DI Steve Thompson made his first appearance on 23 December 2019 and last on 5 January 2021. He was portrayed by Philip Wright.
Storylines[]
DI Thompson is first seen as a colleague of Jack Branning's, when they witness Callum Highway attacking Leo King and break up the fight. The following month, Thompson questions Karen Taylor, Phil Mitchell and Ben Mitchell about the disappearance of Keanu Taylor. Karen says she is not worried about her son, while Phil reveals that Keanu had an affair with Phil's wife, Sharon Mitchell, and got her pregnant and Ben says they were in the pub when Keanu disappeared. He later arrests Phil and Ben for Keanu's murder and presents Phil with evidence at the police station.
DI Thompson later speaks with Sharon about the whereabouts of her son, Dennis Rickman, who she believes Phil has taken abroad. Ben tries to speak to Thompson, who rebuffs him and warns him that although they are unaware of Phil's whereabouts, they are watching Ben. When Phil hands himself into the police for the causing a boat crash on the River Thames, DI Thompson questions him about this and his involvement with Keanu. He clashes with Phil's lawyer, Ritchie Scott, when she pauses the interview. Sharon changes the statement she made about Phil, so to his fury, DI Thompson has to release Phil.
Thompson appears at the scene of Vinny Panesar's illegal rave with other police officers when a brick is thrown at the window of a police car. He notices Keegan Butcher-Baker and Tiffany Butcher-Baker leaving the scene and arrests Keegan for criminal damage and obstruction. He then threatens to arrest Tiffany too. At the station, Jack speaks to him about Keegan's arrest. DI Thompson reads Keegan's previous convictions and explains the situation to Jack, but lies that Keegan threw the brick, insulted him and resisted arrest.
Later, Jack speaks to DI Thompson while he is having a cigarette. Jack explains that he viewed the body camera footage from the arrest and is unsure whether Keegan is responsible, which annoys DI Thompson as he sees this as Jack not trusting him. DI Thompson questions Keegan, presenting to him the footage; Keegan threatens to report DI Thompson for the injuries sustained to him during the arrest, but he claims that it is a result of Keegan resisting arrest. Keegan is then released on bail. After footage of the arrest, featuring DI Thompson, is recovered, Jack shows it to Keegan and Tiffany.
At the police station, Thompson warns Callum, now a police constable, about an arrest he made earlier that day; he tells him that the man he arrested has claimed that Callum used excessive force and has gone to A&E to be assessed. He then instructs Callum to search through some CCTV footage of a warehouse as part of his operation to arrest criminal Danny Hardcastle. Callum spots a blurred image of Ben on the footage which DI Thompson says he will have enhanced and Callum tries to avoid this. Thompson and Jack interview Danny after he is found with a bag of money in his car boot. Danny claims that he has been set up, but refuses to say who did it.
Later that day, Thompson arrests Ben on suspicion of armed robbery at the warehouse; Ben refuses to answer his questions. During the arrest, Thompson spots Callum at Ben's house and later, he confronts Callum, quickly realising that he is Ben's partner. Thompson reminds Callum that relationships with convicted criminals should be declared, so blackmails him into helping him to convict Phil in return for his silence and Ben's freedom. Thompson pressures Callum into making a decision. When Callum declines the deal, he warns him that Ben would not do the same for him, so he should reconsider his decision. Ritchie asks for Ben to be released, but Thompson claims that he is giving them an opportunity to prove Ben's innocence, while he awaits Callum's decision. Ben is later released after Callum agrees to Thompson's deal to convict Phil. He later meets with Callum to congratulate him on his decision and convince him that he made the right choice.
Thompson and Callum meet again after Phil offers Callum information about his future deals. After Phil asks Callum to perform a police check, Callum informs Thompson, who states that that is not enough evidence to imprison Phil for years. Thompson tells Callum that the team was impressed with how he dealt with a road traffic collision and reminds him that he has opportunity to find evidence on Phil, before asking him to place a recorder in Phil's repair garage, The Arches. Thompson later gives Callum a wire to wear for recording incriminating conversations with Phil. Callum meets him again to withdraw from the operation; Thompson reveals that the operation is not legal, before threatening to expose Callum for assaulting Danny if he reveals the operation. Callum speaks to Thompson about requesting information on Ellie Nixon; Thompson explains that Ellie used a fake surname and is a known criminal. Callum asks for information on Ellie to give to Phil, claiming that he will help their operation in the long term. Later, DI Thompson meets with Jack, who informs him that Phil kidnapped and attacked him ten months earlier. Jack never reported the crime, so he asks Thompson to claim that he wrote the report, but it went missing. Thompson is hesitant as he is worried about his illegal operation, so Jack decides to do it without his support.
After DI Thompson is caught threatening Callum, he is punched by Stuart Highway. Later, Stuart follows Thompson and confronts him. When Thompson taunts Stuart about Callum, he punches him, knocking him out. Believing he has killed Thompson, Stuart moves him to the undertakers and places him in a coffin. After failing to check on him in the days afterwards, Stuart learns that Thompson was seen at a disciplinary hearing and realises he had survived and escaped the coffin. Stuart is later taken in for questioning, with Thompson threatening to charge him for attempted murder unless Callum pushes further in his efforts to take down Phil. A panicked Callum tells Jack about the situation. Jack blackmails Thompson into giving up his pursuit of Phil unless he wants his dodgy dealings revealed. After Thompson hands over all of his evidence, Jack persuades him to retire from the police.
Fight count[]
Punches[]
Total: 1
Individual characters punched: 1
Total punches: 1
Gallery[]
.jpg "DI Steve Thompson (16 January 2020).jpg (106 KB)")
(16 January 2020)