| Joe McIntyre | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronation Street character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Reece Dinsdale | ||||||||
| Created by | Kim Crowther | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Peter Whalley | ||||||||
| Duration | 2008–10 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 26 May 2008 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 8 February 2010 | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Date of birth | 11 April 1960[1] | ||||||||
| Date of death | 8 February 2010 (aged 49) | ||||||||
| Occupation | Kitchen fitter | ||||||||
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Joseph "Joe" McIntyre was a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. The character was portrayed by actor Reece Dinsdale. Joe was introduced as the father of Tina McIntyre, and made his first appearing onscreen during the episode that aired in the UK on May 26, 2008. After Dinsdale quit the show in 2009, the character was killed off in February 2010, when Joe tried to fake his own death in order to claim insurance money, but died in a boating accident when he was knocked overboard by the sail, and drowned in a lake.
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Dinsdale was hired for the role following auditions. He is also known for playing Matthew Willows in Home to Roost[2] and has co-starred in other comedy series such as Haggard, the short series Bliss, and more recently Born and Bred, The Chase, and Dalziel and Pascoe.
It was revealed on July 5, 2009 that although the producers offered him a pay rise to keep his character with the show, Dinsdale has quit to avoid being a typecast actor.[3]
Joe is introduced as the father of Tina McIntyre in May 2008. He later reappears on 13 June 2008 where he meets Tina's boyfriend David Platt. In August 2008, he begins a secret romance with Gail, David's mother. Joe also arranges a date for Tina and David in an attempt to reunite them after they split up, but fails. Once David and Tina have been reunited, he offers David a job fitting kitchens, much to the delight of Tina. Tina and David are less than happy when they discover that their parents are seeing each other, as they walk into No.8 only to discover Gail and Joe kissing.[4]
Shortly afterwards, David steals money from the Windass family, who have refused to pay for a kitchen, which Joe has fitted. In revenge, the family's son Gary and his uncle Len steal Joe's tools. Tina, David and Graeme Proctor then destroy the Windasses kitchen and set it alight, though their plan backfires and Gary and Len tear out Gail's kitchen. Joe then goes to great expense to build her a new one, not telling her that the failure of his business has left him in ever-increasing debt. His plan for a perfect Christmas is ruined when Gail invites the Windasses over for Christmas Day. They give him a tool belt as a Christmas present, which reminds Joe of the tools that have been stolen from him. When Gary repeatedly makes moves on Tina, and Gary and David get into a brawl, Joe has enough. He begins screaming at the Windasses, telling them they are pathetic, and throws food at them.[5][6][7] They leave the house humiliated. Joe then walks out. The next day, Gail and Joe make up, but Gail is shaken, as he has reminded her of some of the bad men from her past.
Joe is also having severe financial problems at this time due to a severe lack of work but hides the true extent of his woes from Gail. In January 2009, he accepts a job as a labourer with builder Bill Webster but asks him to say that he is fitting kitchens for him. He soon moves in with Gail, not telling her the true extent of his financial problems or that he has been evicted from his flat. Gary begins to persistently pester and flirt with Tina, resulting in Joe warning him off, after he pushes his luck and asks Tina out on a date.[8] After Joe has warned Gary off for a second time, Gary calls Len to help him break into the builders yard and steal copper piping. The following day, Joe is suspected of the theft by Bill and Jason Grimshaw. Gary mocks Joe because of this, resulting in him lashing out at Gary, with Bill and Jason holding him back. David, who has witnessed Gary and Len driving away from the builders yard, reports them to the police.
Gary then begins to pester David, continuing to flirt with Tina, and mocking David about his past, this results in David throwing a punch at Gary, and Gary takes this as an opportunity to fight David, resulting in David suffering a broken nose and concussion. David is rushed to hospital whilst Gary is arrested. David then convinces Tina, who has witnessed the fight, to lie to the police and state that Gary threw the first punch. Len then locks himself and Tina in the kebab shop and threatens Tina to change her statement to avoid Gary being sent to prison for assault. Joe then warns Len not to intimidate Tina, stating that she is all he has left.
On 23 February 2009, Joe receives a phone call from someone in need of nineteen new kitchens for a new building development. Overjoyed at the news, he goes to the site where he is dismayed to find that the person is Len. He tells Joe that he will give him the lucrative job on the condition that he will persuade Tina to retract her statement about the fight. Joe is later stunned when Tina admits that she was lying about the incident but he vows to support her nonetheless. Later, under the mounting pressure of debts, Joe secretly agrees to the deal with Len.
In March 2009, after Gary is cleared of the assault charge, David stumbles upon Joe shaking hands with Len over a contract agreement. Tina is furious when she finds out and tells Gail that Joe has only moved in with her as he has been evicted from his flat. On the same night Tina reveals that he has suffered from depression in the past and Joe is horrified to discover that Tina had an abortion a year previously which Gail paid for. Gail ends their relationship and throws him out warning him never to return. When Joe comes to collect his belongings from Gail's she tells him that he can stay in Sarah's old room. When David comes back he is furious and throws Joe's things down the stairs. After Gail chooses Joe over David, he moves out and stays with his father Martin.
