List of Coronation Street characters (1992)

The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street in 1992, by order of first appearance.

Carmel Finnan

Carmel Finnan was a student nurse classmate of Martin Platt's, whom she became obsessed with and tried to ruin his relationship with his then wife, Gail. She made her first appearance on 2nd September 1992 and made her last appearance on 22nd March 1993. She was portrayed by Catherine Cusack.

Carmel was born in 1968 to a pregnant fifteen year old mother. She was brought up by her grandparents, thinking she was their own child; however, she discovered the truth about her parentage at the age of fourteen. She became mentally unstable and became obsessed with Michael McGuire and she made up a story that he had gotten her pregnant. Because of this, her grandparents placed her in a psychiatric hospital and a year later, she left as a happy girl who put her dark past behind her.

In 1992, Carmel moved to Weatherfield, England and became friends with Martin. He asked her if she would babysit his three children, Nicky, Sarah-Louise and David that night so he and Gail can go out. She agrees and over time, Carmel proves to be good with the children and she becomes the Platts' babysitter regularly.

When Carmel was frightened by a prowler at her bedsit, she confides in the Platts for comfort and they allow her to move in with them at 8 Coronation Street. However, Gail and Martin learned there was another side to Carmel and they began to lose her trust; Carmel told Gail that her best friend, Sally Webster, didn't like her and she started treating the children as if she is their own mother. There was more concern when Carmel told a woman at Bettabuys that David was her son and when Gail discovered this from Percy Sugden, who overheard the conversation, she confronted Carmel with her suspicions but Carmel lied and explained that she lied so the woman wouldn't get at her for being a babysitter.

In December 1992, Carmel "slept" with a drunken Martin, who thought it was Gail who was in bed with him; Gail was actually at the hospital with her mother, Audrey Roberts, when her stepfather, Alf, got food poisoning. When Martin discovered he was in bed with Carmel, he demanded answers from her but she only confessed her love for him. This resulted in Martin to force Carmel to return to Ireland early for Christmas. However, she returned on Christmas Day and told everyone she had missed the boat to Ireland but she only returned so she can see Martin and resumed her campaign to get Martin to confess to Gail that "he's in love with her."

When Gail discovered Carmel's infidelity after she tried to get Martin into bed with her at her bedsit, she threw her out of No.8. She then returned in March 1993 and told a shocked Gail and Martin (and Ivy Brennan) that she was pregnant with Martin's baby. This caused Gail to lose Martin's trust but he later convinced her he's been faithful. That same month and year, Carmel tried to kidnap David while Sally was minding him. Sally rescued him by threatening to phone the police. After discovering the incident, Gail angrily confronted Carmel at her bedsit, telling her to stay away from her, her children and mostly, her husband. They had an argument on the top of the stairs which ended with Carmel falling down and breaking her leg. Gail was afraid she hurt Carmel's unborn baby but when examined at the hospital, the Platts discovered that Carmel had lied and that she wasn't pregnant.

Carmel lied to the police that Gail had pushed her down the stairs. Gail was shocked while Martin was furious. Carmel's grandfather, John, arrived in Weatherfield to talk the Platts about what happened. Gail explained that she confronted Carmel to stay away from her and her family while Martin tells him that she falsely accused him of getting her pregnant. This makes John realize that Carmel was make believing again and he tells the Platts of Carmel's mental history and that he'll take her home to Ireland to get the care she needs.

The Carmel Finnan character and storyline received mostly positive reviews from "Coronation Street" viewers but one was negative and called it a "stalker storyline" and viewed it as "creepy."

Lisa Duckworth

Lisa Duckworth (née Horton) was played by Caroline Milmoe. Lisa is introduced as the pregnant girlfriend of Terry Duckworth, who returns to Weatherfield after a four-year absence in 1992. Upon her arrival, Terry is arrested and returned to prison to face charges of GBH and he and Lisa later get married after he is granted day release. But Terry only intends to use the wedding as a plot to escape, and he flees the church after the ceremony leaving Lisa shocked and still holding her bouquet.

In September, Lisa gives birth to a son, whom she names Tommy. Lisa struggles as a single mother, and with her feelings for Terry. After coming to the conclusion that Terry was never going to be a suitable father to Tommy, Lisa sets her sights on bookie Des Barnes. Lisa and Des fall in love and intended to move away together, but in February 1993, Lisa is knocked down by a car outside The Rovers Return whilst attempting to retrieve change after dropping her purse. She suffers serious injuries and dies in hospital soon after.

Ted Sullivan

Ted Sullivan was played by William Russell. Ted was first seen as a representative for a supplier of the Kabin, and first appears when Rita Fairclough and Mavis Wilton learn of his plans to retire. Mavis recommends her husband Derek for his job, and Derek does his best to sell himself to Ted - only to be rejected when Ted tells him his nephew is already lined up to replace him. Meanwhile, Rita catches Ted's attention and he returns again to see her.

