List of Coronation Street characters (1994)
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street in 1994, by order of first appearance.
Tricia Armstrong
| Tricia Armstrong | |||||||
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| Coronation Street character | |||||||
| Portrayed by | Tracy Brabin | ||||||
| Duration | 1994–97 | ||||||
| First appearance | 7 March 1994 | ||||||
| Last appearance | 2 May 1997 | ||||||
| Introduced by | Sue Pritchard | ||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||
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Patricia Mary "Tricia" Armstrong was played by Tracy Brabin for a period of three years between 1994 and 1997.
Tricia first appeared when her son Jamie was accused of shoplifting at Bettabuys supermarket. Tricia befriended assistant manager Curly Watts in order to get Jamie out of trouble and pleaded with Curly to go easy on him. Tricia developed an attraction to Curly and they began dating but the relationship ended when Tricia's ex-husband, Carl, assaulted Jack Duckworth who had been babysitting Jamie whilst she and Curly were out on a date.
In January 1995, Tricia and Jamie moved into Number 11 Coronation Street. Tricia befriended her neighbour Vera Duckworth, Jack's wife. Tricia was then evicted from her home by her landlord Mike Baldwin and responded by emptying a chamber pot over him. Despite this, Tricia and Jamie moved into one of the flats Mike owned on Crimea Street. She befriended her new neighbor, Deirdre Rachid, who helped look after Jamie whilst Tricia worked.
Facing financial difficulties, Tricia attempted to gain money from Mike by offering to have sex with him but he rejected her offer. In January 1996, Tricia was imprisoned for a week for failing to pay a fine for her TV licence. On release she was overjoyed to be reunited with Jamie. In May 1996, Tricia's unemployment benefits were stopped when she was found to be working as a cleaner for Mike but this time Mike offered to help her and gave her a job as a machinist at his factory. In June 1996, Tricia was attracted to Terry Duckworth, Jack and Vera's son, after he returned to Weatherfield. One night Tricia got drunk in The Rovers and Terry escorted her home. Despite Tricia losing her keys, Terry used a credit card to help her gain entry to her flat and they slept together. As a result of this one-night stand, Tricia became pregnant but Terry had no interest in being a father. Jack and Vera let Tricia move into The Rovers with them and Tricia gave birth unexpectedly to her son Brad on 14 February 1997 in the back of the pub. Jamie and barmaid Betty Williams helped deliver him.
Shortly afterwards, Tricia met decorator Ray Thorpe. They became close and started dating but in April 1997, Terry returned to Weatherfield. Tricia realised that Terry would never be a good role model for her sons and after speaking to Jack, who understood her concerns about Terry and encouraged her to be with Ray, Tricia left the Street with Ray to start a new life with him and her children.
Jamie Armstrong
| Jamie Armstrong | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronation Street character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Joseph Gilgun | ||||||||
| Duration | 1994–97 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 7 March 1994 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 2 May 1997 | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Sue Pritchard | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
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James "Jamie" Armstrong was portrayed by Joseph Gilgun. He lived on Coronation Street for a period of three years between 1994 and 1997.
10-year-old Jamie was first seen when he was caught shoplifting from Bettabuys by assistant manager Curly Watts. His mother Tricia flirted with Curly in order to get Jamie out of trouble and they briefly began to date, until her violent ex-husband Carl turned up. Jamie was being babysat by Jack Duckworth whilst Tricia and Curly were on a date, when Carl arrived and attacked Jack. As Tricia and Jamie settled into the street – befriending not only the Duckworths, but Deirdre Barlow and Roy Cropper – Jamie developed interests in Jim McDonald's motorbike and Jack's pigeons. After he turned eleven, Jamie moved from Bessie Street Juniors to Weatherfield Comprehensive. He started looking after Jack's pigeons to get some extra money but seemed genuinely interested in them, cooing and stroking them just like Jack.
Jamie had a reputation of being a troublemaker, and was often the first suspect whenever things went wrong – even if it was not his fault. When he saw someone stealing Josie Clarke's bike he tried to get it back for her, and he was spotted hanging round the back door by Percy Sugden, who thought he had stolen it when the bike was reported missing. Because of his reputation, it was difficult to make people believe him when he was telling the truth. Tricia always defended her son and told everyone to stop picking on him, but would often order him to tell the truth once they were alone.
However, Jamie did have a mischievous streak. He once implemented a bike puncture scam to get some extra money. People came out of their houses and realised they had a puncture. Jamie would be nearby and happened to have a repair kit and offered to fix the tyres and receive money in return. He also helped his mother to get revenge on Mike Baldwin for evicting them, by emptying a chamber pot over his head.
Jamie did not like being without his mother and was extremely close to her. When she was in prison for non-payment of her TV licence, he ran away from the foster home he had been staying at and went back to their flat. Deirdre saw him outside and took him in for the evening. Jamie was very good at assuming an innocent expression that appealed to people's maternal instincts. He was also very concerned when Tricia discovered she was pregnant with Terry Duckworth's child and was trying to decide what to do. Jamie did not know what the problem was, but he wanted to help, and made Tricia breakfast in bed. They moved in with Jack and Vera and Jamie later helped (along with Betty Turpin) to deliver his baby half-brother in the back room of the Rovers.
Jamie finally left the street with Tricia and his half-brother Brad, when Tricia decided to start a new life for them with decorator Ray Thorpe. She had realised that Terry would never be a suitable father to her children. Jamie was upset at having to leave the street, but Jack and Vera reassured him and they bid a bitter-sweet farewell.
