It will be lonely this Christmas for Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) as his vile boyfriend Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) makes sure the festive season will be as stressful and anxiety-ridden as possible.

In this sneak peek, you could cut the tension in that flat like a freshly roasted Turkey as the sinister scaffolder casually mentions that he’s invited a few friends round to join them in a ‘smallish Christmas.’ Nothing major. Just Billy (Daniel Brocklebank) and Summer (Harriet Bibby). And George (Tony Maudsley). And Christina (Amy Robbins). And Glenda (Jodie Prenger). But wait! There’s more! The cherry on top of the Christmas pud is that Theo has volunteered Todd to do all the cooking.

Under normal circumstances, this might be a nice – if somewhat cheeky and presumptuous – gesture. But any Coronation Street Viewer who’s followed this gripping and uncomfortably realistic domestic violence story will tell you that the circumstances Todd’s been living under are anything but normal.

Theo’s toxic behaviour and uncontrollable jealousy have made Todd a prisoner in his own home, constantly terrified of saying or doing anything that could trigger his abuser’s violent rages.

Not since the days of chicken killing amateur magician Geoff Metcalfe has Weatherfield since such manipulative cruelty and coercive control dressed up as love and insecurity. Theo has force fed Todd a kebab, dunked milk over his head, and even smashed his face into a mirror in shocking scenes.

After walking on eggshells for months on end, Todd finally reached breaking point in a recent special two-hander episode from the POV of ‘found footage’ such as hidden cameras, RING doorbells and police bodycams. Sick of his living in fear, he snapped that he didn’t want to be with Theo anymore.

And when an enraged Theo wouldn’t get out of his face, Todd pushed him away… knocking him backwards over a coffee table. The police were called, and Todd’s decision to put secret cameras in the flat for his own safety backfired when Theo edited the footage to make himself look like the victim and Todd the abuser.

After Theo manipulated him into accepting his revisionist version of events, poor Todd was left feeling more trapped than ever.

Now Todd’s closest friends are aware of the ‘incident’ at their flat, Theo’s clearly trying to do damage control and paint a big festive smile on his boyfriend’s face to hide all the tension and suffering. But it might be too late for that.