Joe and Tina decide to rent a flat together, but as Joe is moving his things out of Gail's, he slips a disk in his back meaning that he cannot work or move out of Gail's much to her secret delight; the couple then reconcile. However, Joe continues to push himself too far trying to go back to work before he is ready and because of this, he collapses.[9]
Following his back injury it becomes increasingly clear that Joe is becoming dependant on prescription drugs. After David deviously hides his pills Joe panics only for David to later 'discover' them in the pocket of Gail's dressing gown. By June 2009, Joe is becoming increasingly more dependent and trashes the kitchen when he cannot find the medication. In July 2009, Graeme Proctor spots Joe's painkillers and Joe is interested to hear how there was a black market for them when Graeme was in the young offenders' institute. Later, a desperate Joe asks Graeme if he could obtain some painkillers for him until his back is better. Graeme agrees to speak to his contact, and as promised gets Joe the painkillers, but tells him it is a one-off favour. David later finds out about Joe's addiction and persuades Graeme to stop Joe's supply. David then tells Joe he will supply him drugs in exchange for a 'favour'. Much later David reveals this to be a deviously underhand attempt to force Joe to split up Jason and Tina.
Joe steals from Gail so he can pay Graeme to get him more painkillers. He steals £30 from her purse, but later makes it up with her. In a later episode he steals keys from Gail's bag to get into the medical centre in order to obtain painkillers but sets the alarm off and is arrested on suspicion of burglary. Joe is soon cured of his addiction, and he goes back to helping Tina and Jason with the flat and working with Jason.
Joe surprises Gail with a meal and champagne on the back of the boat, which is still parked on the drive of No.8. He then proposes to her, which she delightfully accepts and in the background fireworks are set off, however, David and Gail's mother Audrey aren't happy. Gail asks her father Ted Page if he would give her away, which he delightedly accepts.
Joe is revealed to be in debt when a loan shark called Rick Neelan comes round to the house. Joe has to give up his van to pay up most of the debt. He then confesses to Gail about his problem, and Gail later suggests they sell up the house, pay his debts and use the rest of the money for a flat and the wedding. David doesn't like this and tells Audrey about it, who is angry at Gail. When Audrey can't get through to Gail, she later contacts her grandson Nick Tilsley to speak some sense to Gail. However, when Nick meets Joe, he thinks Joe is an 'alright man' and they get along as Nick tells Gail he is pleased for them both. On 7 January 2010, Joe borrows money from Ted, telling him it is for a deposit for a flat. He then uses it to pay back Rick, the loan shark, and they both agree that they end their acquaintances.
On 8 January 2010, Joe marries Gail. She is given away by Ted, and the best man is Gail's son Nick. At the reception in the Rovers, Joe goes to the bathroom and bumps into Rick again. Rick tells Joe that he would now have to pay interest, £500 pounds for the next ten weeks, leading to at least £5,000 pounds. He also threatens Joe again and Joe becomes scared of what will happen to his daughter. Before Joe and Gail leave to go on their honeymoon, Joe tells Jason to look after Tina and watch her.
Soon after their wedding, Joe decides that the only way to escape his problems is to fake his own death, deciding to disappear in the Lake District, where they spent their honeymoon. Joe explains his plans to a horrified Gail, who tries to stop him by getting into the boat with him, knowing that he won't set sail with her in the boat, but he pushes her away and sets sail. Unfortunately, his plan goes wrong, and soon after, he comes into difficulties, losing his lifeboat in the process. At the last minute, Joe attempts to get the lifeboat back, but he slips into the water. In his final moments, he tries to swim back to the boat but cannot survive the freezing cold waters and drowns.
Joe stated earlier in the episode that he planned to emulate "that canoe bloke who faked his own death". This is a reference to John Darwin, a British man who was famously jailed for trying to fake his own death for the insurance money by disappearing in a canoe out at sea.
Almost 2 weeks after his death, Joe's body is seen floating in the lake. A local woman, who is out walking her dog, discovers Joe's body at the edge of the lake, when her dog sniffs out his corpse.
On 22 February 2010, the police inform Gail that they have found a body at the lakes, and they believe that it is Joe's. David tells Tina that Joe is dead and she attacks him because she believes he is lying. Tina later apologises for accusing David of lying. Later, Tina and Gail identify Joe's body in the morgue. Tina is devastated to realise that it is the body of her father.
In a further twist of events Gail comes under suspicion for Joe's death as her forged signature is found on a life insurance policy that Joe had taken out prior to his death. She is later arrested and charged with Joe's murder. She is held on remand for a number of months until she is finally acquitted of murder in June 2010.
In August 2009, praise was given to Coronation Street producers by doctors for the soap's painkiller storyline when Joe became addicted. Experts at The Priory Group, which operates drug and alcohol treatment centres across the country, backed the programme's decision to tackle the issue on screen.
Dr Ash Kahn told The Sun newspaper: "Medication abuse can be very dangerous. Misuse of over-the-counter or prescription drugs can lead to dependence that is physical and mental."[10]
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