Ted courts Rita, and they begin dating. In March, Ted reveals his plan to move to Florida and live there, and to her astonishment, Ted asks Rita to join him as his wife. Initially she turns him down, but later changes her mind and they head out to Florida in search of a new home. When they return however, Ted reveals that the reason he is retiring is because he is terminally ill with a brain tumour. Rita feels cheated, and cancels their plans to emigrate, but agrees to marry Ted in order for them live out his last days as a couple.

Rita and Ted marry weeks later, and by July, Ted is getting weaker as his condition deteriorates. He dies on a park bench on 9 September 1992 watching Percy Sugden play bowls, but his friends do not initially realise he is dead; they believe he is just sleeping. Rita finds him, and is left heartbroken.

Due to his terminal illness, Ted was widely known as "Terminal Ted" by the programme's viewers.

Geoff Horton

Geoff Horton, played by Dicken Ashworth, made his first screen appearance on 18 May 1992. He died of a heart attack, off-screen, on 5 April 2012, at which time Tommy learns of it, and after originally saying he would not go to the funeral, Tina finally persuades him to. Geoff is the father of Lisa Duckworth (Caroline Milmoe) and grandfather of Tommy Duckworth (Chris Fountain).

Doreen Horton

Doreen Horton was the mother of Lisa Duckworth, played by Annie Raitt and appeared intermittently between 1992 and 2000. On 5 April 2012, Doreen rang Tyrone to inform Tommy that Geoff had a heart attack and died in hospital earlier that day.

Richard Willmore

Richard Willmore is a director from brewery Newton and Ridley, played by Oliver Beamish. He appears for several stints until 1994, but returns in 2011 when Liz and Jim enlist his help in purchasing the Rovers Return from their son Steve and installing Liz as manager due to differences with their daughter-in-law Becky.

Tommy Duckworth

Doug Murray

Doug Murray was a mechanic. He was played by actor Brian Hibbard. After returning to Britain from the Middle East after his classic car restoration business failed and he had got into debt, Doug sought employment at MVB motors. The Inland Revenue tracked Doug down and he was forced to declare bankruptcy. Doug initially lived at his sister's house but moved out after constant arguments with her husband and moved addresses. Doug dated Deirdre Barlow for a while but this ended when her daughter Tracy attempted to seduce him as she had a crush on him and wanted to hurt her mother. Eventually Doug decided to leave Weatherfield after realising that his options were limited. He stole a Jaguar car belonging to his boss Mike Baldwin and drove away. He traded the Jaguar in for a Mercedes at a dealership, and later fled to Germany in the Mercedes.

Harry Potts

Harold "Harry" Potts, played by Russell Dixon, made his first screen appearance on 26 October 1992.^[1]

When Derek Wilton (Peter Baldwin) is employed as the new deputy caretaker at Weatherfield Comprehensive, Harry starts giving him a hard time as he wanted his nephew to get the job. Harry makes Derek do most of the work and gets him into trouble with Ken Barlow (William Roache). Derek eventually reports Harry to the headmistress and she tells him to keep notes on Harry's behaviour. When Derek gives her his report, he learns that Harry has a new job at a different school. Harry was also a member of the local council. When he wants to join the Social Services Committee, he asks Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley) for his support. Harry begins to see Alf as an ally and they occasionally have a drink together in the Rovers Return. Harry befriends the landlady, Bet Gilroy (Julie Goodyear), and starts giving her information about a plan to widen Rosamund Street and demolish the Rovers. Harry promises to fight for the pub and Bet gives him drinks on the house. Bet later learns that the council have no intention of demolishing the pub and realises that Harry has been conning all the local landladies. Bet and her friend get revenge on Harry by inviting him to Reg Holdsworth's (Ken Morley) engagement party and make him buy the drinks all night. A couple of years later, Alf is accused of embezzling money from the Mayor's charity fund. Harry tells Alf that he has his support. Alf's wife, Audrey (Sue Nicholls), learns that Harry is having an affair with the woman who prepares the cheques for the Mayor, and Alf realises that Harry was getting her to make up cheques for him. Harry is brought in to be questioned by Alf's superior and he refuses to say anything until his solicitor arrives. A few months later, Harry is found guilty of embezzlement and sent to prison for nine months.

Denise Osbourne

Denise Osbourne (previously Mitchell) was introduced as a new local hairdresser and was played by Denise Black.

Denise's first marriage to wealthy solicitor Frank Osbourne ended when she left him for Neil Mitchell. They later married but had separated by late 1992 so Denise came to Coronation Street to try and build a new life. She opened a hairdressing and beauty salon at Nº2, living in the flat above and turned to Neil, who worked as a builder, to fit out the premises.

From her first appearance, many local men were attracted to Denise and by Christmas supermarket manager Reg Holdsworth, barman Jack Duckworth who was married, and mechanic Doug Murray, all asked Denise for favours and fought to be the first to take her out. Denise, however, invited all of them to her flat at the same time and told them she was not interested. Neil was happy to stay friends until he discovered he had a love rival in Hanif Ruparell, despite the fact that he was dating Angie Freeman. Denise and Hanif's affair was initially just for pleasure but eventually Denise fell in love with her friend. When she eventually told Hanif how she felt after arranging a romantic dinner, she was deeply hurt when he rejected her. Denise threw red wine into his face and stormed out of the restaurant.

