The nastiest newcomer on Coronation Street, Ross Wilkes (Ian Burfield), will stop at nothing to play the doting dad to Tyrone Dobbs’ (Alan Halsall) and cover up his own sinister past. But one beloved Cobbles resident is poised to bring the monster down…
Bad guys are like buses in Weatherfield.
No sooner has domestic abuser Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) been bumped off and child predator Megan Walsh (Beth Nixon) gets locked away behind bars, lo and behold , there’s a new big bad in town.
Enter Ross, the long-lost biological father of the friendliest mechanic in Weatherfield Tyrone Dobbs. He was summoned to the Street by Tyrone’s meddling daughters Hope Stape (Isabella Flanagan) and Ruby Dobbs (Billie Naylor), hoping for a sweet father and son reunion.
The girls have no idea about the monster they’ve invited to their door.
But Cassie Plummer (Claire Sweeney) does. She’s been pretty much the only one who’s given Ross a frosty reception since her first set foot on the Cobbles. And with good reason.
Right before the touching family scene, Ross had been chatting to Cassie at the Chariot Square Hotel. Nursing a broken heart after Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) expressed hesitation over her marriage proposal, she ended up having a drink and a few laughs with a stranger, who she didn’t recognise until it was too late.
Horrified, Cassie told Tyrone the awful truth -she met Ross when she was 15, and he paid to have sex with her, which resulted in her falling pregnant with Tyrone.
But when Tyrone had it out with Ross, the master manipulator put on the whole repentant sinner act which his son was only too happy to believe. With Steve and Fiz (Jennie McAlpine) convinced too, Cassie felt like had no option but to see if Ross truly was a changed man.
Spoiler – he’s not. As soon as they were alone, Ross vowed to kill Cassie if she ever came between him and Tyrone again.
So not only is Ross a sexual predator who takes advantage of underage girls, but he’s also a vile bully. Needless to say, Cassie is on a one-woman mission to make sure Ross ends up in that traditional black cab out of Weatherfield as soon as possible.
However, with actress Claire Sweeney’s exit imminent, we know it’s Cassie who’s poised to leave the Street, which comes about when her scheme to oust Ross blows up spectacularly in her face.
In an effort to sabotage his new job at Highfield Prison, Cassie concocts a scheme to crush tablets into his smoothie so that he fails the mandatory drug test.
However, dropping the pill packet gives the game away to Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson). Horrified, he calls time on their relationship, breaking Cassie’s heart. Tyrone doesn’t react any better to his mum’s meddling and throws her out.
With nothing left to fight for on the Cobbles, a defeated Cassie takes a job as a cleaner on a cruise ship next week and bids a sad farewell to her Weatherfield family.
But her exit is left chillingly ambiguous when Ross turns up to give her a lift, before locking the doors as soon as she gets in and speeding away.
We all know Ross is a wrong’un, but is he truly capable of murder? Did he just bump off Cassie?
Fear not. Because one Coronation Street resident smells a rat and is onto Ross’s little game when he gives himself away next week.
After Cassie’s sudden departure from Weatherfield,Steve is puzzled why Cassie didn’t meet him at the precinct like they arranged and asks Ross where he dropped her.
Ross feigns ignorance until Steve reveals how he saw Cassie get into his car. This forces Rossto change his story and claim that he took Cassie to Piccadilly Station. What is Ross hiding?
Whatever it is, one Coronation Street residents overhears him struggle to rewrite the narrative and doesn’t buy it for a second. Who is it?
