Next week in Coronation Street, Weatherfield’s fault lines deepen in every direction — but the most chilling confrontation unfolds behind bars, where Debbie Webster is forced to come face-to-face with a ghost from her past. Already fragile after a terrifying health scare, Debbie enters prison expecting the usual humiliation of confinement. What she doesn’t expect is this: she won’t be left alone for even a second.

In a twist that feels engineered for maximum psychological damage, Debbie is assigned a “companion” inmate — someone tasked with keeping an eye on her. It’s the kind of prison pairing that’s meant to control, intimidate, and break down anyone who might be deemed vulnerable. Debbie’s anger rises instantly… and then freezes into something colder when she realises exactly who’s been placed at her side.

It’s Lou.

The reunion is instant tension: two women with history, forced into close quarters, where there’s no escape and no neutral ground. Debbie’s instinct is to protect herself with sharp words and steel posture, but prison has a way of stripping people down to their rawest nerves. And after Debbie’s recent mini-stroke, the stakes are even higher — because weakness isn’t just emotional in prison. It can become a target.

Back in Weatherfield, Carl Webster is handed a development that should bring relief, but instead becomes fuel for his worst impulses. Adam offers a cautiously optimistic update, suggesting Debbie’s health episode could potentially shorten her sentence. In theory, it’s the lifeline Debbie needs. In practice, it becomes another lever in Carl’s hands — another reason for him to believe he can outrun consequences, control outcomes, and bulldoze anyone who stands in his way.

That sense of entitlement explodes the moment Carl returns to work at the hotel and discovers he’s expected to take direction — particularly from Ryan. Carl bristles, simmering with resentment, and when Ronnie sides with Ryan, it’s the final insult. Carl’s response isn’t a quiet sulk. It’s sabotage. In a petty but telling act of defiance, he dumps the QR code stickers he’s been told to place on the tables, as if refusing to do the job properly is a statement of power.

It backfires spectacularly.

Ryan finds the discarded stickers, sees straight through the attitude, and sacks Carl on the spot. For Carl, the humiliation is unbearable — not because he needs the wages, but because he cannot stand being dismissed. And that’s where the story pivots from workplace drama into something far darker: Carl begins to plot. Not a complaint, not revenge-by-gossip — revenge by fire. The hotel becomes a symbol of everything he believes has been taken from him, and the idea of destroying it takes root with frightening speed.

While one man spirals into arson fantasies, another storyline shows the slow violence of control — the kind that doesn’t always leave bruises until it’s too late.

Todd Grimshaw clings to a rare moment of warmth when Sarah and George treat him to drinks and a bite to eat. For a short while, he looks like himself again — lighter, laughing, present. But that fragile calm shatters the second he spots missed calls from Theo Silverton. Todd’s body reacts before his mind does: he rushes away to listen to the voicemails, as if he’s been conditioned to respond instantly or suffer the consequences later.

He later confides to George that he feels guilty about letting Summer cover the food shop, and when he secures an advance on his wages, he hands half of it to her. It’s a gesture of conscience — but it also underlines how precarious Todd’s situation has become. Even a small act of kindness now needs money he doesn’t fully control.

When James invites Todd out for brunch, Todd is embarrassed enough to pretend he’s forgotten his bank card and lets James pay. It’s a tiny social moment, but it detonates at home. Theo finds out and unleashes a furious, belittling tirade about “wasting money,” then hands Todd a £10 note and orders him to buy dinner ingredients — demanding a receipt like Todd is a child who can’t be trusted.

And the control doesn’t stop at spending. It spills into Todd’s grief.

While Todd is out, Theo throws away Billy’s photo. Later, he spots a takeaway container in the rubbish and turns it into a new form of punishment: Theo coldly lists the calories Todd “must have eaten” and orders him to go for a run. It’s cruelty disguised as concern, discipline dressed up as “help.”

The consequences are immediate and physical. James later sees Todd limping along the street, and that night Todd appears rubbing his neck, sporting a painful love bite that Theo finds amusing. The next day, when Jake mocks the marks on Todd’s neck, Todd finally snaps — the kind of flashpoint that alarms the people around him because it’s so unlike him. Gary steps in, and when he later contacts Theo about Todd’s behaviour, it’s clear the walls are closing in. Todd’s desperation for escape turns literal when he goes out for another run — and collapses unconscious in front of George and Christina.

