List of Coronation Street characters introduced in 2000

Debs Brownlow is the hairdresser sister of Natalie Barnes (Denise Welch) who first appears in The Rovers Return after working on a cruise ship for a number of years. She soon begins a relationship with resident Duggie Ferguson (John Bowe), despite his hesitation due to the memory of his dead wife Laura. Debs supports Natalie when the body of her murdered son Tony Horrocks (Lee Warburton) is discovered, and subsequently in August 2000 when gangster Jez Quigley (Lee Boardman) stands trial for the killing. Debs soon tires of Duggie's reluctance to have sex with her and has a one-night stand with Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) in April 2000. Debs reunites with Duggie and they consummate their union. In October 2000, Duggie moves into No. 6 with her but she soon tires of him prioritising work over her and she orders him out. When Debs shares her relationship woes with Natalie's boyfriend Vinny Sorrell (James Gaddas) over a bottle of wine they sleep together. Duggie catches them in the act and tells a devastated Natalie. She throws Debs out of No. 6 and she subsequently leaves Weatherfield with new lover Vinny, returning to her old work on the cruise ship. ==Dennis Stringer==

Dennis Stringer was played by Charles Dale. Dennis is introduced in February 2000 and develops from a biker close friend of Les Battersby (Bruce Jones) into the partner of Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) later in 2000. In late 2001 Dennis and Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle) form an affair and leave their respective partners to live together. Following this, Les attempts suicide by getting drunk and gassing himself in his car on 1 January (New Year's Day) 2002. Dennis tracks him down and prevents the suicide, but while driving Les to hospital, crashes head on into another car. Les suffers minor injuries but Dennis is badly injured and dies in hospital shortly afterwards. Janice's daughter Toyah (Georgia Taylor) and Les both give readings at his funeral. ==Geena Gregory==

Geena Gregory is played by Jennifer James. Suranne Jones, who would later be cast as Karen McDonald, also auditioned for the role, though had a suspicion she would lose to James after seeing her at the audition. Geena arrives when friend Vinny Sorrell (James Gaddas) needs help in the Rovers Return. She is well qualified for the job and her good looks and cheeky banter make her popular with the customers. She is made maid of honour at friend Linda Sykes' (Jacqueline Pirie) wedding to Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs), and although she knows about her affair with Mike's son Mark Redman (Paul Fox), Geena remained loyal to Linda and said nothing. Geena has a complicated love life. Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) proposes to her but her mother, Gill, is determined to put a stop to it and set him up with Karen. Her plan fails, but Geena breaks off their engagement when she discovers he cheated on her with his employee Deirdre Rachid (Anne Kirkbride). She is soon seduced by handsome former prison convict, Joe Carter (Jonathan Wrather), and the two enjoy a fun relationship until a jealous Dev goads Joe into beating him up. Joe is scared of going back to prison and admits he loves Geena. By this time, she has completely fallen in love with him and agrees to talk to Dev. Dev tells Joe that if he is to end his relationship with Geena publicly, he would drop the assault charges against him. Joe does so and Geena is left shattered and humiliated by two men who claimed to love her. She flees the street after saying her goodbyes to her friend, Shelley Unwin (Sally Lindsay). ==Marion Stowe==

