Coronation Street is certainly grabbing 2025 with both hands.

While there is understandably a lot of talk around the many cast changes coming thick and fast, it’s their first blockbuster storyline of the year that is also grabbing some well deserved attention.

I know there has been quite a lot of discourse around the ITV soap’s delving into darker territory over the last couple of years – I wrote not all that long ago about how exhausting it was becoming.

So new boss Kate Brooks launching into a hard-hitting knife crime plot that saw the death of Mason Radcliffe was a risky opening gambit amid the calls for more humour and community.

Had the scenes not been handled with sensitivity and landed impactfully, it may not have paid off – but the episode is an extremely early contender for one of TV’s highlights of the year.

The young cast in the storyline – led by up and coming star of the screen Luca Toolan as Mason – went all out seizing the opportunity to nail this.

It’s not easy for young actors to be thrust into a soap demanding six episodes a week with very little (often zero) rehearsal, while they are still honing their craft and their understanding of the industry.

Luca, who is clearly destined for great things, managed to turn feelings of hate towards a detestable Mason around in a short space of time, leaving us aching to lose a character we would previously have been happy to see the back of.

He played the menacing bully well for a number of months, creating anger and outrage over what he did to poor Liam Connor (Charlie Wrenshall).

We saw him lose everything and end up homeless before being taken under the wing of Stu Carpenter (Bill Fellows) and then the beloved Street stalwarts, the Metcalfes.

We saw regret and redemption and, in a very short space of time, a blossoming love story with Betsy Swain also found him in the bosom of viewer affections.

His final episode explored desperation, fear and regret impeccably well and his younger co-stars Sydney Martin (Betsy) and Liam McCheyne (Dylan) came into their own in extraordinary fashion.

Betsy crumbling into grief was a very hard watch and Dylan’s terror over what his future now holds after having carried the zombie knife really shook my emotions.

Soaps rely on up and coming generations to keep fresh and to have faces who could become the show’s future, and these two for me are right up there.

Of course, Luca would have been there too with bells on – but Corrie brutally killed the lad off!

This was, of course, the correct decision. In telling the story of knife crime to reach audiences and convey the dangers of carrying a bladed weapon, there had to be serious jeopardy and consequence.

One cursory glance at social media as the episode finished airing showed real grief and shock from fans left reeling.

It packed a real punch and, while the term ‘issue-led storytelling’ can make some viewers baulk as they fear it is at the expense of character driven arcs, this was exactly how to do it.

The episode gave full attention to the storyline without distractions and showed the ramifications for the whole community.

The final scenes between Sally and Tim Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor and Joe Duttine) discussing what had happened were unbelievably powerful.

And the ever brilliant Sally Carman is finally back in the spotlight as Abi, who will be affected in a serious way as the murder of Mason carries haunting similarities to the violent killing of her own son Seb.

Seeing Sean Tully (Antony Cotton) battle with every parent’s worst nightmare – would you shop your own child to the police if they carried a zombie knife that caused a death? – was thought-provoking and stirred real debate.

And raising the issue of a hoax call distracting an ambulance on its way to a real emergency was a very true-to-life addition to the story, one that may hopefully hit a message home to viewers of all ages.

And, not least of all, Betsy now has to adapt to a future without Mason, Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) has to navigate how to support a daughter with grief, and Dylan has to enter the unchartered territory of facing prison and his whole future destroyed for carrying the weapon.

This is how you do issue-led storytelling – a banger of an episode that then sets up real consequences and discussion points that put a wide variety of characters at the forefront.

Abi’s journey in particular is one I am invested in – I love when soaps remember past traumas as it is so easy in a show that deals with tragedy so regularly to forget how something like this would affect ordinary folk who have been hit with it before.

It’s a very strong start to a year that promises some big moments. If this representation of knife crime is anything to go by, I hold confidence that up and coming social issue plotlines will be dealt with in the way that a soap can do best.

Corrie is all about community and stories that resonate and, while I equally hope for a return to a balance with humour and warmth, getting the drama so right at the start of 2025 is a hopeful sign indeed.