List of Coronation Street characters (2016)

Coronation Street is a British soap opera first broadcast on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters that will appear in 2016, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by series producer Stuart Blackburn, or his successor Kate Oates. Marta Zarek arrived in February, igniting a child slavery storyline, as did Alya Nazir's best friend, Rana Habeeb. In March, Freddie Smith was introduced as a new friend for Kylie Platt. He was followed by the birth of Callum Logan and Sarah Platt's son, Harry, as well as Michelle Connor's childhood lover, Will Chatterton. Pablo Duarte made his first appearance in April. July saw the introduction of Clayton Hibbs, followed by Vinny Ashford and Sonia Rahman in August. Darryl Perkins was introduced in September as the father of Craig Tinker.

Marta Zarek

Marta Zarek,^[1] played by Edyta Budnik, made her first screen appearance on 5 February 2016.^[2] The character and casting was announced on 29 January 2016.^[3] Marta will be being introduced as part of a modern slavery storyline.^[3] Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) finds Marta hiding at the Underworld factory on Coronation Street and Marta tells her that she has been forced into slavery by Richie (James Midgley) and Julia O'Driscoll (Malgorzata Klara), Underworld's new clients.^[3] She also explains that she cannot escape as she is worried about her family's safety back in Poland.^[3] Mark Jefferies of the Daily Mirror reported that producers consulted experts to ensure the storyline would be accurate.^[3] A spokesperson commented, "Obviously, Coronation Street tries to tackle difficult subjects and has done storylines about serious illnesses and violence before. But this is the first time slavery has appeared."^[3]

Rana Habeeb

Rana Nazir (also Habeeb)^[4] played by Bhavna Limbachia, made her first screen appearance on 19 February 2016.^[5] The character and casting was announced on 8 January.^[5] Of her casting, Limbachia commented "I'm absolutely thrilled to be joining the show. Being a proud Northerner, it's a dream come true."^[5] Rana will be introduced as a love interest for Zeedan Nazir (Qasim Akhtar) and an old friend of his sister Alya (Sair Khan). Following a visit to catch up with Alya, Rana will find employment at the local medical centre.^[5] The show's series producer Stuart Blackburn described Rana as "sharp, funny, utterly gorgeous and not a little manipulative."^[5]

Rana first appears having a meal with Alya in the bistro. Alya's brother, Zeedan, becomes attracted to her, whilst Rana flirts with him as well as Andy Carver (Oliver Farnworth). She then leaves and Alya's grandparents, Sharif (Marc Anwar) and Yasmeen Nazir (Shelley King), ask her to return soon as she has brought a lot of happiness back into Alya's life, as her father, Kal Nazir (Jimi Mistry), died the previous year and she has recently split from her fiancé, Gary Windass (Mikey North). Rana is desperate to have sex with Zeedan, however he prefers to wait until after marriage, which puts an immense strain on their relationship and they break up and reconcile regularly over this. They agree to take their relationship slowly, however Zeedan becomes easily jealous when she talks to other men. After Zeedan engages in an argument with Sharif, he and Rana have a heart-to-heart, which culminates in Zeedan drastically proposing to Rana, leading to her running off. Later, Zeedan asks Rana to forget his proposal, however she reveals that she wants to marry him, with the couple sealing their engagement with a kiss.

Rana supports Zeedan when it is revealed that Sharif has been having an affair with a woman named Sonia Rahman (Sudha Bhuchar). However, this forces Zeedan to question his beliefs in marriage, and after an awkward meal with Rana's parents, breaks off their engagement. Rana is crushed and is adamant that this is the end of her relationship with Zeedan, however Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) helps reconcile the pair. Zeedan and Rana marry immediately after they reconcile to seal their love for one another, with Rana's parents, Yasmeen, Leanne and Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) witnessing the ceremony.

