The Darth Vader Effect

You've heard of the "butterfly effect" where one small change can have a large and long standing effect? This month, we've had a reappearance of what I like to call the Darth Vader effect where a close family member or, in this case, a close family friend turns out to be the biological father of one of the Corrie characters. The term harkens back to the Star Wars series when Luke Skywalker's mortal enemy, Darth Vader, revealed himself to be Luke and Leia's biological father, Anakin Skywalker.

It isn't new. It's quite well known in the soap world. Aunties or Uncles or mortal enemies (see above) turn out to be the real mothers or fathers of children. (This is rampant in American soaps where long lost children are reconnected with biological parents more often than the Muppets had movie sequels!)  Sometimes a character thinks their parent has died but then they turn up very much alive. This happens on American soaps frequently, too. Sometimes adopted parents, or one of them actually is the biological parent of the adoptee. Often, a man discovers children he didn't know he had, from an ill advised affair or a long lost love.

On Coronation Street, we've had "Uncle" Fred Elliott revealed as Ashley Peacock's biological father from an affair Fred had with a coworker. Ashley was reared by Fred's sister and brother-in-law. I don't recall if Ashley knew he was adopted or not but when the storyline was on our screens in the late 90s, Ashley's "father" had already passed away. Ashley and Fred became very close, a proper father and son team.

When Corrie first aired in 1960, Ken Barlow had a pretty girlfriend. Susan Cunningham. They drifted apart and Ken was shocked to discover that Susan had his son. She'd sent a letter that got lost behind a skirting board before Ken received it. Emily Bishop, who lives in the house Ken grew up in, discovered it and passed it on. The letter revealed the child's existence. Ken tracked Lawrence Cunningham down and met him though Lawrence was revealed to be a bit of a prat. Lawrence's son, James, took full advantage of his new grandfather and engineered a scam through a homeless shelter. Ken has no contact with either of them as a result.

Mike Baldwin is the king of the Darth Vader Effect. All three of his sons were unaware of his existence for a time, and two of them were also unknown to Mike as his children.

After Mike Baldwin's brother died, his sister-in-law revealed that her son, Danny, was Uncle Mike's biological son after an affair they'd had many years ago. Mike was delighted to have another son though Danny was less than impressed. In the end, though, Danny took care of Mike when he had Alzheimer's and was genuinely sad when Mike died. This wasn't Mike's first time discovering an unknown child. His ex-wife, Susan Barlow, left him after apparently having a termination, not wanting to bring up a child with a husband she had fallen out of love with. Turns out she had the baby, a son named Adam, and never told anyone but her brother, Peter. It was quite a shock when the truth came out and there was the inevitable clash between Mike and his old enemy, Ken. Mike also had a third son, Mark Redmond who didn't know Mike was his biological dad until the mid 90s when Deirdre let the secret out to Tracy who in turn told Mark out of spite.

Curly Watts found out he had a daughter he didn't know about. His former wife, Raquel, came to him on the eve of the Millenium to tell him she had his daughter, Alice. Alice knew about daddy but daddy didn't know about Alice which was kind of a rotten thing to do. Raquel was bringing Alice up in France where she was working and had come to Curly for a divorce so she could remarry. Alice would be 18 now!

Don't think the women are left out, either though it's not as common. Women know they've given birth but sometimes the child doesn't know a specific woman is their mother. Leanne knew her mother had left when she was small and was dismayed to find that the new Rovers manager, Stella Price was her mother. (Stella's not an overly common name. I wondered why Leanne never mused "Oh, my mother's name was Stella" in front of Ms. Price) . Other soaps have had aunties or older sisters turn out to be the mother of a niece/nephew/younger sibling, but I'm not sure that has happened on Corrie, has it? Michelle Connor discovered the son she raised for 16 years was actually someone else's child altogether, the babies having been mixed up in the hospital. She never bonded with her biological son and that storyline is really best forgotten.

Johnny Connor, a newly arrived relative of Michelle's family is the latest in the line of men to have surprise children thrust upon them. He had a one night stand with Carla's mother 40 years ago and had always suspected she might be his daughter. But Carla's mother was a drunk and was not a faithful wife to her equally unlikeable husband so he could never be sure. Carla's brother revealed that his mother once told him about the fling though Rob never really believed her. He proposed the idea to Johnny as a fishing expedition and came up with a hefty catch.

