Coronation Street kicks off huge Tim story as new character arrives

A Fare That Changed Everything

Tim Metcalfe has had some eventful taxi rides in his time, but none quite like the one that’s about to shake up his world.

Next week on Coronation Street, Tim picks up a passenger who turns out to be someone he hasn’t seen in years: his cousin Richie. The two of them grew up like peas in a pod, and running into each other like this — completely by chance, with Tim behind the wheel — sends both of them into immediate catch-up mode.

Sally’s Away — Tim Has Other Plans

With Sally out of the picture temporarily, Tim wastes no time. He brings Richie back to the house, rounds up the local lads, and turns the evening into a proper reunion — drinks, stories, memories from their childhood that nobody else on the street would know.

It’s the kind of uncomplicated, happy evening that Tim doesn’t get very often. And for a while, everything is great.

Then Steve McDonald arrives.

The Tim-Steve Dynamic Just Got Complicated

Here’s the thing about Tim and Steve: they are each other’s person. The friendship is one of Coronation Street’s quietest joys — two slightly hapless men who genuinely adore each other and get very, very sensitive when that bond feels threatened.

It wasn’t long ago that Tim was the jealous one. When Steve seemed to be getting close to Ben — who later turned out to be his long-lost brother — Tim made it loudly clear that nobody was replacing him as Steve’s best friend.

Now the tables have turned. Richie and Tim are reminiscing about a whole childhood Steve wasn’t part of, and Steve is starting to feel very left out indeed.

“We know that Tim and Steve can both get very sensitive when it comes to their friendship,” says an insider. “At the time, Tim marked his territory by making it clear that nobody could replace him as Steve’s best friend. Now it seems that the tables have turned, with Steve the one who feels left out.”

Read more to Coronation Street :

• Lisa Swain Loses Control at Betsy’s Funeral — Her Confrontation With Dylan Leaves Coronation Street Shaken

• 	Coronation Street star Tony Maudsley pays moving tribute after former co-star’s death

Who Is Richie? A Familiar Face Returns to Soap

Coronation Street has cast former Hollyoaks star Nathan Sussex in the role of Richie. He’s best known to soap fans as villain Buster Smith in the Channel 4 show — a very different kind of character to the warm, enthusiastic cousin we’re meeting on the cobbles.

Nathan has actually appeared in Corrie before, playing a doctor in two episodes back in 2007. This is clearly a much meatier role.

Show insiders have kept the details of Richie’s storyline tightly under wraps, but the word coming out of Weatherfield is that his arrival will “spark a big story for Tim and Sally in the coming weeks.” That combination of a childhood bond, a jealous best friend, and a wife who doesn’t yet know any of this is already rich material — and Coronation Street is very good at mining it.

For more updates and in-depth analysis of your favorite soap operas, subscribe to our newsletter and join the conversation! For more Coronation Street updates, follow Newsora