Coronation Street villain Carl Webster eyes up vulnerable local in ITVX release
Warning: Contains spoilers for Friday's episode of Coronation Street, which airs on ITV1 at 8.30pm or can be streamed now on ITVX.
It's hard to believe that Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard) has only been on the cobbles of Coronation Street for nine months. The relative newcomer has already caused a mammoth trail of destruction, and doesn't seem likely to stop.
After destroying brother Kevin's (Michael Le Vell) marriage to Abi (Sally Carman-Duttine), he then engaged in another affair, this time with James Bailey (Jason Callender).
Their infidelity was then exposed ahead of sister Debbie's (Sue Devaney) wedding, with Abi making it her mission to get revenge and shutdown his plan to flee to Germany.
He'd stolen thousands from the Chariot Square Hotel, and was just moments away from disappearing when his car was caught up in a multi-vehicle pile-up.
Knowing he'd be sent down for drink driving, Carl dragged Debbie's lifeless body into his seat and has allowed her to believe she was responsible for the death of their neighbour Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank).
We later discovered that the reason Debbie has failed to put up a fight is because she's fearful of her biggest ever secret being exposed – she's Carl's mother, not his sister.
Now ostracised from the rest of the community, there doesn't seem to be much of a future for the Webster bad boy in Weatherfield.
However, in today's episode, he began a new flirting game, this time with newcomer Jodie Ramsey (Olivia Frances Brown).
The sister of Shona Platt (Julia Goulding) was first seen during Corriedale, having escaped what seemed to be a hostage situation that was masterminded by Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough).
She's since made herself at home with the Platts, who had no idea how she came to be caught up in the collision earlier this month. Earlier this week, she repeated a domestic abuse survivor's story verbatim to Shona, who seemed to believe every last word.
We have no idea why she's lying, or why we've seen her attempt to taint Shona's good character.
Since her arrival at No. 8, Jodie has spent most days lazing on the sofa, seemingly fearful of running into Graham or Kit Green (Jacob Roberts), who is eager to discover exactly who or what she was running from.
However, after being coaxed out of the house, Jodie headed to the caff and offered to help out while Nina Lucas (Mollie Gallagher) went to the wholesaler.
Carl was admiring her from afar, and took opportunity to buy Leanne Battersby's (Jane Danson) cuppa so that he could find an opportunity to spark up a conversation. The two immediately hit it off - and then Abi entered.
She was shocked to see Carl cosying up to Jodie, and warned her against pursuing anything.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Shona told husband David (Jack P. Shepherd) that she was attempting to try and track down her dad, so that she could learn exactly why Jodie is so troubled.
Is this a fresh start for Carl, or will he begin to scheme with Jodie?
Read more:
- 8 Coronation Street spoilers next week: Theo Silverton uses Billy Mayhew's funeral to guilt trip Todd Grimshaw
- Coronation Street's Summer Spellman attacks innocent local amid her grief for Billy Mayhew in ITVX release
- Coronation Street airs game-changing Debbie and Carl Webster twist after court appearance in ITVX release
- Who is Jodie in Coronation Street? Identity and Platt connection revealed in ITVX release
Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and 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.
