What now for Leanne?

(This post was originally posted by Ruth Owen on the Coronation Street Blog in October 2015.)

Leanne, played by the brilliant Jane Danson, has had a very rough time of late. The Nazirs had just begun to accept her into their family, when Kal died a horrific death in the fire at Carla’s flat. Grieving for the man she loved and the life they might have had together, before fate jumped out at them and prevented it, Simon decides to add to her troubles and behaves extremely badly, resulting in a stay in hospital.

In addition to all that, let’s not forget Dastardly Dan and his threats to tell Simon that his mum had been a prostitute, which, the despicable man actually  carried out. Viewers will remember that Dan had become violent towards Leanne during their ‘encounter’ in her previous life and he was terrified that Leanne would warn Liz about his propensity towards violence. Dan seemed keen on Liz and did not want Leanne to wreck what Dan had going with her.  But Leanne had to tell Liz - she had no choice. It would have been a dereliction of duty if Leanne had not warned her that she was potentially putting herself in danger, by carrying on seeing Dan. Liz might be tough, but she would be no match, physically, for Dan. It wasn’t long before Liz saw for herself exactly what an unsavoury individual Dan was.

 Alya and Leanne were  friendly before Kal’s untimely death and even Zeedan, who had been dead set against their relationship, was beginning to thaw. I feel confident in claiming that the thaw would have continued, even if Kal had not died. Zeedan could see Leanne’s worth. Now of course, Zeedan has been very good to Leanne. In particular he has supported her in her difficulties with Simon. What a heartwarming moment and excellent script idea it was to have Zeedan turn up at Leanne’s with his sleeping bag, to ensure Leanne’s safety and to send a warning shot to Simon.

What I really hope the writers don’t do, is bring on a new man for Leanne in the next few months. There is nothing wrong with being single, even if,  like Leanne, you are an attractive, woman in her mid-thirties.  After such a tragedy, it would be best to give her a break from men, let her concentrate on her work, her friends and on Simon of course, once he returns from his dad’s.

 As for Peter, he really does need to step up. He has a child. It is not acceptable to abdicate responsibility of the day to day bringing up of a boy, who has seen far too much trouble and trauma in his young life. Sadly, Peter has always put Peter first. It may well be the case that if Peter had done right by Simon, in sticking around, the abuse inflicted by Simon on Leanne, would never have happened. Of course, this is speculation.  Zeedan has been more of a support to Leanne, young as he is, than Peter has.

Ken isn't getting any younger, thats true, but perhaps he could do more with and for Simon. He could take an interest in what Simon is doing at school and work with him. He could perhaps try to inspire him with his love of literature, leaving alone for now the Russian greats and perhaps starting off with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

For Leanne, I would like to see her enjoying friendships, meeting up with other men and women her own age, taking up something outside of work that she finds enjoyable and doing what she wants to do, not always doing what she ought to do.

After a difficult start, Leanne and Eva have become close. As sisters, they work for me and they both need some fun. Just to repeat, it is possible to have fun without bringing new men into their lives. Let’s see more interaction between them.

Loud and long has been the cry to have Toyah return to the cobbles. Now what a treat that would be! Add in Janice?   Perhaps,  that’s just too much to hope for.

Ruth Owen


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