Top 10 Coronation Street Cliffhangers

Jenny already had a rocky relationship with Liz; after Liz’s fling with her husband Johnny, Jenny had been tracking both of their movements on her phone out of paranoia. As Christmas rolls around Jenny takes to drinking to cope and erroneously drives through the night, striking Liz in an accidental hit-and-run. Though an injured Liz makes it into her flat, she collapses shortly after. With nobody around to help her, viewers were left to speculate whether Liz would survive her injuries, whether Jenny and Johnny’s marriage would endure, or whether this Christmas drama would end so merrily at all.

The identity of the attacker in Ken Barlow’s home had been a mystery for months. Ken began to suspect grandson Adam after recognising his shoes. Despite his protests Adam was taken away by police and the drama seemed to be settled. However, Ken's son Daniel returns home and retrieves a blood stained book from under the floorboards. As he proceeds to replicate the front page dedication onto a second copy, it becomes clear he intends to destroy the evidence. With the revelation that Ken’s own child had been the one who attacked him, Ken’s safety was left ominously uncertain.

Lunatic businessman Richard Hillman is now a name synonymous with terror to Corrie fans after his string of killings. Wanting to provide for his new family, he murdered his ex-wife when she demanded money from him. He set Audrey’s house on fire to secure wife Gail the insurance payout. And ultimately he broke into Emily’s house with a crowbar, meaning to kill her and claim the inheritance. Things take a turn for the worse when Maxine enters and catches him having beaten Emily unconscious, and it seems frighteningly obvious who his next victim will be as the end credits roll.

Factory owner Frank was no saint; on top of being scheming, disloyal and violent, he was able to walk free after being found not guilty of raping Carla, despite the truth. Every mistake he’d made came to a head inside Underworld as he ridiculed Carla and threatened to assault her again. Sean and Julie notice the lights on and enter to investigate, where they find Sally cradled over a dead Frank. With a long list of possible suspects who all had it out for him, it remained to be seen who it was that finally did Frank in.

With a somewhat lacking presence of male figures in his life it was natural for David to buddy up with mechanic Josh. The two developed a close friendship leading to David’s girlfriend Shona feeling neglected. Josh’s intentions soon turn dark one night out however as he spikes David’s drink and later takes him back home. As the drugs begin to take hold, David passes out onto his bed whilst Josh begins to undress and slams the door shut. The implications David’s assault would have not only on his “friendship” with Josh but also his mental wellbeing are devastating.

Years earlier, another divisive storyline on a social issue made headlines: Suspecting her thirteen year old daughter of having an eating disorder, Gail takes Sarah along to the hospital for a check up. The doctor examines her behind a curtain and, after initial apprehension, reveals to the shock of both women that Sarah is five months pregnant; too late to do anything about it. For its tackling of such controversial subject matter, the show has been both praised for relevance and condemned for exploitation. Regardless, the revelation and subsequent fallout accurately portray the very real issues of teenage pregnancy.

Eileen and Nicola are terrified and helpless when psychopathic Pat Phelan returns from supposed death, showing up at their front door with a gun. He forces himself inside demanding to see Nicola’s newborn son Zack, whom he believes he has claim to. As he monologues, Seb is able to come out of hiding upstairs and get the jump on him from behind. All four wrestle for the gun as Gary, Sarah and Anne rush to intervene and a single gunshot is heard. Social media notably blew up following the cliffhanger as the fate of everyone involved was left disconcertingly ambiguous.

It seems relationships rarely work out in Weatherfield. Finally done with being humiliated by Charlie’s cheating and emotional manipulation, Tracy takes matters into her own hands. Initially distracting him with a striptease she takes a metal ornament and bludgeons him over the head with it. Acting quickly, Tracy sets the scene as if she had killed him in self defence, and it seems as though she may get away with the assault. But when the arriving paramedics inform Tracy that Charlie may pull through she is left fearing not only for her freedom, but her life too.

What began as a simple staff protest against Underworld boss Carla devolved into something much worse much too quickly. Initially barricading themselves inside the factory, the occupation soon escalates to higher levels. As Sally argues with Gina, on Underworld’s roof, over protest banners to use, the roof suddenly caves in and Sally falls through the ceiling into the factory. Sally, along with the rest of the protesters, is left buried under a mountain of debris in doubtful conditions. Gina can only watch on in horror as the stage is set for one of Corrie’s most heartbreaking tragedies.

To mark the soap’s 50th anniversary, producers had to come up with something truly next-level. In what was undoubtedly the biggest event on the show to date, a gas leak in the Joinery during Peter’s stag-do causes a massive explosion. The explosion in turn damages a nearby bridge, causing a tram to fly off the tracks and wreak devastation on several buildings including two corner-shops and the Joinery itself. Outside in the street other residents can only stare in disbelief, wondering how many people were caught in the carnage, and which ones are still alive.