Stephen Reid’s exit week proves no soap does dramedy like Coronation Street

For while the ITV soap certainly delivered on drama, its trademark comedy roots were present throughout.

Injecting some humour into a week which saw Stephen strangle and suffocate loveable cabbie Tim, while the body of another victim was recovered from the canal, might have seemed like a tall order.

But not for Corrie - the show that dared to play Tim’s The Birdie Song ringtone seconds after presenting us with his lifeless body. (Although it turns out he wasn’t quite so lifeless, after all.)

What could have been an overly harrowing week was lightened by brief, welcome moments of fun.

First, Ken Barlow (William Roache) struggled to hide his confusion over his birthday gifts - model trains that turned out to be down to a wrongly delivered hobby magazine.

Much to Ken’s despair, Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor) joined the celebrations and promptly drank all the wine as she seethed over Tim’s apparent abandonment of her.

Stephen’s partner Jenny Connor (Sally Ann Matthews) realised he was a wrong’un, and reacted by telling a well-meaning, quiche-carrying Roy Cropper (David Neilson) that all men should come with a QR code to avoid this kind of pitfall.

Meanwhile, Gail (Helen Worth) referenced Jenny’s extensive back catalogue in romance. “You’ve got room to talk!” replied daughter Sarah (Tina O’Brien) to serial bride Gail.

As the hunt for Stephen truly began, his ties to the Platts continued to serve the show beautifully. A series of blunt one-liners from David (Jack P Shepherd) and Shona (Julia Goulding) were particular highlights.

From Shona’s "Did you cosh him?" to the experienced David’s assertion that surely "a bit of old carpet’ll do" when discussing Stephen’s use of a car roof box to dispose of Teddy’s (Grant Burgin) body, laughs came in quick succession.

On the news that Stephen had been dosing Carla Barlow (Alison King) with LSD, Shona’s reaction was a classic: "What, for free?!"

With a thieving Stephen on the loose, Gail offered up her phone so son Nick (Ben Price) could check her online account.

Pulling a hilarious face, the ever-relatable Gail lamented that stress affected her compatibility with facial recognition, and cautioned that the family had better not end up "two sheets to the wind".

When Audrey remarked that Stephen was hardly Jack the Ripper, Nick swiftly replied that people probably said the same about Gail’s murderous late husband Richard Hillman (Brian Capron).

David soon became fixated on a bathroom rota, even quizzing Sarah about her bladder.

Rather than taking up residence in the loo, Sarah went missing, only to be attacked by Uncle Stephen.

Was it predictable when, after striking Stephen down amid his monstrous speech that no one could stop him, Sarah quipped: "You wanna bet?"

Absolutely, but it was still TV gold. In fact, for a storyline that has, at times, ventured into pantomime villain territory (and perhaps this was the intention), moments like this marked the perfect accompaniment to Stephen’s exit.

David maintained his usual demeanour during even the most heightened moments. As Stephen aimed a broken bottle at a terrified Jenny and demanded that David provide him with a car, David complained, asking why it had to be his and not Nick’s!

Stephen’s rage and his family’s disbelief convinced David to comply - with a sulky strop that wouldn’t have been out of place had he simply been asked to make them all a cup of tea!

But this was so typically David, and as tense as Stephen’s final stand was, such on-brand behaviour from his nephew offered much-needed respite from what would otherwise have been an incredibly heavy episode.

The humour never overshadowed the action, but had it not been there, Coronation Street’s 'Super Soap Week' would have been a pure misery-fest this year.

It may be part of soap’s fabric to deliver pain, suffering, death and destruction - but really, there’s only so much of that we can take.

When a serial drama takes a single-strand approach with its darker plots, there’s always a danger that we’ll be drained by all the chaos. Thanks to this particular soap making use of one of its biggest strengths, though, this didn’t happen.

The Platts provide a huge amount of comedy all year round. When Stephen’s evil side was first explored, it was easy to assume that this would move his family away from their usual light-hearted antics.

Yet, happily, we’ve been able to have the best of both worlds.

Coronation Street’s winning formula gave us an expert blend of both drama and comedy. There’s simply no other soap that can pull off the grimmest of plots while simultaneously upping its game in entertainment value, and Stephen’s exit week confirmed it.

Read more:

• Coronation Street's Stephen dead after siege terror - but Tim's alive in final twist!
• Will Coronation Street's Peter Barlow be sent to prison for Stephen's murder?
• Coronation Street boss teases "huge consequences" after Stephen's downfall
• 4 Coronation Street spoilers next week: Lauren blackmails Ryan and Daisy over fling

Coronation Street airs weeknights on ITV. Check out more of our Soaps coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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