Lauren

Lauren,^[4] played by Shannon Flynn, made her first screen appearance on 4 March 2016. Lauren and Shelley bully Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon) at school, along with some others. Lauren makes remarks about Bethany and her mother Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) as well as pulling her hair. Lauren and Shelley, send cruel messages to Bethany online. Lauren, Shelley and the others follow Bethany home, but Luke Britton (Dean Fagan) intervenes and forces them to leave. When Sarah learns of Bethany's bullying, she visits Lauren at her home and confronts both Lauren and her mother (Lisa Moore). Lauren and her friends steal Bethany's phone and on another occasion, they insult Bethany's brother, Harry. Lauren apologises to Bethany, but she realises it was a trick when Lauren and her gang taunt Bethany about Sarah's mental health, but leave when Anna Windass (Debbie Rush) arrives.

Later in 2016, Lauren hassles Bethany at the local gym, causing Bethany to lash out at her. The gym's manager and Anna's son, Gary Windass (Mikey North) appears and forces Lauren to leave. During a meeting at the school, Lauren and Bethany are suspended after Lauren tricked their headmaster into thinking that Bethany was bullying her. Lauren later hassled Bethany at her great-grandmother Audrey Roberts' (Sue Nicholls) salon, but Bethany's uncle David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd) offers to bury the hatchet by giving Lauren a free haircut. After sending Bethany out to get coffee, David hacks off Lauren's hair and threatens to cut her throat if she hurts Bethany again, causing Lauren to flee the salon. Lauren later calls the police on David, but he lies that Lauren changed her mind on her haircut halfway through, with his story being reinforced by Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell). Lauren is later expelled from school after several other girls in Bethany's year group come forward and admit that Lauren has been terrorising them, too, leading to Bethany being praised by the headmaster. However, Lauren's father, Phil (James Doherty), later beats up David for hacking off Lauren's hair.

Freddie Smith

Freddie Smith, played by Derek Griffiths, made his first screen appearance on 11 March 2016.^[6] Griffiths auditioned for the role, and the character and his casting was announced on 16 December 2015.^[6] Freddie was introduced as "an unlikely new friend" for established character Kylie Platt (Paula Lane). Freddie's wife, who was a client of Kylie's, died shortly before his on-screen debut.^[6] His friendship with Kylie will lead him to be accepted into a "surrogate community" on the Street as the other residents get to know him.^[6]

Freddie is a widower of his late wife Sadie, an old and valued customer of Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls)' salon. When Sadie died unexpectedly, Freddie asked for Kylie to do her nails for the funeral. Not knowing this was the reason for the appointment, when she arrived at his home she was horrified to see his wife's dead body lying in her coffin in the living room. After running out of the house, he speaks to Kylie, who then convinces her to do Sadie's nails. In April, Freddie returns and is invited to Kylie's nephew Harry Platt's christening. He then takes a shine to Audrey, and flirts with her, however she rejects him, but says they can always be friends. He later becomes friends with Audrey's lover Ken Barlow (William Roache). The following month, Kylie asks local mechanic Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) to give Freddie a job there, and tells him all of the things that he has been through for the past few months. Kevin later agrees to offer Freddie a job, and Freddie accepts Kevin's offer.

In July, Freddie tells Ken that he should invite Audrey to a musical theatre production. After seeing Freddie and Audrey together holding hands in the pub, he tells Audrey that he is going to the performance alone. Freddie later starts drinking with Audrey in the pub regularly, and sees Kylie buying champagne to celebrate her and her husband David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd) emigrating to Barbados. Freddie is left distraught when Kylie is stabbed and killed in the street.

Harry Platt

Harry Platt made his first appearance on 21 March 2016.^[7][8] When the character was born he was portrayed by twin girls Pixie and Presley and a third baby, Woody.^[9] He is the son of Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) and Callum Logan (Sean Ward) and the half-brother of Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon), Billy Platt and Max Turner (Harry McDermott). He is born five weeks early by caesarean section when Sarah goes into labour in Tracy Barlow's (Kate Ford) florist shop. O'Brien said Sarah would be "in massive denial" when she goes in labour and initially refuses to have a caesarean because her son Billy died during the procedure.^[10] She believes a natural birth will be better for the baby. O'Brien continued, "She's just got it in her head that something is going to go wrong. It's almost like a defence mechanism. I think she feels that if something does go wrong she's preparing herself."^[10] O'Brien also said Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley) would help Sarah through the birth and remind her that the baby is not Billy. When Callum's mother Marion Logan (Susan Cookson) turns up at the hospital, Sarah does not want her there and becomes "very territorial over the baby".^[10] O'Brien added that the baby is a constant reminder that Callum's death is not going to go away.^[10]

