Strange things have happened in Coronation Street. But Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard) trying to make amends for his selfish actions? Way too far-fetched.
This is a man who had a torrid affair with his own brother Kevin Webster’s (Michael Le Vell) wife Abi (Sally Carman-Duttine) only to immediately do the dirty on her with James Bailey (Jason Callender).
Not only that, but he was responsible for the hit-and-run that left Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) in a wheelchair. Worst of all, he got staggeringly drunk and caused the Corriedale crash…then slid Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) into the driving seat to take the blame!
You’d have better chance of ordering a vegan hotpot in the Rovers than you would finding a nice thing to say about Carl.
Infuriatingly, Debbie is Carl’s biggest defender. Even though he’s been taking advantage of her dementia to get his grubby mitts on her business bank accounts, Deb won’t hear a word against him.
Even though she’s noticed her seat belt bruise from the crash seems to indicate that she was sitting in the passenger seat and not the driver’s seat, Debbie is unflappably loyal to her brother – because Carl is not Debbie’s brother at all. As Corrie viewers recently discovered, Debbie is sitting on a gigantic secret that will change everything – Carl is her secret son.
This explains Debbie’s unflappable loyalty to Carl, and why she was willing to plead guilty to dangerous driving under the influence and take the fall for causing Billy Mayhew’s (Daniel Brocklebank) death – even if it means being branded a murderer by his grieving foster-daughter Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby).
Despite pleading from family and friends, Debbie is prepared to prison for Carl and Carl, in classic selfish form, is willing to let her.
All that is about to change. Upcoming episodes will see the worst Webster develop something dangerously close to a conscience…
Preparing for the worst, Debbie is getting her affairs in order and tells Ryan Connor (Ryan Prescott) that she’d like him to run the hotel while she’s in prison. This won’t go down well with conniving Carl…
Sure enough, the man himself finds Debbie having lunch with Kevin, Abi, Tyrone, Sally and Tim Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor and Joe Duttine) and fumes to discover that Ryan will be running the show while Debbie is inside. Furious, Carl accuses Debbie of stabbing him in the back and undermining him by putting Ryan in charge.
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But later in the flat, Debbie opens up to Carl and drops a bombshell that leaves him floored. What did Debbie say? Will she finally reveal that she is his mother?
Still reeling, Carl overhears a tearful Summer lamenting to Nina Lucas (Mollie Gallagher) how much she misses Billy and if Debbie hadn’t been driving over the limit, he’d still be alive.
Carl is consumed with guilt. This guilt is only compounded when Debbie’s doting husband Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan) worries to Carl that if they send Debbie to prison, it will speed up her dementia. During a rare moment of humanity, Carl resolves to put things right.
But is it too little, too late?
Corrie producer, Kate Brooks, recently dropped some hints about some huge developments in Debbie’s story in 2026 and how Carl’s lie will shape it.
‘The drama that unfolded in Corriedale has put Debbie in a very precarious situation. She’s determined to take the rap for Carl. She’s confused at this point and she doesn’t really know what happened.
‘We assume that she genuinely doesn’t know that Carl has interfered and swapped places with her at this point so she’s really struggling with that. She’s like, ‘I’m going to face the punishment and do what I can do, hold my hand up and say I’m responsible for this.’
‘As we chart that journey for Debbie it’s going to be really interesting watching how she deals with everything and how she’s meant to be happily married and she’s meant to be on her honeymoon and everything’s been derailed, and how she deals with that is going to be a real test of character for her.
‘Dementia aside, this is about Debbie dealing with the here and now and facing the wrath of a lot of the community, who previously to this thought Debbie was the bees knees and the best thing since sliced bread but she’s now apparently culpable for Billy’s death.
‘That’s a massive thing for Debbie to have to overcome, because the thing about her is she’s one of the most big-hearted characters in the whole street. To deal with that as well is another real challenge for Debbie. But we love Debbie and we’ll continue to love Debbie because she’s wonderful.’
