Although I was expecting the awful attack on Seb and Nina (the Internet and my favourite magazine, Inside Soap had prepared me); I wasn’t expecting the tragic outcome.  I don’t know why but it just didn’t enter my head that it would result in death – in murder.  It shocked and distressed me so much, as it should have.  I was expecting it to be upsetting and then I was expecting a really interesting story about a hate crime assault.  This story about a hate crime murder has been so overwhelming and I mean that in a good way.

To start with, the social distancing in this story actually improved it.  We were not brutalised by the violence we may have seen in non-Covid times.  In fact, it was more emotional to see those poor kids on the ground, shadows towering over them and the attack left to our horrified imaginations.

And assuming that they would survive, wondering if they were drift apart or pull together, how they would cope with their injuries and face their attackers in court meant that Seb’s tragic death was all the more upsetting.  I suppose the clue was that he and Nina were so deliriously happy before the attack and busy planning their future.  No couple in soap are ever allowed to be that happy.  It surely means one of them is about to be killed off.

I can’t confess to have been a massive Seb fan myself.  I mean, he was alright.  He must have been desperately in love with every single girl he ever met, including Nina.  And let’s not forget Faye, Alina, Emma…  But his death, especially in such a terrible way did make me shed a tear.  Watching his mother fall apart has been awful, especially when she doesn’t know where to direct her anger.  And seeing Nina so very shaken and blaming herself when she was the victim.

It’s also important and interesting that she and Seb really did nothing to provoke this attack.  They weren’t mouthy or argumentative.  They were just there.  And they were running away when they were attacked.  They saw the danger of the situation and they left.  They didn’t want any conflict.  Corey has always been an awful character, from the first moment he turned up and shared that video of Asha.  What on earth she was thinking getting back with him, I have no idea but at least she can see the truth about him now.

I cannot find a single thing to criticise about this storyline.  It has been written, directed and portrayed so perfectly.  Everyone involved should be so proud of themselves.  It has been utterly excruciating to watch but that’s the point of it.  It shouldn’t be easy.

One moment that really stands out to me was when Roy put Evelyn in her place, telling her that it’s people that highlight other people’s differences that cause these kinds of attacks.  Roy’s whole response to this and in fact his entire relationship with Nina is such a beautiful thing.  When Hayley died, we lost something so special in their relationship, this constant reminder of love beyond measure.  Coronation Street have replaced that love not with a romantic relationship but in the most ingenious way with Roy’s love for his niece.  She doesn’t fit society’s ‘rules’ and she doesn’t try to.  Roy sees past her ‘differences’ unblinkingly and without question.  And that has never been more evident than his devotion to her now.

So, well done, Corrie.  You have impressed me and devastated me in equal measure and I look forward to justice being done (although I am sure it will not be straightforward).