Sarah is accidentally struck by Tim Metcalfe's (Joe Duttine) van and is taken to hospital, where she is told that she is four months pregnant by Callum. Sarah plans to have an abortion, but is talked out of it by her sister-in-law, Kylie Platt (Paula Lane). Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley) takes Sarah to the florist to relax after shopping, but as Todd reminisces about Billy, Sarah goes into labour, which annoys Tracy. At the hospital, the doctor wants Sarah to have a caesarean section, but Sarah refuses. Todd persuades Sarah and Sarah agrees to a caesarean section and her son is later born. When Marion Logan (Susan Cookson) arrives at the hospital after being told about Sarah's pregnancy by Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell), Sarah refuses to let her meet her grandson. Sarah chooses Harry for his name from one of Bethany's suggestions. Harry and Sarah are picked up from the hospital by Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) and Sarah feels that the others did not want to because of who Harry's father is. Harry is christened with Sarah's brother Nick Tilsley (Ben Price), Nick's fiancée Carla Connor (Alison King) and Todd as godparents. After Callum's corpse is found under Gail's annexe, Sarah starts behaving irrationally and the family realise she is suffering from mental health problems. Sarah changes the house locks and barricades herself in with Harry. When Sarah is taken to hospital, Harry is left in Kylie's care, but Sarah gets a place in a mother and baby unit.

Will Chatterton

Will Chatterton, played by Leon Ockenden, made his first screen appearance on 28 March 2016.^[11] The character and Ockenden's casting was announced on 8 February.^[12] His character is introduced as a former boyfriend of Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh). He comes to Weatherfield to book Michelle as his wedding planner.^[12]

Pablo Duarte

Pablo Duarte, played by Shai Matheson, made his first screen appearance on 13 April 2016.^[13] The character and casting was announced on 3 April 2016 as the secret husband of established character Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie).^[13] Upon his arrival, Pablo made an enemy out of Maria's boyfriend Luke Britton (Dean Fagan).^[13] He appeared following Maria's return to the Cobbles.^[13] Pablo, an Argentinian, married Maria in a marriage of convenience in Cyprus to secure the right to move to the United Kingdom, and assured Luke he had no romantic designs on Maria because he was gay. The character left the show on 17 April, five days after his debut, and appeared in three episodes.

Clayton Hibbs

Clayton Hibbs, played by Callum Harrison, made his first screen appearance on 8 July 2016.^[14] His character is the half-brother of Macca Hibbs (Gareth Berliner), and an old friend of Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) and the deceased Callum Logan (Sean Ward). The purpose of the character's creation was to kill-off established character Kylie Platt (Paula Lane).

Clayton and Macca start harassing Gemma at her job at the Prima Doner kebab shop, demanding free kebabs. They continue to do this for several days before being chased off by the manager, Chesney Brown (Sam Aston). Clayton later returns attempting to give Gemma fraudulent bank notes, but after Chesney takes the blame for her after the first time this happens, Gemma refuses to accept them again and forces Clayton out of the shop. He returns later in the day, demanding Gemma open the till, and when Gemma puts up a struggle he throws her to the ground, knocking her unconscious. Gemma's friend Kylie Platt (Paula Lane), attempts to help Gemma, but Clayton stabs her in the chest and flees the scene. Kylie later dies from her injuries and Clayton threatens Gemma to stay quiet and to keep Craig Tinker (Colson Smith), who witnessed the event, quiet as well. Kylie's widowed husband, David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd), overhears Clayton threatening Gemma and chases him with a steel pipe. He pins Clayton to the floor and almost bludgeons him with the pipe, but Clayton manages to force him off and escapes again. After this, Gemma and Craig decide to give statements to the police, and Clayton is arrested a few days later.

Clayton stands trial at Weatherfield Crown Court on 24 October 2016 and is found guilty of Kylie's murder and is sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 15 years.

