Tommy Duckworth

Tommy Duckworth
Coronation Street character
Chris Fountain as Tommy Duckworth (2011)
Portrayed by	Darryl Edwards (1992-97) Joseph Aston (2000) Chris Fountain (2011—)
Duration	1992–93, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2011—
First appearance	9 September 1992
Classification	Present; regular
Introduced by	Carolyn Reynolds (1992) Sue Pritchard (1994, 1995) Brian Park (1996, 1997) Jane MacNaught (2000) Phil Collinson (2011)
In-universe information Occupation Trainee Machanic (2011-2012), Security guard (2012), Pizza delivery man (2012) Father Terry Duckworth Mother Lisa Duckworth Half-brothers Paul Clayton Brad Armstrong Grandfathers Jack Duckworth Geoff Horton Grandmothers Vera Duckworth Doreen Horton

Thomas "Tommy" Duckworth is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Coronation Street, played by Chris Fountain. The character was born on screen during the episode airing on 9 September 1992 and departed in December 1993, before returning for five short stints in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2000. The character returned on a more permanent basis on 28 March 2011. Tommy is the son of Terry (Nigel Pivaro) and Lisa Duckworth (Caroline Milmoe). Since his first appearance in 1992, he had few storylines; but after his return in 2011, he became more of a central character. He was played by Darryl Edwards from 1992 to 1997 and by Joseph Aston in 2000. He returned in 2011, now played by Fountain.

Storylines

1992–2000

Tommy is born on 9 September 1992 by caesarean section while his father, Terry, is serving a sentence in Strangeways Prison for grievous bodily harm. After living briefly at 9 Coronation Street, Tommy and his mother, Lisa, move back to her parents' house in Blackpool. Lisa and Tommy come back to the Street in January 1993 to live with her lover, Des Barnes (Philip Middlemiss). Lisa is run over and killed by a car outside The Rovers Return on 12 February 1993.

Tommy's paternal grandparents, Jack (William Tarmey) and Vera Duckworth (Liz Dawn) take in their grandson. Although they love having him around, they find it both a physical and financial struggle, as Vera gave up her job to look after the baby. At one point, she starts stealing from Bettabuys just to put food on the table, but she looks forward to the end of the year, when Terry would be released, imagining them all rebuilding their lives as one family. However, Terry has no intentions of being a proper father and instead senses an opportunity to make some money and makes an arrangement where Lisa's parents, who don't want the Duckworths raising their grandson, would pay him a fixed sum every year in return for custody. The handover is conducted on Christmas Eve, and Terry is ready to make a quick departure. However, he is forced to explain the sale to Jack and Vera by Lisa's father Geoff, who doesn't want to be accused of kidnapping. Terry comes clean to his parents, who are horrified by his actions; and Jack doesn't buy Terry's excuse that he'd done it to help his parents. Jack disowns Terry and punches him to the ground. Terry and Geoff make a hasty exit, leaving the Duckworths (especially Vera) heartbroken. The Hortons immediately go on an extended holiday, and the Duckworths are forced to accept they wouldn't get Tommy back to live with them. However, their financial burden is lifted, and Vera is able to return to work. After Jack and Vera re-establish contact with the Hortons, Tommy saw his grandparents on a semi-regular basis for most of his young life.

In June 1996, Terry appears back on the Street with Tommy. The Hortons have failed to pay the £2,000 a year they had agreed to pay Terry for Tommy. Eventually the Hortons retrieve him by paying £10,000, and getting Terry to sign a document giving them total custody of Tommy until he is 18. Upset that Terry had sold his grandson yet again, Vera tore up all her photos of him and excluded him from her will while Jack completely disavowed his son's existence.

2011—

Tommy arrives back to the street on 28 March 2011, having been travelling after disagreements with the Hortons and not knowing of Jack's recent death. He became fast friends with Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) who agreed to take him in as a lodger and employs him at the garage. Tommy then soon establishes himself as a ladies' man and instantly begins flirting with Sophie Webster (Brooke Vincent), Sian Powers (Sacha Parkinson) and Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan). He later has a row with Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) over flirting with Sophie and again tries to flirt with Sian, things end badly, however, and Sophie confronts Tommy about trying to steal her girlfriend.

In April 2011, Tommy places a bet with Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) and Tyrone, that he could have a fling with Sian, so he offers to teach her to drive and attempts to kiss her but she refuses and gets out the car, returns home and tells Sophie. The next day, Sophie goes over to Tommy and demands to know why he tried to kiss Sian when he knew she was a lesbian, he tells her he made a bet with Jason. Sophie's sister Rosie (Helen Flanagan) hears this and demands answers from Jason, who attempts to tell her it was a bet but she dumps him. Rosie, in an attempt to show Tommy's true colours, seduces him and tells him to undress and wait for her, in the meantime she contacted Jason who arrived and caught Tommy in his boxer shorts, following this Tommy is forced to roam the streets in his underwear - despite this, himself and Jason remain friends. Eventually, following Rosie and Jason's reconciliation, Tommy gets himself back in the Websters' good books when he rescues Kevin from an accident at the garage, in which he is crushed underneath a car (Tyrone had damaged the car ramp that Kevin was using at the time).

Tommy meets Amber Kalirai in July 2011 and begins to flirt with her, but after catching him making a move on Tina, she dumps him, while he denies that they were even together. When Dr. Matt Carter began dating Tina in August 2011, a jealous Tommy began trying to split them up to no avail. When Tina dumped Dr Carter after coming to the conclusion he is embarrassed at her job as a barmaid, Tina and Tommy grow closer.