It looks like it just might be true though so far, there's no real proof. Johnny will get a DNA test, however, and we'll know for sure soon enough. I'm pretty certain Carla will be Johnny's daughter and then we'll see scenes of her "reeling" when she finds out the truth. As much of a "lad" as Johnny is, it seems like he'd have been a much better father to her than the man that brought her up. He does seem to love the other two children he has, Aidan and Kate. She should be relieved, not upset, but as this is a soap, Carla will go off the deep end again while she gets her head round it but I predict they'll end up with a close father-daughter relationship in time.

Edited to add, thanks to commenters on The Coronation Street blog:
Jason Grimshaw and Julie Carp nearly had sex. Julie's mother, an old friend of Eileen's then revealed that she'd slept with Eileen's father who had seduced her when she was a teenager and Julie was the result. Therefore, Julie and Eileen are half sisters.

Maggie Clegg ran the corner shop for awhile. Her sister, Betty, helped her out. Betty, of course, was Betty Turpin, later Williams who served behind the bar for many a year. It turns out that Maggie's son, Gordon, was Betty's son from a relationship during the war. Betty was unmarried at the time so her married sister, Maggie, raised the boy as her own. As Maggie was leaving Weatherfield, the shop was handed over to the Hopkins family who found Gordon's real birth certificate in the shop flat. Maggie then told Gordon the truth.

Lloyd had a fling with the wife of his best friend, Johnny. He never know that Jenna was his biological daughter until she was nearly 30 when he bumped into Jenna's mother, Mandy at a gig. She was acting a bit odd, not really very happy to see him and eventually, once he met Jenna, Lloyd figured out the truth. Jenna and Lloyd eventually became close before she left town.

Bet Lynch had a son at the age of 16 and gave him up for adoption. We don't know if the boy knew he was adopted but when he was in the army he came to find his natural mother. He saw a tarted up blonde behind the bar who was kind of cheap and a big flirt and decided not to tell her who he was. Later, another soldier came to tell Bet that her son, Martin, had died.

Hayley discovered that she had fathered a son before she transitioned, during a short relationship with a friend. She and Christian found each other but it didn't go very well. Christian was resentful and hateful and even violent when he first found out the truth and a few years later, came back to "make up", and introduce her to his children but really, he just wanted money. In the end, Hayley gave it to him and he's not been seen since.

Audrey had an affair with Ted Page when she was a teenager and Gail was the result. She always lied about who Gail's father was but he came back into their lives and Audrey told him he had a daughter. Ted told Audrey he was gay which rather surprised her. Ted and Gail became close and he gave her away at her wedding to Richard Hillman. He continues to live in London.


Tvor (Twitter @tvordlj)

Do they still fit in?

A few days ago, commenter, "Ena's Hairnet", on this post on The Coronation Street Blog, suggested a topic for conversation. When a character leaves for an extended time, do they really fit in when they return? She mentioned characters like Carla, Hayley and Leanne. As this post was getting rather long, I've posted it here on my blog rather than clutter up the other one and linked back to it.

I do think in many cases when an actor returns from an absence, be it health related or maternity leave or when the character is written out but returns down the road, that the producers and writers have to have a clear idea of what they're going to do with the character. Sometimes, I agree, things do fall flat. It's taken over a year for Hayley to get back into the forefront with the fall of Tony Gordon and having her back in the factory (where she belongs!) It seemed like her last storyline before her exit, the revelation of her long lost son (an unfortunate rewrite of history), was a stumbling block for the character. She and Roy are such a wonderful, supportive couple and she deserved to be slotted back into the canvas rather than spend a year being a spare part. I'm hoping we'll see a lot more of Hayley from here on in.

Carla's character always seemed to me to be un-Corrielike. A lot of people have commented in a similar vein that they didn't think she fit in the show. After her long maternity leave, it seems a jolt to have her back for a lot of people that didn't like her anyway. She's only just back but has returned in the thick of a major story, the downfall of Tony and it remains to be seen if she'll continue to fit in. Now that she doesn't have Tony, with Leanne her only mate, will she be with us long term? She'll have to make a few more connections to have a reason to stick, I think.

Leanne has been on the canvas since 1997 and has been away from Corrie several times over the years in addition to two maternity leaves. I have found that she always seems to fit in and they always seem to be able to find a return storyline that features her that re-acclimatizes us to Leanne.

