Coronation Street airs exposure of major Driscoll family secret in early ITVX release
Warning: Contains spoilers for Thursday's episode of Coronation Street, which airs at 8.30pm on ITV1 or can be streamed now on ITVX.
There's more than one killer on the cobbles. We're not talking about Tracy Barlow, Gary Windass or the as yet unknown Coronation Street resident who took Theo Silverton's life – but Maggie Driscoll (Pauline McLynn), who committed the historic murder of her husband Alan 35 years ago.
As viewers will recall, flashbacks that aired last year revealed that tensions were rising in the Driscoll household over the state of their marriage.
An argument turned deadly, as Maggie pushed Alan down the staircase, causing him to suffer fatal injuries. Little did she realise, youngest son Finlay was watching from afar, scarred by witnessing his father's death.
While Maggie has managed to play this off as a horrific accident, it has haunted her for decades. She had no idea that Finlay was aware of the true events, until former daughter-in-law Melanie (Cindy Humphrey) dropped the bombshell during Corrie's 'murder week'.
It was apparent that Melanie had kept in touch with her brother-in-law after her separation from Ben, and he'd detailed the moment that Maggie killed Alan to her. Paedophile Megan Walsh (Beth Nixon) listened in, and recorded the altercation on her phone.
Melanie ultimately blackmailed Maggie into convincing teenager Will (Lucas Hodgson-Wale) to move to Scotland with her, but he used this opportunity as a way to flee to France to live with abuser Megan.
Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine) managed to make a breakthrough with the youngster, and convinced him to report her to the police. This ultimately meant that Will didn't go to France or Scotland, as Ben wanted to keep his son close by.
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In today's episode, Maggie was stunned to receive a call from Megan, who said that she would spill to the police about Alan's death if she didn't get Will to drop the charges against her. Effectively backed into a corner, and with Melanie still pressing for answers about why Will didn't come to live with her, Maggie knew that she'd have to come clean.
She asked Ben to sit down, and she explained everything. Alan knew about her affair with Jim McDonald, which resulted in Ben's birth, and that was the reason for their final argument.
He was furious, and demanded to know the exact details. Maggie lied, saying that she wasn't entirely sure whether she was responsible, and that she was fearful that she'd end up in prison and that he and Finlay would've been taken into care.
Later that day, Maggie checked into the Chariot Square Hotel and told owner Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) that she and Ben had fallen out. Debbie, who knows too well about difficult relations between mother and son, urged her to make things right with him before it was too late.
Will Ben ever be able to forgive Maggie, and will Megan go through with her threat?
Read more:
- 6 Coronation Street spoilers next week: Summer Spellman becomes prime suspect in Theo murder investigation
- Coronation Street reveals incriminating evidence in Theo murder investigation in early ITVX release
- Coronation Street spring 2026 preview: 12 spoilers for the months ahead from Theo's death aftermath to 2 new characters
Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 or can be streamed from 7am on ITVX.
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Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
