Over the past few months, Coronation Street fans have been gripped to the long-running show to watch the highly anticipated downfall of Cobbles killer Stephen Reid.
Since he joined the show in 2021, his character has taken the lives of Teddy and Leo Thompkins and his business associate Rufus Donahue. Last week, fans bid a final farewell to the evil entrepreneur when he was run over by Peter Barlow as he attempted to flee the scene in his nephew David Platt’s car.
But Stephen made sure not to go out without a band, with fans now concerned for the future of the infamous knicker factory Underworld after Michael Bailey is arrested under suspicion of working with Stephen to defraud the company.
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With the future of the company resting in the hands of fate, Daily Star has taken a deep dive inside just a handful of the grim deaths the factory has seen as it threatens to close its doors for good.
Mike Baldwin
Mike Baldwin was the first owner of the factory. He was known as a ruthless businessman on the ITV cobbles, regularly making his machinists’ live a living hell and only focused on making money.
The entrepreneur was also quite the ladies' man in Weatherfield, taking part in several affairs – one of which made him a direct enemy of Ken Barlow when he slept with his wife Deirdre. But it didn’t take long before Karma made him pay for his wrong doings back in 2006.
The businessman was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and one night after he developed pneumonia, he wandered into the street in his pyjamas during a bout of confusion. It was at this point that Mike collapsed and died of a heart attack in the middle of the road in the arms of his nemesis, Ken Barlow.
Don Brennan
Don bought MVB Motors in the mid-2000s but his life soon took a turn for the worse when he lost his wife when the garage went bust. The petrolhead was quick to blame factor owner Mike Baldwin, from who he’d bought the garage.
In an act of revenge, Don attempted to kill Mike’s wife Alma but failed miserably. But Don wasn’t finished yet, with the heartbroken mechanic successfully evading police capture only to head back to Weatherfield once more, hellbent on killing Mike.
He first took Mike hostage in the factory, but Mike managed to escape his clutches. When Don spotted Alma’s car, he took it and drove it straight at Mike as he ran for help.
Unfortunately for Don, he missed the viaduct and the car exploded, leaving him to burn to death outside the factory.
Paul Connor
The next factory owner to take over Underworld was Paul who was married to raven-haired beauty Carla. But their marriage was less than perfect, with the entrepreneur suffering from a bad case of wandering eyes.
Their marriage was truly tested when Paul hired a prostitute, who turned out to be his brother Liam’s girlfriend – Leanne Battersby. To protect his marriage, he tried to get Leanne to break up with Liam, but his plan quickly backfired.
Instead, Leanne and Carla looked into going into business together, but when his wife discovered Paul hired Leanne as a prostitute, she demanded a divorce. Paul hit the roof and locked Leanne in the boot of his car in revenge, but things soon took a turn for the worse.
Paul received a call from Liam while he was driving the car and lose control, crashing straight into a lorry. As we know, Leanne managed to survive the terrible car crash, but Paul wasn’t so lucky.
Liam Connor
The factory curse wasn’t restricted to Paul, but also targeted his brother Liam, who was part owner of the factory over his love for Carla Connor by his love rival Tony Gordon. Tony found out that Liam and Carla had kissed behind his back and vowed to get his revenge.
The snubbed lover decided to take things up a notch when he caught the two together in the act. During his stag do, Liam realised he’d left his wallet in the pub so Tony urged him to go back and get it.
Meanwhile, Carla has decided to leave Tony for Liam just days before their wedding. But the raven-haired beauty had a change of heart when she learnt Maria was pregnant with his baby and realised she needed to step back and let them be a family.
As Liam crossed the road to collect his wallet, he was hit by a car at high speed killed instantly. With Carla and Maria both heartbroken over his death, Tony secretly threw Liam’s wallet into the canal.
Kasia Barowiz
Loyal fans would be forgiven for not remember Polish worker Kasia who only appeared in the show for a few episodes. The factory worker died in the warehouse when she fell down the stairs.
At the time of her accident, Kasia was massively overworked and was finishing an illegal night shift with the promise of a champagne breakfast as a reward for all her hard work. But as the shift came to an end, she was helping to load up the final order into a car while walking down the stairs with three big boxes when she lost her footing and fell to her death.
Colin Fishwick
John Stape stole the identity of his teaching pal Colin Fishwick when he jetted off to Canada, but the star’s fake identity was rumbled when Colin returned to the cobbles. Colin then blackmailed Jon for thousands so that he could leave the country in peace.