Elsewhere, the Platts face their own creeping unease as David grows wary of Jodie Ramsay’s influence in Shona’s life. Shona becomes increasingly unsettled by her sister’s behaviour, convinced she isn’t being told the full truth. Her suspicion drives her to follow Jodie — and what she finds raises the temperature instantly. Jodie is visiting a psychiatric hospital, meeting with their confused and estranged father.

When confronted, Jodie reveals a heavy backstory: after their mother disappeared, she was left to care for him alone until the pressure pushed her to breaking point. The confession should bring clarity — but instead, it adds new questions. Back at home, Shona’s stress leaks out in sharp moments, including snapping at Lily. David steps in gently, trying to steady his wife, suggesting she take the afternoon off to clear her head.

But Jodie doesn’t want Shona thinking too hard.

When Shona suggests visiting their father, Jodie cleverly redirects her toward a drink instead — steering emotions away from truth and into distraction. At the bistro, Carl openly flirts with Shona, only to be shut down quickly. Yet the encounter rattles her, and Jodie seizes the opportunity: she turns on tears, encourages more drinking, and later calls David to collect Shona, staging herself as the supportive sister while tightening her hold.

The next morning, Jodie tells David how welcomed she feels living with them — words that should be comforting, but land wrong. David confides to Nick that something doesn’t add up. Then, when Jodie is alone, she takes out a locket from her jewellery box — a quiet, loaded detail that hints at secrets still buried. As if to underline the growing cracks, she later accidentally smashes David and Shona’s wedding photo while tidying up — a symbolic fracture that feels ominously timed.

Meanwhile, Bernie Winter is shaken by the return of Mal Roer. Mal continues renovating Roy’s flat, and Ryan recognises him from Chariot Square. Bernie tries to brush it off, claiming she’s only doing electrical work at the café — then urges Ryan not to mention what he saw at the hotel. The secrecy curdles quickly into guilt, and Bernie eventually confesses everything to Gemma, who urges her to tell Dev the truth before he hears it elsewhere. Mal, however, watches Bernie and Dev share a cosy cup of tea, then announces the flat needs a full rewire — conveniently granting him a reason to stay in Weatherfield longer.

Amid the darkness, one storyline offers a flicker of warmth: romance blossoms for Lauren Bolton and Ali Driscoll. After weeks of flirtation, Ali finally asks Lauren out, and the date goes brilliantly. When he invites her to a student party in Fallowfield, Lauren is buzzing — sharing her excitement with Betsy and Carla, and thrilled when her mate offers to lend her outfits. It’s a rare burst of youthful lightness… but in Weatherfield, joy rarely goes untested.

Especially with Daniel Osborne growing increasingly suspicious about Will Driscoll. Daniel’s concerns rise after reprimanding Sam for failing to hand in an important essay. Sam keeps quiet, but quickly realises Megan is connected to the problem. He later eavesdrops as Daniel and Megan discuss the misuse of ADHD medication as a study shortcut — a conversation that leaves Sam deeply unsettled. Sam grows more watchful of Will, noting small details that suggest something serious is being hidden. When Sam receives a message offering him “rolin,” Megan swoops in with an offer of private tutoring instead. Sam refuses, uncomfortable — but Megan later twists the encounter to Daniel, claiming she was shocked and offended by Sam’s attitude, further muddying the waters.

Daniel’s own investigation into the Christmas Day attack takes a sharper turn when he meets the man currently imprisoned for the assault and realises the story doesn’t add up. If the wrong person has been locked away, then the real attacker may have been hiding in plain sight all along. And when Maggie makes an off-hand comment about Will’s awful temper, it plants a seed in Daniel’s mind that could soon explode into a devastating exposure.

Finally, on the romantic front, Carla Connor sets out to put joy back into Lisa Swain’s life after months of strain and emotional setbacks. Determined to remind Lisa she isn’t alone, Carla secretly organises a surprise at the Chariot Square Hotel. She plans every detail carefully and pulls Betsy into the scheme, needing her help to get Lisa to the hotel at exactly the right time. But as the day approaches, Carla’s nerves spike — because Lisa is hard to convince, and the smallest complication could ruin everything.

And that’s the shape of next week: prison confrontations, financial control, dangerous plans, hidden pasts, and fragile hope — all balanced on a knife edge.

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1, with episodes also available on ITVX.