Coronation Street’s Toyah Battersby lashes out as stillborn baby from rape ordeal is found
Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) will be forced to re-live a devastating ordeal from her past in Coronation Street next week when the remains of her stillborn baby are unearthed.
The storyline, which received a strong reaction from fans of the ITV soap upon its confirmation, will kick off on Monday (April 22) as Toyah stumbles upon two internet sleuths digging up an area of a nearby park.
The long-serving character is out looking for Freddie, Roy Cropper’s (David Neilson) beloved pet dog, at the time of the discovery.
Freddie was out on a walk with Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan) earlier that morning but he subsequently vanishes, with a number of the cobbles finest swooping into action to spare Roy – who is in jail for the murder of missing Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) – any more pain.
While checking out the park, Toyah spots two people digging up a rose bed. The so-called internet sleuths claim that they saw Freddie sniffing and digging around the area in question and thus have come to suspect that it’s where Roy disposed of Lauren’s body.
Appalled by their actions – not to mention their wild theories – Toyah sees red and picks up a shovel, making a beeline for their car, as she smashes the windows in broad daylight, leaving the two sleuths in shock as they film her outburst on their phone.
Overwhelmed with grief, Toyah bursts into years, with Nick Tilsley (Ben Price) arriving just in time to convince her to put down the shovel and come home with him.
Nick probes Toyah with questions about what led to her smashing the car. Toyah, however, turns her attention to Sam, railing at the schoolboy for losing sight of Freddie in the first place – and soon she’s forced to answer some serious questions when the police arrive.
After being quizzed by the authorities, Toyah calls into the flower shop and purchases a single yellow rose. Joel Deering (Callum Lill) asks who it’s for and Toyah claims it’s a gift for Leanne (Jane Danson).
But is this the case?
The two siblings are at each other’s throats during the week in question, particularly in regards to Leanne being drawn into the teachings of Rowan (Emrhys Cooper), who Toyah remains sceptical about.
Nick, tries to broker peace between the sisters to no avail, with Leanne later left puzzled when Joel asks her if she was a fan of the flower Toyah got for her the day before.
When quizzed on the matter, Toyah claims she binned the flower.
Nick knows there’s more going on than meets the eye and once again questions Toyah’s motives in smashing up the car, with Toyah adamant that she was simply defending Roy’s honour and that it hurt her to see the sleuths desecrating such a ‘special place’.
Her choice of words, however, leave Nick puzzled.
In emotional scenes, Toyah opens up, revealing that when she was 19 years of age, she gave birth to a stillborn baby girl, which she kept a secret from everyone until now.
After giving birth, she buried the baby in the park – in the exact spot where the sleuths were digging on the previous day. After taking a deep breath, Toyah reveals that the father was rapist Phil Simmonds.
Simon Barlow (Alex Bain), meanwhile, returns home and, oblivious as to what’s going on, he confirms that the police are digging up the park in question, with Bobby Crawford (Jack Carroll) believing that they’ve found a body.