Marion Stowe, portrayed by Paula Simms, is the mother of Candice Stowe (Nikki Sanderson), who usually led her best mate Sarah-Louise Platt (Tina O'Brien) astray. Oblivious to Candice's bad behavior, Marion disapproved of Sarah, especially when she discovered the young girl was expecting a baby at the age of just thirteen. She demanded Sarah to stay away from her daughter, causing Sarah's mother Gail (Helen Worth) to angrily turn up on her doorstep and give her a piece of her mind before the door was slammed in her face. Five months later, Marion gate crashed Sarah's daughter Bethany's (Amy and Emily Walton) christening party as she was furious with her daughter for going to such a "charade" when she had forbidden her to go. She insulted the party guests, Sarah, and vicar Jessica Lundy (Olwen May), who also gave her a piece of her mind. She physically dragged Candice from the house, and had a row with Gail and Sarah's adoptive father Martin Platt (Sean Wilson) outside the front yard. Almost a year later, Marion turned up at the Platt house again and dragged Candice away as she didn't want her to go on a camping trip with the family, afraid that her daughter might also end up pregnant as Candice's then boyfriend Todd Grimshaw (Bruno Langley) was also tagging along. In the winter of 2001, Candice's troublecausing was finally revealed when Gail found expensive shopping in Sarah's bedroom, and Sarah told her the items belonged to Candice. Candice tried to put the blame on Sarah until Sarah revealed that Candice had gotten an evening job in a factory, which is how she got the clothes in the first place, and that Candice had convinced Sarah into letting her copy her homework. Marion finally realized the extent of her daughter's bad behavior, and angrily had a row with her and dragged her out of the Platt house. In late August 2003, Marion showed selfishness when she began dating Gerry Burton (Mark Chatterton), and didn't believe her daughter's claims that Gerry was sexually harassing her. This caused Candice to sleep in the flat above Audrey Roberts' (Sue Nicholls) hair salon, and Audrey took pity on her when she discovered the girl's problems. Marion tried to get her daughter to come home, but when Candice refused, it was very clear that Marion would choose her boyfriend over her daughter when she gave Candice a bag of her belongings. Audrey sent Marion away with a flea in her ear, and Candice and her mother never made up since then. Whenever Candice would mention her mother, it was very clear she used to have a good relationship with her. However, Marion would always give Sarah negative comments, such as telling her it was "bad luck" to buy things before the baby was born, and also making Sarah emotionally offended when Candice mentioned to Sarah she wasn't allowed to bring boys up to her bedroom any more. Marion was referred to as just "Mrs. Stowe" in end credits, but on her last appearance, her full name was credited. ==Bobbi Lewis==

Bobbi Lewis was played by Naomi Ryan. She is employed as a machinist at Mike Baldwin's (Johnny Briggs) Underworld factory. In 2002 the character was axed by producer Kieran Roberts as part of a drive to revitalise the show, as it was being regularly beaten in the ratings by rival soap EastEnders at the time. Bobbi starts work at Underworld in March 2000 when she takes over Linda Sykes' (Jacqueline Pirie) machine. She has an initially turbulent start when Linda sacks her for producing substandard work but is soon reinstated by Mike. She moves to the Street when she rents the salon flat with barmaid Geena Gregory (Jennifer James). In October 2000, Bobbi is furious to discover that sales rep Harvey Reuban (Andrew Scarborough) has been dating her and Karen McDonald (Suranne Jones) at the same time. When the two women confront Harvey he smugly shrugs them both off. After they discover that he has a fiancée, they are determined to get revenge. A shameless Harvey turns on the charm to Bobbi, promising her he thinks she's special, also doing the same with Karen. They both play along but know the score. With the help of the other Underworld girls they organise a farewell party for him, where they get Harvey drunk and phone Saskia (Nikki Landowski), his fiancée, to pick him up. They graffiti his car, pour baked beans over him, sew the words "Slime Ball" on to the back of his suit jacket and tell his fiancée all about his womanising. Karen and boyfriend Vikram Desai (Chris Bisson) set Bobbi up on a date with Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson), but it does not lead to anything further. After Karen and Vikram break up, Bobbi starts going out with Vikram in March 2001. After playing hard to get for a couple of months, Bobbi eventually sleeps with Vikram and they begin a serious relationship. In early 2002, Vikram cheats on Bobbi with Hazel Wilding (Kazia Pelka). Having fallen in love with Hazel, Vikram soon dumps Bobbi but she takes revenge by filing a false complaint against Vikram's taxi business, StreetCars for sexual harassment. With the business facing possible closure, and with employees' livelihoods on the line, Bobbi realises that her scheme has backfired. She subsequently withdraws her allegations and leaves Weatherfield in shame. ==Emma Taylor==

