When it comes to murder victim suspects, surely Theo Silverton is high up on the lists of many a Coronation Street fan – and, for very good reason.

One of the most deplorable ever characters to haunt Weatherfield, he has subjected Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) to a campaign of terrible abuse, killed Billy Mayhew, and been a mental and violent aggressor to those closest to Todd.

James Cartwright, who plays the dastardly villain, warns Metro that while the soap gods will inevitably catch up with Theo in some capacity, his vile acts may not be done.

He could even kill again…

‘100% he cold, and I think he could kill Todd,’ the actor declared to us. ‘Yeah, just you know, like a death pact.

‘He could definitely kill Carl after he grabs him in the crotch in a scene. He could kill George…

‘There are all these people I think, if I was watching that, I would think he is gonna kill some of them because he’s done it before.

‘So he knows he’s in trouble now, the story with Billy’s out. So I would say he probably could kill again – it’s highly likely he could kill again!’

There’s certainly going to be at least one death next week – that’s all confirmed – as one of five villains of varying degrees of meanness will meet their maker at the hands of a Corrie resident.

And James reckons there’s every chance that Theo’s time might well be up after everything he has done.

‘Well, he’s like a stray dog that keeps biting people’s legs. I think ultimately, sooner or later, you want the dog dead, you know?

‘And he’s sort of feral by this point, isn’t he? He’s painted himself into a corner, and I think he’s become so awful that he’s making ordinary, nice people do extraordinary, horrible things.

‘It has been one of those journeys, I think. He started off, he was so in love and he thought he was doing the right thing to protect his relationship. And it is death by a thousand cuts. And as he’s gone further and further along the line, he’s got worse and worse and he’s riled everybody up.

‘And before you know it, he’s turned Corrie into a pack of wolves. They’ve sort of hunted him down and savaged him like a stray badger!’

If Theo were to die, there’d be no shortage of suspects and James wouldn’t rule anyone out.

‘If Theo was to be the unfortunate specimen to befall the justice of Corrie, let’s stick a pin in a map!’ he laughed. ‘You’ve got George, George could do it because George could put him in a coffin and bury him and you’d never know, do you know what I mean? You’ve got Todd, you’ve got Carl obviously. I think Carl’s like the tarantula of Coronation Street. He sort of prowls, sinks his teeth into anyone.

‘It could be any number of people and I think very often with these things, it could be who you least expect. I mean imagine someone like Summer! Imagine he walks into the shop and she just cracks him over the head with a tin of beans, closes the shop sign and sticks him in a bin bag.’

I am pretty sure we’d all unite to give Summer an alibi if that were the case!

And James is not wrong when he says ‘feral’! In the episodes, we see an unhinged Theo with nothing left to lose, making him more dangerous than ever.

‘He’s really desperate – I think eventually it’s got to the point where he’s not even bothered now. He is not even bothered trying to persuade people he’s a nice fellow. Because you know, the game’s up and so now it’s about survival.

‘And I think very much like the wild dog analogy. You know, a dog backed into a corner is a dangerous dog and actually he’s suddenly become incredibly unpredictable. I think he’s become hyper-aggressive. I think all his negative traits have suddenly bubbled to the surface and you realise what a dangerous nut job he is.’

He’s been terrifying and heart-wrenching to watch and James admit it can be hard to switch off from the part of Theo, admitting that when he has been crying and shouting all day, the body doesn’t necessarily know it’s not real so can physically be exhausted.

But he has been enjoying every minute of his part in one of the show’s most talked about storylines.

‘It has, and continues to be, one of the great privileges of my life. To be involved in the show in the manner of which I have the arc with Todd, and the two-hander episode and then obviously the stuff with Billy and the Christmas stuff, and also to tell a story of meaning, of weight and importance , I honestly, from the bottom of my heart, could not feel more privileged.

‘It feels like I’m in the show at the most amazing time. You’ve got the wonderful Kate Brooks, you’ve got Iain and Verity MacLeod, all the writers.

‘It feels like it’s in a real purple patch and I think there’s so much competition now from YouTube and streaming platforms and I really think it’s interesting to see the show evolve and raise its stakes in order to keep ahead of the game and it’s still by far the best show you can watch on TV or anywhere.’