Coronation Street has revealed the lineup of official suspects in the 'whodunnit' that saw Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) bashed over the head before being thrown off some scaffolding in the climax of 'murder week'. Danielle Silverton (Natalie Anderson), the deeply scorned ex-wife; George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley), the father figure of Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) whom Theo had been viciously abusing for close to a year, and his girlfriend Christina Boyd (Amy Robbins); Gary Windass (Mikey North), Theo's former best friend and resident bully-buster; Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby), the adoptive daughter of Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank) whom Theo killed; and Todd himself make up the suspect list.
While it is completely plausible that one of the above bumped off monstrous Theo, there is a chance that the killer is somebody else entirely. Cast your minds back to EastEnders' mammoth 'whodunnit' event, 'who killed Lucy?', in which it was revealed that her little brother, Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington), had done the deed, without ever having been announced as a possible culprit. In the vein of 'keeping it in the family', a few Coronation Street fans have surmised that Theo's killer is not part of the official lineup and that the reappearance of an infrequent character last week is a confirmation of guilt: Theo's son, Miles (Lewis William Magee).
Who is Miles Silverton?
Miles has been pretty estranged from his dad since their family collapsed, with Theo leaving his wife and Miles' mum, Danielle, to set up home with Todd. Though Theo possessed very few positive traits, one was his dedication to his children. In the aftermath of Theo choosing to be with Todd, Miles was understandably hurt, confused, and completely blindsided, having had no idea about his dad's sexuality, with Theo having undergone sick 'conversion therapy' previously to 'cure' him of his homosexuality, leading to him repressing it.
Things erupted violently at a family dinner, with Miles landing a punch on Todd. Stepping into the melee, Theo accidentally ended up hitting Miles himself, and things got even worse between father and son. Billy later discovered Miles handing out leaflets promoting conversion therapy alongside Noah Hedley (Richard Winsor), the man who'd practiced said therapy on Theo and had recently gotten into a relationship with Danielle. Billy tried his hardest to get through to Miles, who'd begun being poisoned by Noah's anti-gay ramblings, and when Billy wound up on the floor as a result of Miles and Noah's response, he reported Miles to the police, resulting in him being interviewed and let off with a caution.
Could Miles have killed Theo?
In Miles' recent reappearance, Theo tried, above anything else, to mend things between him and his son, but new enemy Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard) put an end to that by insinuating that he'd slept with Theo the previous night in the back of his van in front of him. This somewhat random reappearance of Miles has got the cogs whirring in fans' minds. Could it have been more than just a brief return? Could yet another clash with his dad have finally driven him to extreme measures?
Ange certainly thinks so, and she's not the only one! She tweeted: "Danielle is covering for Miles, I'm calling it now no WAY Miles randomly made an appearance right before Theo was killed.#Corrie" Thomas Robins agreed: "My thinking exactly, its no coincidence the show brought Miles back last week for no reason. Could Danielle be covering for him? She looked shifty at the end of tonight's episode." Another fan, Scarlett, speculated: "Miles could have possibly shown up at the flat, seen Theo attacking Summer, and then the two of them covered it up." Thomas Robins also noted: "If it is a main character the writers will find a way to keep them in the show, I have no worries we are losing a biggie. Its definitely a minor character, Miles, Miley (Theo's daughter) or Danielle." Laura added: "So I'm thinking George will get blamed for Theo's murder but it was actually Miles or Danielle! #Corrie"
There are some very interesting points made. Despite Theo being truly evil, a murder won't go unpunished by the soap gods. Would Coronation Street really be willing to part with any of the main suspect lineup? Are Miles, or even Danielle, more expendable to the show? Absolutely. Still, the exact circumstances of the death are still unknown. Could the final blow have been delivered in self-defence, making Theo's death an accident rather than cold-blooded murder? Either way, we are in for one hell of a ride as we try to out-sleuth the Weatherfield coppers!