Emma Taylor (formerly Watts) is played by Angela Lonsdale, and first appears on 10 April 2000. At the beginning she is credited as Sgt Emma Taylor. She is a police officer who helps solve the case when corrupt DC Simon Cavanagh is stalking Colette Graham and Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy). On 12 October 2000, the police, including Emma, surround the Freshco's supermarket as a siege develops inside. When they eventually burst in, Emma shoots the main gunman, Dean Sykes (Ciarán Griffiths)—who dies in an ambulance on the way to hospital. Due to her licence to kill, a trial is not undertaken. Dean had in fact fired a shot and Emma had responded. Curly takes her out for a night on the beach and later asks her out to dinner. Curly proposes to Emma on a bateau mouche in Paris and they marry on 24 December (Christmas Eve) 2000. Their honeymoon to New York is delayed because Curly's daughter, Alice, cannot return to his ex-wife Raquel (Sarah Lancashire) when planned. Emma becomes pregnant shortly after their marriage and gives birth to their son Ben on 26 December (Boxing Day) 2001. Emma later gets involved in a feud between one of her colleagues, Mick Hopwood (Ian Gain), and Les Battersby (Bruce Jones). Mick had been dating Les's wife Janice (Vicky Entwistle). Les is very jealous and they spend a lot of time winding each other up. Things escalate one night when Mick and Emma stop Les in his taxi on a minor traffic offence and after Les insults Mick, Mick beats him quite savagely but Emma promises to back Mick up even though Les did not really deserve the attack. When Curly finds out, this causes a lot of tension and the couple split up temporarily. Emma feels very guilty and plans to confess the truth to her superiors but at the last minute decides to back Mick up. She commits perjury at Les's trial for assaulting Mick and Les was wrongfully imprisoned for three months. Near the end of Les's wrongful incarceration, Emma is put forward for promotion to Inspector in Newcastle. This would involve moving house and Curly is afraid he'd never see Ben. He swallows his principles and, in order to reconcile and be able to live in peace, they put Number 7 on the market and move to Newcastle upon Tyne. In the 2010 spin-off DVD special ''Coronation Street – A Knight's Tale'', Curly reveals that his marriage to Emma has ended since their departure from Weatherfield. ==Judith Roberts==

Judith Roberts, portrayed by Jane Hogarth, was Sarah-Louise Platt's (Tina O'Brien) midwife during her pregnancy with Bethany (Amy and Emily Walton). She was present at her antenatal class when Jenny Lyons (Natalie Lawless) asked her if her mother can be at the birth of her son, Josh (Adam Chapman). Judith said it was a fine idea and gave Sarah's mother Gail (Helen Worth) advice on how to be a grandmother. In March 2016, Judith reappeared as Sarah's midwife when Sarah was pregnant with her son, Harry Platt. She checked in at the hospital with her sister in law Kylie (Paula Lane), afraid that something was wrong as she hadn't felt him move all day, but a scan showed that the baby was fine. Judith would later go on to deliver Harry by cesarean section. Judith appears again in 2018 when Nicola Rubinstein (Nicola Thorp) gave birth to Zack Rubinstein, and again in 2022 when Abi Webster (Sally Carman-Duttine gave birth to Alfie Franklin. She most recently appeared in 2024 when Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton) gave birth to Frankie Bolton. ==Jenny Lyons==

Jenny Lyons, portrayed by Natalie Lawless, is a former friend of Sarah-Louise Platt (Tina O'Brien). They first met at a prenatal class, and like Sarah, she also got pregnant at the age of just thirteen. She explained to Sarah that her boyfriend left her after she revealed her pregnancy to him. She then asked midwife Judith Roberts (Jane Hogarth) if her mother can be present at the baby's birth, and Judith happily agreed to the idea. Jenny would give birth to her son Josh (Adam Chapman) later in the year. When Jenny had her son christened, it inspired Sarah to give her daughter Bethany (Amy and Emily Walton) a christening of her own. Her best friend Candice Stowe (Nikki Sanderson) wanted Jenny to be godmother alongside Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh) as her mother Marion (Paula Simms) had forbidden her to go to the christening as she disapproved of Sarah, but Candice managed to sneak out with her then boyfriend Darren Michaels (Bruno Langley), and get angrily dragged out of the house by an embarrassing Marion. Jenny was present at the christening and the christening party. Jenny later attended a bonfire with the Platts in November with her mother and baby son Josh. She and Sarah also comforted Candice when she went out with Vikram Desai (Chris Bisson), pretending to be in her twenties, and felt humiliated when he found out she was actually fourteen years old. Jenny and her son last appeared at Bethany's first birthday party. She met Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell), who lost his wife Alison (Naomi Radcliffe) and baby son Jake the previous year. He was upset by Josh's name as it was similar to Jake's. ==Eileen Grimshaw==

Eileen Grimshaw (also Phelan) played by Sue Cleaver, first appeared on 3 May 2000 and departed on 6 June 2025. ==Maria Connor==

Maria Jane Connor (also Sutherland) is played by Samia Ghadie. The character first appeared on-screen on 19 May 2000. During her time on Coronation Street, Maria has been the centre of storylines such as giving birth to a stillborn baby, sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend and being widowed after eight months of marriage. She also had many failed romances. Maria was off-screen between November 2009 and June 2010 due to Ghadie's pregnancy. She departed again in October 2015 after giving birth to her son the previous month. She returned in April 2016. ==Eric Sutherland==

