Coronation Street airs more manipulation from Theo Silverton tonight as he makes further wild accusations against Todd Grimshaw. With Theo’s control growing by the day, Todd’s ongoing nightmare seems far from over.

The ITV soap is exploring the issue of domestic abuse with Theo and Todd’s characters. Fans have seen Theo’s coercive behaviour rapidly escalate in recent weeks, now that he and Todd are living in a flat together.

After recently scheming to destroy Todd’s friendship with George Shuttleworth, nasty Theo turns his attentions back to Billy Mayhew in this evening’s episode.

Theo has always been jealous over Todd’s connection to his ex-boyfriend, so he’s not pleased when he sees them chatting happily together at the Corner Shop.

Once they’re alone at the flat again, Theo lets his true colours show once again as he berates Todd for supposedly flirting with Billy.

“Your face lit up when you were just talking to him,” Theo complains. “First you flirt with Pete, now you flirt with Billy.

“It doesn’t matter what your intention was, that’s what happened.”

Despite being baffled by Theo’s paranoia, Todd finds himself apologising for something he didn’t do – another sign of how his self-worth and confidence is being slowly eroded.

In reality, Theo is the one who’s keeping guilty secrets as he makes contact with newcomer Pete to arrange more work together.

Theo decides to keep Todd in the dark over what he’s up to, but secrets never stay under wraps in Weatherfield for long…

The villain is also using Todd’s half-marathon training as another way to exert control, having publicly railroaded him into the idea of a charity run last week.

Show bosses are building up to a special episode focusing on Theo and Todd’s relationship, which will air next month.

Coronation Street producer Kate Brooks recently confirmed that the soap will break from its usual format for the unique edition, using a style which hasn’t been seen in similar stories before.