Toyah Battersby

The four-strong Battersby family was created and introduced to Coronation Street in a bid to increase falling ratings. News of the family's arrival came days after the series producer, Brian Park, had axed three regular characters. Actress Georgia Taylor was cast as Toyah and the role marked her acting debut. Taylor was studying for her A-levels when she originally auditioned for the part of Zoe Tattersall. She was unsuccessful, so she then auditioned for Toyah and won the role. Of her casting, she explained "When I got the call to say that I'd got the part I just sat there open-mouthed, hugging my best friend. I could barely believe it. It is all very different than being on stage – it's not quite so intense because your audience isn't right there in front of you. But it's a very different type of satisfaction, working much faster with storylines and characters developing all the time." ==Development==

Characterisation A month before she made her debut on-screen, Toyah was described as being Janice Battersby's (Vicky Entwistle) 14-year-old illegitimate daughter, who would become "the scourge of every Weatherfield Comprehensive teacher". Taylor also disliked Toyah's make-up, which was initially bright pink lipstick, a lot of black eyeliner and no foundation. The ''Daily Mirror's'' Charlie Catchpole commented that Toyah went "from lumpy, sulky schoolgirl to confident, radiant young woman". played Toyah's stepfather Les. Abduction Following an argument with Janice and Les, Toyah runs away to London to find her real father, Ronnie. However, she was "led on" by Neil Flynn (Tim Dantay), a stranger pretending to be Ronnie, and was later abducted by him. Taylor said that the storyline was one of the hardest she had to film: "In the story, I come down to London to track down my real father and things go badly wrong. Toyah hitchhikes all the way and just leaves herself so wide open. She is so naive and trusting and open to being used and abused." The storyline was filmed on location in the city of London in early August. An hour long episode focusing on Janice and Les' search for Toyah was broadcast a month later. She quickly introduced him to her parents and was prepared to do anything for him, like stealing from the local café. Toyah was scared that if she said no, Dobber would break up with her. The storyline was branded "controversial" and "shocking", while watchdogs stated that it sent out the wrong ideas to young schoolgirls. Hancock told ''All About Soap's'' Hilary Kingsley that Spider initially saw Toyah as "a chubby schoolgirl, a pesky brat who had a crush on him." However, when she listened to his issues and helped him with his battles against the local supermarket and the council, Spider began to admire her instead. Hancock observed that both Spider and Toyah were overcome by the excitement to the point that there was "an explosion of lust." Spider thought that if they got a mortgage together, it would help save the relationship, but Toyah did not want that at all. After enjoying a night out with her friend Sam Kingston (Scott Wright), Toyah is raped, beaten and left for dead in an alleyway by an unknown assailant as she walked home alone. The storyline began during a special 45-minute episode that was broadcast during the Easter weekend. Viewers saw Toyah being grabbed by her attacker, but not the actual act of rape. Instead Toyah is found by Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) just as he set out for an early morning run. Jason takes a "traumatised" Toyah back to her house, where she tells her mother what had happened. Toyah then has to repeat the story to the police and reveals that she does not know who raped her because she was semi-conscious during the attack. Toyah undergoes an examination and counselling at the local hospital. The scenes were shot at the St Mary's Hospital Sexual Assault Centre in Manchester, where the writers spent four months researching victims' experiences and working with the clinical director and the staff to get the scenario right. Taylor defended the storyline and hoped that it would help other women who had been attacked to seek help. Toyah found support from her mother and neighbour Charlie Ramsden (Clare McGlinn), who revealed that she had once been raped. Taylor told ''Inside Soap's'' Allison Maund that Charlie's advice really helped Toyah to start getting back on her feet. When Phil came round to comfort Toyah, she recognised his voice as he called out her name and realised that he was her rapist. Until the letter arrived, Toyah had been piecing her life back together by getting her job back at the Rovers and starting a romance with Sam. When Toyah came face to face with Phil, her first thought was how pathetic he looked. When Phil tried to make excuses for what he had done, Toyah did not feel any pity and told him to plead guilty, which he agreed to do. It was initially reported that Toyah becomes concerned that the baby's remains will be found when an area of the Red Rec is marked for redevelopment, and she is later caught digging in the park. As Toyah searches for Roy Cropper's (David Neilson) dog in the park, she comes across three people digging up a rosebed as they believe Roy has buried Lauren Bolton's (Cait Fitton) body there. Wilkes revealed that her contract would expire in October that year, but the actress had chosen to stay with the serial beyond that to give the writers time to come up with a storyline for her character's departure. She told the ''Liverpool Echo's'' Janet Tansley "I was asked where she would go from there and couldn't think what she could do. If I couldn't see a future for her, I couldn't play her." However, the relationship quickly turned into a love triangle when John had an affair with Toyah's flatmate Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie). Taylor began filming her scenes in October 2016 and made her on-screen return in the episode broadcast on 25 December 2016. Toyah has often been mentioned and referred to by her family members since her departure. Toby later follows Toyah to the Street, where he asks her to reconsider her decision and try for a baby. However, Toyah makes it clear that their marriage is finished and asks him to leave. ==Storylines==