Eric Sutherland is the father of Kirk Sutherland (Andrew Whyment) and Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie). He first appears on 19 May 2000 when Jack Duckworth (Bill Tarmey) and Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) are looking to mate Tyrone's greyhound Monica with one of the studs from his kennels. Eric reappears in 2005 to let Kirk know that he and his wife Dot (Susie Baxter) are retiring to Cyprus and Kirk goes out to visit him for several weeks after Eric has injured his back. He returns on 20 October 2008 to console his daughter following the death of her husband Liam (Rob James-Collier). He carries the coffin at Liam's funeral after Tony Gordon (Gray O'Brien) has to comfort a grief-stricken Carla (Alison King). This causes Liam's mother Helen (Sorcha Cusack) to be unhappy as Eric did not know Liam. Eric and Dot return to Cyprus following the funeral. In January 2015, Eric and Dot attend Kirk's wedding to Beth Tinker (Lisa George). Beth unwittingly insults Eric and Dot before realizing who they are. At the wedding reception, Eric gets drunk and flirts with Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford). ==Kirk Sutherland==

Kirk Sutherland played by Andrew Whyment, made his first appearance on 22 May 2000, played by an uncredited actor. When Kirk reappeared five months later, the role was played by Whyment who has continued to play the role to date. ==Bethany Platt==

Bethany Platt, played by Lucy Fallon, made her first appearance on 4 June 2000. Sarah had originally wanted to call her Britney after the pop singer Britney Spears, but changed her mind and opted to make it her middle name instead. Amy and Emily Walton shared the role of Bethany from the character's birth in 2000 until 2007 when Tina O'Brien chose to quit. Mia Cookson also played the role of Britney alongside the Walton twins in September 2000. On 23 October 2014, it was announced that Bethany, now 14 years old, would return to the show. Katie Redford was initially cast in the role, but was sacked just days later before filming began after it was revealed that she was 25 years old, not 19 as she and her management had claimed. On 29 January Blackpool-born Lucy Fallon was confirmed as her replacement. She returned on 20 March 2015. Bethany's storylines have included her taking ecstasy tablets when her uncle, David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd) hid them in a toy, her infatuation with Callum Logan as well as being caught up with her family's feud with Callum. ==Sam Kingston==

Sam Kingston is a builder played by actor Scott Wright; he first appeared on 19 June 2000. Soon after his arrival, Sam is revealed as a male stripper, disguising himself as "The Masked Python". In December 2000, when Sam befriended the Platt family, Sarah-Louise Platt (Tina O'Brien), had a huge crush on him. She wrote about it in her diary but when her younger half-brother, David (Jack P. Shepherd), and his friend Simon got a hold of it, they read the story about Sam and this resulted in David to tell his very concerned father, Martin (Sean Wilson), what he and Simon had read. Both Martin and his ex-wife and Sarah and David's mother, Gail (Helen Worth), became very protective of Sarah about boys since she gave birth to her daughter, Bethany (Amy and Emily Walton), in June 2000 and Martin angrily confronted Sarah at tea, even bringing Sam into the situation, telling them to stay away from each other, humiliating Sarah. The whole family were furious with Martin for the way he treated Sam and wouldn't speak to him for a month. ==Karen McDonald==

Karen McDonald (also Phillips) played by Suranne Jones, first appeared on episode 4843 broadcast on 21 June 2000 and last appeared on episode 5924 broadcast on 26 December 2004. ==Anthony Stephens==

Anthony Stephens, played by John Quayle, was a mild-mannered owner of ''Stephen's Bookshop''. He struck up a friendship with Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox), which caused a rift between his family as his wife, Isabel Stephens (Dilys Laye) was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and lived in Rose Gardens Nursing Home. Anthony told Rita how lonely he was without his wife being around, so Rita agreed to be friends with him. They even shared a kiss after she introduced him to her friends, Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) and Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden). In October 2000, Anthony wanted Rita to meet his two children, Gregory Stephens (Philip Bird) and Amanda Stephens (Martine Brown), which proved to be awkward. Isabel's brother, George Docherty (George Langford-Rowe) took a dislike to Rita and called her a trollop. In November 2000, due to Isabel's condition, Anthony sold up their house and Rita feeling guilty, ended their relationship. Anthony then moved in with Amanda. Anthony had dinner on 31 December (New Year's Eve) with Rita, Emily and Norris. Rita was determined not to let Amanda put her off Anthony and after tensions continued to grow between father and daughter, Rita invited him to move into No. 12a with her. After Isabel died in June 2001, he moved to New Zealand to live with his sister, Joan. He invited Rita to come with him, but she declined. ==Darren Michaels==

