatives and is fiercely protective of his mum.
Following the ramifications of Audrey’s horror fall and Gail’s failure to notice she is missing overnight, could Stephen’s relationship with his sister be about to be stretched to the limit? And will his anger ruin the relationship he has fought so hard to try and build with his estranged family?
Coronation Street airs on ITV at 8pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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