1997–2003 Toyah and her family move into 5 Coronation Street and soon upset the neighbours with their bad behaviour, most notably Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy). Toyah and her stepsister, Leanne (Jane Danson), steal from the local newsagent and indulge in under-age drinking. Toyah develops a crush on Spider Nugent (Martin Hancock) and turns vegetarian to impress him. She also asks him to help save a turkey from being slaughtered for Christmas. After arguing with her mother, Janice (Vicky Entwistle), and stepfather, Les (Bruce Jones), Toyah runs away to London to find her biological father, Ronnie Clegg (Dean Williamson). However, Toyah comes across Neil Flynn (Tim Dantay), who pretends to be her father and then abducts her. Neil takes Toyah to some woods, but while he is distracted, she escapes and is found by Janice and Les. Toyah gets a job at Roy's Rolls, the local café, and begins dating Philip "Dobber" Dobson (John Donnelly). Dobber is a bad influence on Toyah, persuading her to steal from the café and threatening to dump her if she did not have sex with him. Toyah loses her virginity to Dobber but eventually sees through him and they break up. With the help of a former teacher, Ken Barlow (William Roache), Toyah's grades at school soon improve and she even wins a writing competition. While spending the night watching a lunar eclipse together, Toyah and Spider have sex. They soon begin a relationship and stay at Emily Bishop's (Eileen Derbyshire) house for a while until they find a place of their own. Toyah gets a second job as a barmaid at The Rovers Return and start to drift apart so when Spider asks her to go to India with him, she turns him down. Spider leaves Weatherfield alone. Toyah later has a one-night stand with Andy McDonald (Nicholas Cochrane). After a night out with Sam Kingston (Scott Wright), Toyah decides to walk home alone, but is attacked and raped. Toyah is found by Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas), who takes her home. Janice initially thinks Toyah has been robbed and is shocked when Toyah tells her she was raped. Toyah gives a statement to the police and is examined at the hospital. Several male residents are suspected, particularly Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne), but they are ruled out by DNA tests. Toyah struggles to deal with what has happened to her and she develops agoraphobia. While being comforted at home by her friend, Phil Simmonds (Jack Deam), Toyah recognises his voice as he calls out her name and realises that he had raped her. Phil realises that she knows and stops her from escaping. Peter hears Toyah's screams and rescues her after knocking Phil unconscious. Phil is found guilty of rape and sent to prison. Toyah has a brief romance with Sam and moves into a flat with Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine) and Maria Sutherland (Samia Ghadie). While on holiday in Blackpool, Toyah meets Goran Milanovic (Matt Zarb), an illegal immigrant. After a few dates, he proposes marriage, but she refuses before starting to date her college tutor, John Arnley (Paul Warriner). She is initially reluctant to introduce him to her flatmates and when she does, they are surprised to see that he is a lot older. John asks Toyah to move in with him and she agrees. When Toyah and Fiz argue about John, Fiz tells her that he and Maria had sex and Maria got pregnant. Toyah confronts Maria, who gives her the impression that John forced himself on her. Remembering her rape, Toyah attacks John in front of his class before dumping him. Toyah decides to leave Weatherfield after reuniting with Spider and they move to London. 2016–present Toyah returns on Christmas Day, telling Leanne that she has left her husband Toby Chapman (Andrew Dowbiggin), as she has been having an affair. Toyah later meets Peter Barlow, her new partner, and they agree to tell Leanne that they are together. Toby visits Toyah to try and save their marriage but she refuses to listen or reconcile. Toyah then goes with Leanne to the hospital after she has a migraine. Toyah and Peter decide to keep their relationship a secret, but Peter's son, Simon Barlow (Alex Bain), sees them kiss using his drone. Peter tells Toyah that Simon knows and they ask him to keep it a secret for Leanne's sake. Toyah argues with Leanne's half-sister, Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley), for not passing on a message about starting a shift at the pub, but they agree to call a truce. Peter leaves cigarettes at Leanne's flat and Toyah tries to take the blame, but Simon is forced to cover for her. He later tells Eva who blackmails Toyah: stop Peter from shutting down Aidan Connor's (Shayne Ward) factory or Eva will tell Leanne about Peter and Toyah. Peter agrees to Eva's demands and they continue their affair. Toby returns in January 2017 and demands Toyah sign a paper to destroy their frozen embryos. Toyah is reluctant and after a heart to heart, they kiss. However, Toyah makes it clear that she does not love Toby and is staying with Peter, causing Toby to lash out and leave. Peter learns what has happened and decides to drop off Chloe Tipton (Jo-Anne Knowles), making Toyah jealous. They later make up and Leanne catches Peter and Toyah kissing. During