In the meantime, Don Brennan fell for Denise when she comforted him about his leg amputation. Denise showed him her deformed hand and said she had managed to live with it. Don agreed to lend Denise money for her business. Denise soon realised that Don wanted more than just friendship and was plagued with nuisance telephone calls and anonymous pranks that lasted for several weeks, causing her much anguish. She suspected Neil and Hanif and was outraged when she learned that Don was responsible — helped by Hanif, who had a friend who worked at the telephone exchange.

Early in 1994, Denise started dating Ken Barlow and both were surprised when she got pregnant. Denise decided to keep the baby but had a miscarriage. However, the doctors told Denise she was carrying twins and the survivor was healthy. Ken suggested they get married but Denise decided she preferred to remain independent and abruptly ended their relationship, telling Ken she didn't want him at the child's birth. She found life more difficult than she expected during her pregnancy and had to get help at the salon from her friend, Jon Welch. She had hoped that Jon would buy the business but he was unable to raise the money. Even when she went into labour, she refused to let Ken know. But as her contractions became more painful, Denise changed her mind and got a message to him and Ken was there as she gave birth to their son, Daniel, and was very supportive. However, Denise continued to reject Ken and refused to put his name on Daniel's birth certificate but was willing to let him babysit. Over the next few months, Denise and Jon became closer until in April 1995, he made a pass at her but she turned him down so he left.

Meanwhile, Ken had troubles of his own as his stepdaughter, Tracy, was in hospital after a drugs overdose but he still wanted access to Daniel. After Ken threatened legal action, Denise lost her temper and went to visit her sister in Macclesfield. After Ken tracked her down, she returned to Weatherfield and seemed more willing to let Ken into her life. In July 1995, Ken bought Nº1 and he, Denise and Daniel moved in — but she kept the flat above Nº2 and refused to let Bill Webster rent it from her in December. Her reasons for keeping Nº2 became apparent. Brian Dunkley, Denise's brother-in-law came to do the bookkeeping as he is an accountant but they were having an affair and had been for two years. Ken didn't suspect anything but Denise's sister, Alison Dunkley, realized that Brian was being unfaithful and turned to Denise for comfort. In January 1996, Denise tried to end it and asked Ken if he still wanted to marry her and he agreed. However, Brian was not prepared to give up easily. Ken found out about the affair and threw Denise out. Denise decided to move away with Brian and left Daniel with Ken, feeling she would never be able to offer him a stable life. However, in November 1996, she changed her mind and came back, claiming that Ken had no legal right to keep him. She agreed to allow him to visit Daniel at weekends but, after a few months, Ken found the travelling and emotional strain of visiting too difficult, especially when Daniel called Brian "Daddy" and cut all contact with Denise and Daniel.

Nothing was heard from Denise for ten years until 2007, when she sent Ken a card, having read about Tracy's imprisonment for murder. Deirdre blamed him for Tracy's problems so Ken moved into a bed and breakfast in Manchester. As he went for a stroll, Ken found Denise running a new hair-styling business in the heart of the city. Preparing for the worst, Ken went into the salon to speak to Denise and she invited him to her flat for a cup of tea. Sufficiently revived, he told Denise that he would have to reduce his contributions to Daniel’s trust fund — paying for Tracy’s defence barrister had seriously damaged his finances — Ken was unable to bring himself ask Denise if he could re-establish contact with their son. She promised Ken she would ask Daniel if he wanted to meet him. Ken was relieved the next day to discover that Daniel had agreed. Later, Denise invited Ken to move in with her and Daniel but Daniel began to resent Ken's presence so Denise took him back to Weatherfield to make amends with Deirdre, but this ended in Deirdre slapping Denise in front of a packed Rovers. Following the confrontation between Deirdre and Denise at the pub, Deirdre visited Ken and apologised for her behaviour and begged him to come home, but was unsuccessful. Ken and Denise grew closer during his continued separation from Deirdre. Convinced that Ken wanted to resume their relationship and needing help with Daniel, Denise made a clumsy pass at him but Ken made it clear that he wasn't interested before returning to Deirdre.

Newspaper The Chorley Citizen said Denise was best remembered as "Ken's bit on the side".^[2]

Fiona Middleton

Fiona Joy Middleton was played by Angela Griffin and appeared for a period of six years between 1992 and 1998.

She was a hairdresser and later manager at Denise Osbourne's salon. She also had a brief singing career. Fiona was the first major black character on the soap since Lisa Lewis's character, Shirley Armitage, left in 1989.

Fiona's best friend was Maxine Heavey. Fiona dated Steve McDonald, and had a fling with Steve's father Jim, which was revealed on Fiona's wedding day to Alan McKenna and he jilted her at the altar as a result as there was some concern about the paternity of the baby Fiona was expecting. She also briefly dated Tony Horrocks. Steve and Fiona reconciled to help her raise her and Alan's son, Morgan, but he cheated on her with Maxine. Fiona threw Steve out and ended their relationship before she and Morgan left Weatherfield in September 1998 but made peace with Maxine before she left.

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