But things went south during a heated argument between the two when Colin collapsed and died from a brain haemorrhage with his teaching colleague Charlotte Hoyle as a witness. John soon found himself in a sticky situation, terrified that he’d be accused of killing him.
In order to keep him clear, John convinced Charlotte to help him dispose of the body. They ended up dumping him in a hole in the ruins of Underworld with the intention of moving it, but realised that builders had covered it in concrete the next day.
But that wasn’t the end for John, after Colin’s body was discovered a year later when the floor was taken up. It was at this point that Colin forced Fiz to help him move the body, with the pair yet to be arrested for their crimes.
Frank Foster
Frank was a prolific rapist in Weatherfield and left chaos in his wake, but the vile criminal soon got what he deserved when he was found dead on the factory floor. He raped Carla and soon made her life a living hell with the help of his mother Anne.
Anne worked with Carla at the factory and made quick work of discrediting her claims against her son. Frank was eventually found not guilty and somehow managed to walk free. He later returned to the factor and soon moved on to dating Jenny Sumner, who helped him concoct a plan to oust Carla from the business.
Sally, who briefly had a fling with Frank, soon found out about his relationship with Jenny and realised that he did rape Carla and managed to force him to admit. Sean Tully and Julie Carp later found Sally with Frank’s body on the floor of the factory.
On the day of his funeral, his mum Anne confessed that she was the one who killed him after she learnt the truth about her son. During a tense altercation, he she hit him with a bottle of whiskey which killed him with one deadly blow.
Tina McIntyre
Fan favourite Tina McIntyre also met her grisly end in the cursed factory after Rob Donovan found out about her affair with Peter. The brunette beauty was determined to come clean about her affair to Carla after she discovered she was pregnant with Peter’s baby.
But Rob had other ideas, and the pair quickly became involved in a fierce row on the factory gantry . Determined to put an end to their argument, Rob pushed her as she tried to barge past him and lost her balance, falling from the balcony to the cobbles below.
Rob immediately rushed to her and offered to call an ambulance, but she threatened to tell the police she was deliberately pushed. It was at this point that Rob picked up a pipe and finished the job by repeatedly cracking the weapon over the head.
Carla found her moment later and immediately called the paramedics who rushed her to hospital, but Tina later died of a heart attack during an operation to relieve the swelling on her brain.
Tony Gordon and Robbie Sloane
After he confessed to murdering Liam, Tony Gordon plotted to escape prison with his pal Robbie Sloane. Much to their surprise, the pair managed to pull off the stint and wasted no time in heading back to Weatherfield with the intention of taking Carla and Haley hostage in the factory.
Robbie tricked Carla into going inside then he held her at gunpoint before he tied her up and gagged before he went to find Hayley. Tony then revealed that he had no intention of paying Robbie what he said he would for the escape plan and managed to get the gun off him before shooting him dead.
He eventually let Hayley go free but kept Carla hostage as he set fire to the place, telling Carla that they would die together. But Carla managed to get herself free and made a run for it, shooting Tony in the process.
However, Tony didn’t die, and instead walked out of the door of the factory to look on as Carla ran before he had a change of heart and ran back inside the burning building. The factory then exploded, and Tony was killed.
Aidan Connor
Aidan, who was part owner of the factory had a tragic storyline on the ITV soap, which came to a head after he battled with depression for months. His sudden death came as a huge shock to residents, with many completely unaware of his crippling depression after hitting rock bottom.
He thought he’d lost Eva after cheating on her with Maria, but in truth she was already to forgive him and move forward with the baby. His close friends and family had no idea that he had decided to take his own life, despite quietly saying his final goodbyes.
A heartbroken Aidan was later seen crying in his flat, with his dad Jonny sadly the one to discover his body. As heartbreaking as the story was, the show was hugely praised for its treatment of the subject which led to a huge increase in calls to the Samaritans.
Leo Thompkins
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The most recent resident to lose their life at the cursed factory is none other than Leo Thompkins at the hands of Stephen Reid. Leo was working on the Platt’s garden when he witnessed some of Stephen’s dodgy behaviour.
But he didn’t decide to act on it until he overheard a conversation between the Canadian and his ex-wife Gabrielle when he knew something serious was going on. Leo decided to expose the businessman at the factory, but Stephen quickly interrupted his speech when he brought him up to the factory gantry.
After Leo revealed everything he knew, the pair got into a fierce argument which resulted in Stephen hitting Leo’s head on a railing and watching his body plummet into a skip below. He later dumped Leo’s body in a hole on the waste ground, where it lay undiscovered until a digger revealed it.
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on ITV1 or catch-up on ITVX
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