Norris Cole
Norris Benjamin Cole played by Malcolm Hebden. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 11 March 1994. Hebden had previously played the role of Carlos, Mavis Riley's (Thelma Barlow) Spanish lover, in 1974. Norris appeared on a recurring basis, until he was axed in April 1997 by Brian Park. However two years later, the character was reintroduced on a regular basis. He has lived for several years with fellow character, Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) at 3 Coronation Street, first as a lodger, and more recently as the house owner.
Fred Elliott
Frederick Handel "Fred" Elliott played by John Savident. He made his first appearance during the episode airing on 26 August 1994. Savident quit the role in 2006 and Fred departed on screen on 27 October 2006.
Samir Rachid
| Samir Rachid | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronation Street character | |||||||
| Portrayed by | Al Nedjari | ||||||
| Duration | 1994–95 | ||||||
| First appearance | 24 August 1994 | ||||||
| Last appearance | 2 June 1995 | ||||||
| Introduced by | Sue Pritchard | ||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||
| Profile | |||||||
| Occupation | Waiter | ||||||
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Samir Rachid was played by Al Nedjari from 1994 to 1995. He was the Moroccan boyfriend (and eventually the husband) of Deirdre Barlow.
Deirdre, then aged 39, fell in love with Samir, a 21-year-old Moroccan waiter she met while on holiday in August 1994. She brought Samir to Weatherfield, insisting that it was much more than a holiday romance. Everyone was shocked when Deirdre married Samir who was only three years older than Deirdre's daughter, Tracy - who nearly did not go to the wedding, disgusted with her mother's choice. Deirdre and Samir then moved to Morocco but their plans were cut short in June 1995 when Tracy collapsed in a nightclub after taking ecstasy and needed a kidney transplant. They returned to Weatherfield and Deirdre and Tracy's adoptive father, Ken Barlow, were both tested but neither were matches for Tracy. Samir was tested and was surprisingly a perfect match. On the way to the hospital, Samir was attacked by a gang of youths in the street and later found unconscious on a canal towpath. He had suffered a fractured skull and later died in hospital but his kidneys were still in good condition and Deirdre gave the go-ahead for the organ to be donated to Tracy and the transplant was a success. However, Deirdre resented her daughter, blaming her for Samir's death.
Angela Hawthorne
| Angela Hawthorne | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronation Street character | |||||||
| Portrayed by | Diane Fletcher | ||||||
| Duration | 1994–95, 2005 | ||||||
| First appearance | 28 October 1994 | ||||||
| Last appearance | 16 September 2005 | ||||||
| Introduced by |
Sue Pritchard (1994, 1995) Tony Wood (2005) | ||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||
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Angela Hawthorne (previously Wilton, Catchpole, Cole, Priestly and Trench) was played by Diane Fletcher. She was first introduced as Derek Wilton's former wife.
In December 1995, Derek's rival Norris Cole was set to marry Angela and asked Derek to be his best man, although Derek drove Norris to the wrong church in revenge for Norris stealing one of Derek's garden gnomes, Arthur. In 1997, Angela did not attend Derek's funeral as she was too upset. When Norris moved into Coronation Street in 1999, he and Angela had divorced.
Angela's last appearance was in 2005 when she turned up in the Kabin and offered Norris a job as he was looking for work somewhere else away from the Kabin, although he later changed his mind and decided to remain where he was. On 5 August 2007, Angela died after suffering a heart attack, and the news was broken to Norris by her son Neville.
Clifford Duckworth
| Clifford Duckworth | |||||||||||||
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| Coronation Street character | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Dave King | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 1994–95 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | 12 December 1994 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 6 January 1995 | ||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Sue Pritchard (1994) | ||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; guest | ||||||||||||
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Clifford "Cliff" Duckworth was the brother of Jack Duckworth and the husband of Elsie.
Clifford - or Cliff, as he preferred to be known - was the suave younger brother of Jack. Cliff came to Weatherfield in 1994 to reconnect with Jack, having not seen him for years. He told Jack that he had been diagnosed with a heart condition - with only a few months, a year at most, to live. Jack and Vera, felt sorry for him, and took him in at 9 Coronation Street, making sure he felt welcome. However, Jack tired of him before his wife, and despite years of not seeing him, he found him an annoyance. He also put Jack's nose out of joint when Vera gave Jack cigarettes for Christmas while she gave Cliff a jumper. However, he made Cliff re-sign his will so Jack himself would inherit and agreed for him to take over exterior repair work at No.9. Cliff re-painted some of the stone cladding a deeper shade of blue.
Cliff, ever the charmer, told the couple that he too married a woman named Vera. However, this was proven to be untrue when, in 1995, Cliff's wife Elsie turned up, stormed into the Duckworths' house, grabbed Cliff and marched him out again with minimal explanation. After introducing herself as Elsie, she dragged Cliff down a stepladder (he was taking down the Christmas decorations at the time) and the pair disappeared, with Cliff promising to keep in touch. Jack stuck up for Cliff when Elsie took him home, saying that if Cliff wanted to spend his last days with him and Vera, let it lie. Elsie scoffed, saying that she'd kill him when they got home and that Cliff had no illness of any description.
In June of that year, Jack was devastated to read in the papers that Cliff and Elsie were killed in a car crash whilst on holiday. Vera, who had prayed for money the previous day, was guilt-ridden.
Jack and Vera inherited £30,000 from Cliff and Elsie's holiday insurance.
Sophie Webster
She was born on screen during the episode broadcast on 4 November 1994. She was played by Ashleigh Middleton from 1994 until 1997 and by Emma Woodward from 8 June 1997 until 25 April 2004. Brooke Vincent took over the role on 12 May 2004.
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