Character History

Stephen Reid

 

Since Sarah-Louise and Bethany came back to the street, there has been a lot of talk about Uncle Stephen. It occurred to me today that some viewers may not know who Stephen is so I decided that it would be a good idea to do a character profile on him.

Stephen Reid (né Potter) is the son of Audrey Roberts and the older half-brother of Gail McIntyre. He was born in 1956 when Audrey was just 16 years old.   Audrey was forced to give him up for adoption to Audrey’s neighbours Malcolm and Joyce Reid. They then emigrated to Canada with Stephen. There does not seem to be any information about who his biological father is,  but whoever he was he did not want to play a role in Stephen’s life.

In 1996, Stephen arrived on the Street to get to know his biological mother better and meet his long lost-sister Gail. He also had some business with Mike Baldwin.  During his stay, Mike’s wife and Audrey’s best friend Alma became besotted with him. She made her feelings clear but he told her that he was not interested.  His estranged nephew Nick Tilsley was sent by Gail to live with him as Nick’s relationship with his mother became strained and Stephen offered him a job in Canada, which Nick accepted. However, Nick returned in 1997 and married Leanne Battersby in January 1998, but they were divorced by the following April and Nick returned to Canada in 1999.

In 2007, Stephen returned to Weatherfield to visit Audrey and Gail for Christmas en route to Milan.  He offered his other nephew David Platt a job in his business and David accepted. However, Sarah-Louise was jealous and put ecsasty tablets in his drawer in the salon. Audrey found them.  Stephen decided that David was too much trouble and offered his niece Sarah the job instead.  Stephen left Weatherfield again with Sarah and her daughter Bethany joining him in Milan.

 

Jenny Bradley

As Jenny Bradley will be coming back into Coronation Street shortly I thought that I would feature her so those that do not remember her will have a bit of an idea of her background and how she fits into the street.

Jenny Bradley first appeared in Coronation Street was as a papergirl  working in the Kabin for Rita Fairclough in 1986.  Jenny’s mother Pat was killed in a car accident and so Rita fostered Jenny abdmoved in to No7. Following her mother’s death, Jenny was reunited with her Alan, who she had not seen for six years and although she initially felt only bitterness towards him, he soon won her over as he settled into No7 with Rita.

When she was seventeen, Jenny went on a school trip to France, where she met medical student Patric Podevin and fell in love. Patric followed her back to Weatherfield and they got engaged, though Patric promised Alan that he would wait until he had finished his studies before getting married. After he discovered that Jenny had been seen kissing another man at a local party, Patric called off the engagement and returned to France.

Despite having stopped Alan as he tried to kill Rita, Jenny stood by her father throughout and after his trial, but was constantly torn between her loyalty to him and her love for Rita. In 1990 she started to study biology at Weatherfield Polytechinc, and when Rita moved out of No7 to one of the new flats on the other side of the street, she was happy to rent the house to Jenny and her friend Flick Khan from the polytechnic. Jenny soon dropped out of her course and started an affair with her married dentist, Robert Weston and when he left his wife she moved in with him. The relationship didn’t last and in 1993 when Robert went back to his wife, Jenny turned up on Rita’s doorstep again and tried to con her out of money but Rita threw her out.

 

 

Sarah-Louise Grimshaw (Platt)

 

As Sarah-Louise is due back into the programme soon I thought that I would do a character profile about Sarah. Whilst researching this article I found that there is a lot of things that I had actually forgotten about her and some things that younger viewers might not know.

Sarah Louise was born on 2nd February 1987 and was daughter of Gail & Brian Tilsley. The question of her paternity was questioned right from the start because Gail had had an affair with Brian’s cousin Ian Latimer. However a paternity test was done immediately (I seem to remember in the hospital when she was born) and it was established that Brian was the father.  Ian offered to take Sarah on and wanted to get together with Gail anyway but Gail refused.  It took a long time for Brian to bond with Sarah and just after Sarah turned 2 her father Brian was stabbed and killed outside a nightclub.  In 1991 he mum Gail marries Martin Platt and he adopts Sarah along with Nick.

In February 2000 in her most memorable storyline Sarah Louise discovers that she is 5 months pregnant. Bethany is born on 4th June 2000. The father of her baby is Neil Ferns. Neil has no interest in Bethany and does not see her.  In 2003 Neil dies in a car crash.  Sarah-Louise decides to attend her funeral and befriends Neil’s mum Brenda. This nearly leads to Bethany dying because Brenda decides she wants to commit suicide and takes Bethany with her. Emily Bishop comes to the rescue and talks Brenda down before any real damage is done.

In 2003 she moves in with Todd in the flat over the bookies and age 16 she discovers she is pregnant again. Sarah is not sure whether she wants to go ahead with the pregnancy but Todd talks her round. and they get engaged despite their families disapproval. It is around this time that Todd starts to question his sexuality and he starts an affair with a nurse called Karl Foster.  Sarah discovers them together and finishes with Todd. Shortly after this she suffers a plancental eruption shortly afterwards. She has to have an emergency caesarean and her son Billy is born but dies shortly after his birth. Sarah blames Todd and refuses to let Todd attend the funeral but Todd goes anyway.

In 2005 Sarah gets together with Jason Grimshaw splitting him up from Violet Wilson who was his girlfriend at the time. They get engaged in 2006. Once again their families disapprove. Jason gets cold feet on his wedding day and climbs out of a window.  Sarah eventually forgives him and reschedule it.  Things are strained between Sarah and David because David hid an esctacy tablet in one of Bethany’s dolls.  Sarah’s wedding is interrupted by the police to say that David had attempted to commit suicide. Sarah still goes ahead and marries Jason.

Sarah’s Uncle Stephen visits shortly after and offers David a job in Milan. Sarah gets jealous and plants drugs on David. Stephen finds out and withdraws the offer and offers it to Sarah instead. On 30th December 2007 Sarah, Jason and Bethany go to the airport to leave for Milan.  Sarah tells Jason about planting the drugs on David in order to get the job. Jason is disgusted and leaves Sarah and Bethany at the airport and he goes home. Sarah and Bethany fly off alone.

There have of course been other storylines that Sarah was involved with but I feel that these are the main ones that you need to know in order to get up to date with the character.