List of Coronation Street characters introduced in 1997
Sally takes revenge for Kevin's affair with Natalie Horrocks (Denise Welch) by seducing Chris.She first appeared as a nurse taking care of Alma Baldwin (Amanda Barrie) following a car accident after being kidnapped by Don Brennan (Geoff Hinsliff).In June 2000, Carol told Martin that his mistress Rebecca Hopkins (Jill Halfpenny) was leaving for Dubai.He asked Carol where she was, and he headed to the airport and tried to make her stay, but Rebecca told him she did not want to split up his family, and left him.Jane Danson and Georgia Taylor auditioned for the role of Zoe, before being cast as the Battersby sisters, Leanne and Toyah.Liam causes trouble and one day Gary (Ian Mercer) throws the teenager out but he decides to blackmail the Malletts, threatening to go to the police.Gary fraudulently signs the birth certificate as the father and Judy settles into new motherhood with Zoe resentfully looking on in the background.It emerges that Jon has stolen the identity of his friend Captain Ian Jenkins (Stephen Chapman) and still lives with his wife and children.He killed Tony Horrocks (Lee Warburton) and Des Barnes (Philip Middlemiss), and supplies cocaine to Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson), who quickly becomes an addict.Jez has Steve trapped in an underground car park and beaten up by a gang of thugs, resulting in him being left for dead, with serious injuries.Jez later dies in hospital of his injuries, after collapsing on top of Steve whilst making a second attempt to kill him, as he lies in the next bed.Leanne's storylines include numerous affairs, prostitution, drug-abuse, insurance fraud, discovering her biological mother was Stella Price (Michelle Collins), a miscarriage, an abortion, and a custody battle for her step-son, Simon.She later married Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) in the show's live 50th anniversary episode, but later split from him, after his affair with Carla Connor (Alison King) was exposed.The character and her family were created and introduced by executive producer Brian Park in a bid to increase falling ratings.[1] Charlie Catchpole from the Daily Mirror's commented that Toyah went "from lumpy, sulky schoolgirl to confident, radiant young woman" during her time in the show.Zoe fell pregnant by her ex-boyfriend; she did not want to be a mother and was planning to have the pregnancy terminated, but Judy Mallett (Gaynor Faye) - who was unable to have children - convinced her not to.Geoffrey "Spider" Nugent, played by Martin Hancock, made his first screen appearance on 15 December 1997 and originally departed on 5 February 2003.[6] Of his return, Hancock stated: "Having the opportunity to walk back onto the cobbles is fabulous, I'm so excited to be seeing a lot of old friends and picking up what Spider has been up to.Spider also falls in love with Toyah and they eventually become a couple after pitching a tent on the Red Rec to watch the 1999 eclipse.In September, it is later revealed that Spider had been married and is working as an undercover police officer, and he subsequently resumes his relationship with Toyah.Though working on a different case, he is blackmailed by fellow police officer DS Swain to get more information from Toyah, who later confesses to him that she deliberately caused the crash after learning that Imran had been having an affair with their neighbour Abi and had a child with her.In November 2022, Spider was present when Griff's gang attacked a man named Daryan Zahawi, but could do nothing to help him in order to avoid exposing his undercover role.