When a long time favourite has been gone a long time, people still like to think they could come back but most of them really wouldn't fit in well. Things move on without them and they lose their connections on the Street. Curly is a case in point. I loved Curly, he was always one of my favourites and yes, I'd like to see him back but only for a visit. Say, for a wedding or funeral. It always rubbed me the wrong way that he didn't return for Vera's funeral but it's down to the availability of the actor or whether ITV wants to pay for various and sundry to return for guest visits, as well, I suppose. Other than a visit, though, there really isn't anything there for Curly anymore aside from one or two friends.

Look what happened when they tried to bring Bet Lynch back! As much as I also liked her, I really don't know as she fit in either. Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to find out because the actress found the new shooting schedule too difficult. It was still good to see her, though, for a short visit.

It isn't always the case, though. If the writers have a good storyline in mind to feature the returnee, it can work. Leanne is a case in point and upcoming, we will be seeing Sunita return. I don't know if it's for a long term or short term but I'm looking forward to it. She only has Dev as a connection, really, since her best mate, Shelley is gone, but she was a fixture on the Street for a long time and should slot back in nicely. They're also bringing back Ciaran who has a history with her as well as a history with Peter. Do you think he'll hit on Leanne like he did Shelley or has he learned that lesson? Nick Tilsley is also coming back with a new face. It will be interesting to see how that works.

So what is your opinion on returning characters after either short or long absences? Do they fit in again? Do the writers really need to know what they're going to do with them before they bring them back? (Especially characters who have been away more than a year)

Character Study: Norman "Curly" Watts

Norman "Curly" Watts, so nicknamed because his hair was straight, was a Weatherfield lad though we never met him until he was an adult working on the bins with Eddie Yates and Chalkie Whitely. He lodged with Emily Bishop and set up business with Terry Duckworth, an association he would eventually regret. Poor Curly was a smart lad but a bit gormless, especially when it came to relations with the opposite sex. He was keen and eager to please, like a puppy and that seems to be how most women saw him. Each knock back didn't seem to put him off, though. He was ever the optimist looking for love.

He had his first proper girlfriend in factory worker, Shirley Armitage, round about the same time as he decided to go back to school and get some qualifications in business studies. Curly and Shirley split (how could they possibly have made it work with names that rhymed like that!) with very little warning, really, having overcome racial discrimination at the start of their relationship.

Curly lodged with the Duckworths and started his retail career in the Bettabuys empire with manager Reg Holdsworth as his mentor. Bettabuys was the source of two major relationships in his life. First, the righteous Kimberly Taylor, whom he dated and nearly married. Lucky escape there, I think, because I think he let himself be railroaded into the engagement thinking nobody else would ever have him.

His next relationship was a fantasy. He fell hard for Raquel Wolstenhulme who had her own ambitions and never appreciated the steady and faithful Curly. She would be continually hurt by other more "exciting" men and keep coming back to Curly to pick up the pieces until she finally married him on yet another rebound. Curly thought all his birthdays had come at once and thought that Raquel might grow to love him.

She didn't. Curly had his heart well and truly broken. He knew Raquel would leave him eventually though it didn't hurt any less when she left him after only a year. He thought he'd try to travel the world and rented out his house to Samantha Failsworth but was only gone for about 6 hours in the end.

As he gained more confidence in his job, he started moving up the career ladder but had a bit of trouble with obsessive stalker, Anne Malone, who framed him after he rejected her amorous advances. This did have him saying good bye to Weatherfield for a time, hoping to find Raquel. He never did find her but in the process, seemed to have finally found himself. He discovered that he was a dad when Raquel returned to ask for a divorce, revealing that she had had his baby, now a three year old little girl called Alice. It seems like about this time, Curly came into his own and lost most of that daftness he used to have. He even had a makeover and it seemed to do the trick!

Before long, all-grown-up-Norman met police officer Emma Taylor and found the first real mutual love of his life. He turned to local politics and was elected town councillor where he really tried to do some good. Curly always had strong principles and a social conscience and this was a way to bring some good to help people. After he and Emma got married, they had baby Ben and his dream of being a full time dad was realized. He and Emma went through a rocky patch when her career nearly faltered because an unethical situation she got into clashed with those principles but they reconciled and moved away to Newcastle to start again.

We haven't heard from or about Curly since. I like to think he and Emma had another baby. Maybe he's involved in local politics or some other local group that works to better the lives of people that need help. Maybe he's running a Citizen's Advice Bureau!

What was your favourite Curly moment? Was it when he gave Raquel her own personal star in the sky? Was it the Reg and Curly storylines? What about when he freaked out on the Battersbys and ended up getting nutted in the head by Les? Wouldn't it be great to see Curly again?