Darren Michaels, portrayed by Bruno Langley in 2000 and by Nicholas Zabel in 2001, is Candice Stowe's (Nikki Sanderson) short-term boyfriend. Candice first mentioned him to her best friend Sarah-Louise Platt (Tina O'Brien), who was upset as she thought, because of her teenage pregnancy, she will never have a boyfriend. Bruno Langley originally portrayed Darren in 2000, but then began playing the role of regular character, Todd Grimshaw, 4 months later from 2001 onwards. Darren's first appearance was at Sarah's daughter Bethany's (Amy and Emily Walton) christening; Candice snuck out of the house with him so she can attend the christening and be Bethany's godmother alongside Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh), as her mother Marion (Paula Simms) had forbidden her to go. Marion would later gate crash the christening party and drag Candice off. In March 2001, Darren discovered from Sarah's younger brother David (Jack P. Shepherd) that Candice was two timing him and Todd Grimshaw (Langley). He would inform Todd of this, and the two boys dumped Candice, but Todd and Candice gave their relationship another go as Candice convinced Todd that she was only using Darren. ==Isabel Stephens==

Isabel Stephens, played by Dilys Lane, is married to Anthony Stephens, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease and lived in Rose Gardens Nursing Home. Growing lonely in her absence, Anthony began a relationship with Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox), much to the disgust of their daughter, Amanda Stephens (Martine Brown) and Isabel's brother, George Docherty (George Langford-Rowe), who called Rita a trollop. As a result of Anthony's betrayal, George decided he wasn't going to put any more money towards the shared expenses of Isabel's care and left Anthony to pay for it all himself. Anthony continued his relationship with Rita, despite his family's disapproval. He ended up selling his house and moved in with Amanda, which infuriated her, causing her to use her mother to guilt-trip him. In February 2001, Anthony wanted to file for a divorce against Isabel so he could continue his relationship with Rita, but Amanda and George along with Anthony and Isabel's son, Gregory Stephens (Philip Bird) all ganged up on Anthony and disowned him. In June 2001, Isabel died from heart failure in her care home. ==Phil Simmonds==

Phil Simmonds befriends Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) after landlord Duggie Ferguson (John Bowe) makes him homeless in September 2000. He takes legal action against Duggie but later settles out of court. He reappears on 9 April 2001, when Toyah encounters him on the street. Four days later, Phil brutally rapes Toyah in the ginnel behind the Rovers. Toyah is left clueless as to the identity of her attacker as Phil pretends to support her through her ordeal. On 30 April 2001, when Toyah is on her own in her house with Phil she suddenly recognises his voice as being that of the rapist. Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) hears her screams from the street, breaks into the house and saves her from Phil. In August 2001, Toyah visits Phil in prison, after he sends her a letter pleading for her forgiveness. She is shocked to see that he has attempted suicide. She gets Phil to agree to plead guilty to the rape charges. However, Toyah later discovers that Phil has no intention of pleading guilty, despite the DNA evidence. He later changes his plea to guilty, meaning that no trial would take place, much to Toyah's relief. On 7 September 2001, Phil is sentenced to ten years imprisonment for Toyah's rape. ==Harvey Reuben==

Harvey Reuben, played by Andrew Scarborough, was the temporary manager of Underworld whilst Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs) and Linda Baldwin (Jacqueline Pirie) were on honeymoon. He first arrived late due to the arrangement being last minute, but was very popular with staff members, Bobbi Lewis (Naomi Ryan) and Karen Phillips (Suranne Jones). He began to flirt with the ladies, and Karen flirted back, but he was far more interested in Bobbi. Karen continued to try and please Harvey by bringing him coffee and talking about clubbing in London, but Bobbi told Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle) that he wasn't interested in her. Janice told Bobbi that she had more of a chance with Harvey and advised her to take him up on his advances. After a conversation with Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) in The Rovers, it was revealed that Harvey was actually engaged. He subsequently took both ladies out, which infuriated them both so as revenge, they organised a farewell party and sprayed graffiti on his car saying "slime ball". Harvey returned in June 2001 when he told Mike that he was taking over his father's company, ''Reuben's Textiles'' in Bolton. Despite facing a frosty reception from Bobbi and Karen, he struck up a relationship with Linda, causing a rift between him and Mike. ==Amanda Stephens==