Vinny Ashford

Vincent "Vinny" Ashford,^[15] played by Ian Kelsey, made his first appearance on 5 August 2016. The character and Kelsey's casting was announced on 17 June 2016.^[16] Vinny is a property developer, who teams up with his old friend Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre).^[17] Vinny was billed as the show's newest villain.^[16]

Sonia Rahman

Sonia Rahman, played by Sudha Bhuchar, made her first screen appearance on 22 August 2016. The character and casting was announced on 16 August 2016, and will be involved in a storyline with established character Sharif Nazir (Marc Anwar).^[18]

Sonia arrives whilst Sharif and his wife Yasmeen (Shelley King) are celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary. She reveals that her husband kicked her out when he becomes suspicious of her. As Yasmeen offers her to stay until she gets back on her feet, Sharif personally disagrees, but does not share this with Yasmeen, but does tell Sonia. It is later discovered that Sonia and Sharif have been having an affair for seven years, and that her husband suspected it, leading to him kicking her out. While Yasmeen is out one day, Sharif gives into temptation and has sex with Sonia again, but after Sonia insults Yasmeen to him, Sharif snaps at her. He later apologises, and their intimacy is noticed by his granddaughter, Alya (Sair Khan). Sharif admits the affair to Alya, with her becoming increasingly hostile towards Sonia. Yasmeen soon comes to the conclusion that she and Sharif will purchase a flat for Sonia in order for her to live in before getting herself sorted. However, Alya puts a stop to this when she blackmails Sharif for £14,000 in order for her to remain silent about his affair with Sonia. Now struggling financially due to Alya's blackmail, Sharif asks Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) whether Sonia can stay in the flat above his corner shop, frustrating Sonia as she wanted a "love nest" for her and Sharif.

When Sonia later calls round to confront Sharif about this, they recall their long-lasting affair before leaving again, however they are unaware that they have been overheard by Yasmeen. At Sharif and Yasmeen's grandson Zeedan's (Qasim Akhtar) engagement party to Rana Habeeb (Bhavna Limbachia), Yasmeen exposes Sharif and Sonia's affair to their family and party guests, before asking everybody to leave. She then kicks Sonia out, before she confronts Sharif. When Zeedan and Alya return, Sharif reveals that Alya blackmailed him with this information, hurting Yasmeen as she was the person who she confided in after discovering the affair. Yasmeen then kicks Sharif and Alya out, and Sharif leaves Weatherfield without informing his family or Sonia. When Sonia later bumps into Zeedan, he angrily exclaims how she has destroyed their family, and that Sharif has gone and will never return. This devastates Sonia, who herself decides to pack up and depart Weatherfield. However, Dev is furious to discover that Sharif has fled and demands the £14,000 he took from their business to pay Alya from Sonia, however she bluntly explains that she has not got any money. As her taxi arrives, Sonia attempts one last time to repair her friendship with Yasmeen, however after she explains how much she loved Sharif, Yasmeen angrily slaps Sonia and orders her to leave Weatherfield and never return.

Darryl Perkins

Darryl Perkins,^[19] played by Paul Loughran, made his first appearance in September 2016.^[20] The character and Loughran's casting were announced on 24 August 2016.^[20] Darryl is Craig Tinker's (Colson Smith) estranged father, who has been in and out of prison.^[20] Craig receives a letter from Darryl asking Craig to visit him in prison. During the visit, Craig reveals that he has a stepfather, Kirk Sutherland (Andrew Whyment) who his mother Beth Tinker (Lisa George) is married to. However Darryl then reveals that Beth is still married to him; making her a bigamist.

Tommy Orpington

Tommy Orpington, played by Matt Milburn, made his first appearance on 3 October 2016. The character and Milburn's casting were announced on 27 September 2016.^[21] The actor was expected to appear in at least four episodes.^[21] Tommy is a local football star who hires Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) to plan and oversee his wedding.^[21] He befriends Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson), Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine), Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) and Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall), who all fight for his attention.^[21]

Others

References

External links

• Cast and characters at itv.com
• Cast and characters at the Internet Movie Database