In February 2012, Stella Price begins to notice how Tommy acts around Tina, so Stella tells Tina how Tommy feels but neither of them want to talk about their feelings to one another.

On Monday 20th, February Tommy thinks there's no chance of him and Tina becoming any more than friends. During that episode a woman goes to the workshop and flirts with Tommy. As Tina goes to talk to Tommy about their feelings and to become more than friends, Tommy kisses the woman and Tina sees them kiss. Tommy says hello but Tina is broken-hearted.

On 5th April 2012 Tommy's grandfather, Geoff Horton, passes away. On 6th April 2012 after much persuasion from Tyrone, Tommy is adamant that he is not going to the funeral, because he feels ashamed that he didn't really talk to his grandfather. Later that day, Tina also persuades Tommy, and subsequently he goes. At night, Tommy realises that he is in love with Tina, and vice versa. Thus they both find each other in the street where Tommy admits his feelings to her. She looks at him for a few seconds and then kisses him. They go back to the flat together and have sex. On the sofa, Tina says she has no regrets. However, Tommy does have one, that it's taken them this long. Tina says her dad would have liked Tommy and Tommy says the same but with his grandfather. On 9th April 2012, Tommy tells Tina that he wants to take her on a round-the-world trip, with the money he received from his grandfather's will. She lets him down gently, saying that she doesn't want him wasting his money on her. Tommy's father, Terry, returned to the street earlier this year, but only for a short amount of time. Tommy's reunion with his dad wasn't a pleasant one -- Terry punched Tommy and neither of them recognised each other; it was Tyrone who told him that the man who had just punched him was his dad. Terry owed Rick some money, so Tommy offered to help out, only getting himself caught in a whole new web of dilemmas. In order to pay of his debts Tommy takes on extra jobs, he is so tired from working he crashes his van and breaks his leg. He had to pay for the van he crashed which landed him and Tina in more debt. Tina decides to be a surrogate mother for neighbors Gary and Izzy, with Izzy's father Owen paying Tina £15000. Tommy takes this decision very hard and after Tina becomes pregnant he decides he cant support her resulting in them ending their relationship.

Creation and development

Casting

On 26 November 2010 it was announced that former Hollyoaks actor Chris Fountain would be taking over the role of Tommy. Speaking of his casting Fountain said "I'm delighted to be joining Coronation Street, especially as I'm playing a Duckworth. I'm looking forward to upholding one of the most celebrated names in soap. I can't wait to start filming in the New Year."

Speaking of the casting producer Phil Collinson said "I have long admired Chris, right back to his first appearance on our screens as a young boy in Red Production Company's Bob and Rose. He has the perfect balance of looks and charm and will, I am sure, create a brilliant successor to Jack. The ladies of Weatherfield had better watch out!"

Asked when the role came about Fountain said : "I think it was around September last year, when I had a call from my agent saying that she'd spoken to Coronation Street's producer Phil Collinson and that he was interested in seeing me about a part. I didn't hear anything else for a couple of months after that and I was also up for a few other parts. My agent later spoke to Phil again and he was asking what I was up to, so she told him about the roles that I was up for and how I was quite close to getting them. Phil told her that he definitely wanted to see me over this part and that he'd get me up to the set straight away.

Personality and characterisation

Speaking of how Tommy was described to him Fountain said : "They described him as a cheeky chappy with a bit of swagger about him and also an eye for the ladies - and that for me was a selling point, really! I didn't get a full character breakdown until a couple of days before I started, so I learned later that he'd been busy travelling around the world and he's a bit of a free spirit. He's one of those loveable characters who can say something that's out of order but people still like him, just because he's Tommy. He's got a kind of charisma that borders on arrogance but doesn't quite cross over to that - he's quite a charming guy."

Asked whether he watch any of Tommy's previous scenes, Fountain said: "I didn't, but it's funny because I actually know Joseph Aston, who played Tommy when he was younger - that was quite strange, it's a small world! But I don't think Tommy was that much of a character when he was younger and he definitely didn't have any of the traits or personality that he has now - he's grown up in Blackpool, been away travelling, evolved as a person and evolved as a character. So I don't think it would have really been beneficial for me to look back, but I did look into some of the history with him and his dad and what happened there."

Speaking to The Mirror, Fountain said: "To come in as a Duckworth - one of the most recognised and celebrated names in soap, was quite daunting. Jack and Vera's are big shoes to fill and I'm just hoping I can prove to people that Tommy has that Duckworth charm and wit and gain viewers' respect." Discussing the spray tan that he has to wear for the role, Fountain confessed that he is not a fan of the beauty application. "I don't like them much," he said. "My toes look like someone's been rubbing Marmite on them at the moment - it's not the greatest look!"

Speaking of whether or not he would like Terry (Duckworth) to return, Fountain said: "Yeah, if Terry came back, I think it would cause fireworks between a lot of the characters. It would be nice to see how that would pan out, because obviously Tommy is completely different to Terry - he hasn't got so much of a temper and I don't think he's a nasty person. It would definitely be quite interesting to see what happened if Terry came back."

Reception

Chris Fountain was nominated at British Soap Awards 2011 for Sexiest Male speaking of the nomination Fountain said: "I'm absolutely thrilled to bits - I've not even been on screen yet, so it's quite flattering to be up for Sexiest Male. It's great. A few people have asked me whether it would be quite an embarrassing award to win, but considering I haven't even been on screen yet, I'd take anything! (laughs) If it was Best Haircut, I'd take that as well!"

External links

• Tommy Duckworth at itv.com