Coronation Street fans are set to spot a familiar face next week as the show kicks off a major murder story.

In the episode set to air on Monday, February 16, viewers will get a glimpse into the future as the ITV soap airs its first-ever flash-forward scenes.

Amid present-day drama, a police interview with Betsy Swain (Sydney Martin) will be revealed to be taking place in April.

Betsy is set to be questioned after finding a body, and Corrie fans may recognise one of the officers.

The detective in charge of the investigation is DC Wiley (Ashley Campbell), who last appeared on the cobbles three years ago.

His first appearance on the show came in 2021, as part of the team investigating the attack on Seb Franklin and Nina Lucas (Mollie Gallagher).

He was the detective who arrested and questioned Kelly Neelan (Millie Gibson), who had been involved in the hate crime.

Later that year, he questioned Craig Tinker (Colson Smith) after a complaint of racial stereotyping was made against a fellow officer.

James Bailey (played at the time by Nathan Graham) had been injured after he was pulled over alongside brother Michael (Ryan Russell) while test-driving a sports car.

Craig had initially taken his fellow officer’s side, but after rethinking the situation, he offered a revised statement when the case was reopened.

DC Wiley next appeared in 2022, investigating the car crash that killed Imran Habeeb, where he was in charge of questioning Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell), who was suspected to have tampered with the brakes.

His final appearance came in 2023, during the storyline that saw Max Turner (Paddy Bever) join a far-right gang.

He questioned Max after a bomb planted by a member of the gang injured Alya Nazir (Sair Khan), believing that he knew what the gang had been planning after filming propaganda videos for them.

When DC Wiley returns next week, he will certainly have his work cut out for him.

By the end of Monday’s episode, there will be five potential murder victims, though we won’t know exactly whose body Betsy finds until that fateful day in April.

The story will eventually lead to a whodunnit, so no doubt DC Wiley will be talking to a lot more of the Coronation Street residents.

‘This will be an intriguing story and it’s our big thriller-esque story as we head into spring and early summer,’ producer Kate Brooks previously teased.

‘It’ll involve an awful lot of the community. I don’t think I’ve ever told a story that involved quite as many characters. It’s everyone. Everyone’s impacted, everyone is affected by this story and there are so many twists and turns.

‘It’s been a real challenge in some ways because it’s very complex and intricate, but it’s so exciting.’