Mel Morton
| Mel Morton | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronation Street character | |||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Emma Edmondson | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2007–2008 | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 18 March 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 3 October 2008 | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Jonathan Harvey | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Steve Frost | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Melanie 'Mel' Morton is a fictional character from the British soap opera Coronation Street, played by Emma Edmondson. She made her first appearance as Mel during the episode broadcast on 18 March 2007. She remained until her departure on 3 October 2008.
Casting
Actress Emma Edmondson received confirmation to attend the initial auditions for the character in late 2006.[1] It was the first time she had auditioned for a role in Coronation Street and believed she would be unsuccessful. She continued to be invited back to each stage of the audition process. She met Jonathan Dixon, who plays Mel's brother, Darryl Morton at each audition.[1] Casting directors were auditioning hopefuls in sets of twins, but Edmondson and Dixon were not partnered until the final stage of auditioning, which was a screen-test scenario. Edmondson told Kris Green from Digital Spy that "it seemed too surreal" to believe they would be cast in such a show, but then it happened. Dixon added they were "quite lucky" to be paired together, with Edmondson stating that their likeness as twins was "weird" and "frightening".[1] Edmondson was twenty-two when she was cast in the role and it was her first prominent role. She added "this is my big break, really, so very excited."[1] Edmondson made her first appearance as Mel during the episode broadcast on 18 March 2007.[2]
Development
A writer from ITV.com described Mel as the more responsible member of her roguish family, adding she is "gobby", "serious-minded" and "the sensible twin".[2] Edmondson told Digital Spy's Green that Mel would be portrayed as a single, eighteen year old woman upon her introduction.[1] She stated that "Mel is definitely a Morton in that she's brash and gobby, but out of the whole clan she's the most sensible."[1] Mel is characterised as "quite intelligent" and wants a professional career. She helps her father, Jerry Morton (Michael Starke) out at his kebab shop.[1] This depicts her as "family oriented", but she still focuses on building a career. Edmondson added "she wants to have her own life" away from the Mortons because "she'd like to use her brain a bit more" than being a kebab shop worker.[1]
Edmondson believed that writers portrayed Mel and Darryl with contrasting personas. She explained that Mel is "definitely more sensible" compared to Darryl. They are "very close, but very different" and Darryl "brings out" Mel's "bad side". They have the closest relationship out of the Morton family, but do "fight a bit".[1] Edmondson described the Morton family as "brash" and believed it would be "a running theme" during their duration in the show. Writers gave Mel "a calmer relationship" with the other Morton characters.[1] When they are introduced into the series, the Mortons are without a mother role and Edmondson revealed that she abandoned the family.[1]
Writers created an issue based storyline for Mel involving girl gang violence. It explores Mel and her police officer colleague, Abi Sharpe (Rachael Elizabeth) attempting to stop a fight between a gang of girls. The intervention results in a violent attack happening on Mel and Abi.[3] A writer from the Daily Mirror reported that the scenes would be broadcast in September 2008. A Coronation Street publicist told them that "girl violence is a modern-day issue."[3]
On 26 April 2008, it was announced that new producer Kim Crowther had decided to write out seven characters from the series. Crowther's choices included the entire remaining Morton family, including Mel. Crowther described them as "talented actors" and noted "we still have some interesting storylines to play with these characters."[4]
Storylines
Mel arrives with her father, Jerry and her siblings Darryl, Kayleigh Morton (Jessica Barden) and Finlay Bryant (Ramone Quinn). David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd) develops a crush on Mel, but she stood him up. He retaliates by lying that they have had sex but his mother, Gail Platt (Helen Worth) forces him to apologise. Mel applies to join the police force, and joins her friend Abi in training to become a full-time Police Constable. Her grandfather, Wilf Morton (Rodney Litchfield) writes a false obituary about himself and has it published in the local newspaper, believing that Mel's chances of joining the police force. He does so because of his known former dodgy dealings. Mel argues with her mother, Teresa Bryant (Karen Henthorn) when she arrives in Weatherfield. Mel goes on holiday and when she returns she discovers that Teresa has been lying to lengthen her stay in the Morton house. Mel asks Jerry to choose between herself and Teresa. Mel moves in with Abi when Jerry choses Teresa.
Mel and Abi go on a night out to celebrate the end of their police training. Outside a bar venue, they witness a gang of girls fighting in the street. Abi calls the police and asks Mel to not get involved as they are both off duty, but she intervenes. Mel is punched and kicked by the girls and Abi attempts to break up the fight. She is assaulted with a glass bottle to the head and they further attack Abi by stamping on her head. The attackers are not charged with assault due to lack of evidence. Mel tries to get revenge on the girls but instead is confronted by Teresa and they reconcile. Teresa locates one of the attackers and follows her into the toilets and hits her over the head with a shoe.
Teresa and Mel argue again Mel discovers Teresa's schemes and arrests Teresa for attempted murder. Jerry refuses to collaborate Mel's story and Teresa is released without charge. This damages Mel's reputation with her fellow police colleagues. Jerry, Kayleigh and Finlay leave Weatherfield to live in Spain. Mel choses not to leave because she had only just become a qualified police officer. Mel is upset when Darryl bringing a drunken Teresa back to the house. Mel decides to leave Weatherfield and go and live with Abi permanently.
Reception
Ian Wylie of Manchester Evening News said that he was not surprised that the Morton family were written out because they "failed to fit the Weatherfield jigsaw." He thought that Mel, Jerry and Darryl's departures were "a shame" because he had began to like the characters.[5] A writer from ITV.com described Mel's most memorable scenes included Wilf writing his own false obituary to improve Mel's chances of becoming a police officer and the girl-gang attack plot.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Green, Kris (17 March 2007). "Jonathan Dixon and Emma Edmondson". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ a b c "Mel Morton". ITV.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2008.
- ^ a b "Coronation Street set to shock with violent girl gang storyline". Daily Mirror. 30 July 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Hilton, Beth (17 March 2007). "Jonathan Dixon and Emma Edmondson". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "The Life of Wylie: Coronation Street: Seven Stars Axed". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009.