a heated argument, Leanne disowns Toyah and refuses to talk to her again, despite her efforts. Leanne forgives Toyah after she helps deliver baby Oliver in a lift after it breaks down. Peter buys The Rovers Return from Steve (Simon Gregson) and Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard). After another round of IVF fails, Toyah is told that future treatment is not recommended as problems with her uterus mean that she is very unlikely to ever get pregnant. She and Peter look into surrogacy after talking to Izzy Armstrong (Cherylee Houston). The couple are accepted as clients by a surrogacy agency and Jacqui, a surrogate mother, agrees to carry their baby after meeting them. She strikes up a feud with Peter's ex-wife, Carla Connor (Alison King), upon her return to Weatherfield. Toyah is later devastated when Jacqui miscarries the baby and she is shocked to discover that Eva is pregnant with her ex-fiancé Aidan's baby. Toyah supports Eva's decision to have an abortion. However, Toyah concocts a plan shortly before the termination where Eva would give birth to her baby and pretend the baby is Toyah and Peter's through Jackie. Eva gives birth to her baby girl who she Toyah and Peter name Susie as they go through with the plan of pretending Eva's daughter is theirs, with Peter none the wiser. Peter later finds out and breaks up with Toyah selling the pub. Eva leaves the street with Susie meaning that Toyah no longer has a child. She starts to move on with her life and gets a job at the medical centre and has a fling with Imran Habeeb (Charlie de Melo) unaware Leanne is also having a fling with him. When they find out, they hatch a plan and pretend they want a threesome with him but the plan backfires when he realises what they are up to. Toyah begins a relationship with Imran and they later foster children together including Kelly Neelan (Millie Gibson) and become embroiled in her murder charge for her role in Seb Franklin’s (Harry Visioni) death. In October 2021, unbeknownst to Toyah, Imran has a one-night stand with Seb's mother Abi (Sally Carman), resulting in Abi getting pregnant and, in 2022, giving birth to their son, Alfie Franklin. Toyah finds out about Imran’s paternity to Alfie and after marrying him to gain custody they get custody of baby Alfie, which included Imran lying and stitching Abi up by hiring colleague Ben Chancellor (Jon-Paul Bell) to take pictures of her supposedly doing a drug deal for evidence in the custody battle, however this turns out to be Abi paying off an old friend Dean (Anthony Crank) to stay away from her. (Dean had caused trouble for Abi earlier in the year). In June 2022, Imran and Toyah caught on to the fact that Abi is planning to flee abroad with Baby Alfie. Toyah considers going to the police. Imran's guilty conscience took hold as he eventually persuaded Toyah against getting the police involved and he tells her the truth about him framing Abi as a drug addict. The pair were on their way home when a crash occurred with them in the car. Imran later dies of a cardiac arrest caused by the crash and Toyah survives, but ends up in hospital. It later emerges Toyah caused the crash on purpose and she is arrested and charged with careless driving. In July 2023, Toyah is kidnapped. In April 2024, Toyah reveals that in 2001, she gave birth to a premature baby girl after being raped, but the child was tragically stillborn. She tells Nick Tilsley that the father of her baby girl was her rapist, Phil Simmonds. She buried her daughter in a park that is dug up in the search for missing teenager Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton). ==Reception==

In 1998, Taylor earned the "Best Young Actor" accolade at the Inside Soap Awards. In 2001, Taylor won "Best Dramatic Performance" at The British Soap Awards. She was also nominated for "Most Popular Actress" at the 7th National Television Awards. At the Inside Soap Awards, Taylor earned a ""Best Actress" nomination, while Toyah's rape was nominated in the "Most Dramatic Storyline" category. In July 2018, Taylor was longlisted for the "Best Actress" award at the Inside Soap Awards. She did not progress to the viewer-voted shortlist. For her portrayal of Toyah, Taylor was nominated for Best Soap Actor (Female) at the 2018 Digital Spy Reader Awards; she came in eleventh place with 1.5% of the total votes. Taylor was also longlisted for "Best Actress" at the 2024 Inside Soap Awards for her role as Toyah. ''The People's Gavin Blyth and Jon Clarke stated that Toyah and Leanne were "rough, tough and make other streetwise teenagers look like they are fresh out of nursery." When Toyah met Dobber, the Daily Mirror's Tony Purnell commented "If anyone was going to find Mr Wrong on holiday it was Toyah Battersby." The Daily Mirror's'' Tony Stewart also praised Taylor's performance throughout the storyline, saying it was "so heart-achingly convincing". Stewart also wrote that Toyah's attack was "a chilling reminder of how brutal life can be". Stewart's colleague, Sue Crawford, branded Toyah a "disaster magnet". In June 2011, Rachel Tarley from the Metro included Toyah's rape in her list of the top 10 most controversial soap storylines. Lorna Cooper, editor for MSN TV, included Toyah in a feature about soap's forgotten characters. Cooper said Toyah "didn't have the best of luck during her 1997–2003 stint on Coronation Street." A writer for Virgin Media quipped "Wayward teen Toyah rampaged through The Street in the 1990s. She fell for eco-warrior Spider but her life fell apart after she was raped by evil Phil Simmonds. She then followed Spider to London." In November 2012, Paul Millar from Digital Spy stated "Toyah Battersby was one of ''Coronation Street's'' best-loved characters – certainly the best-loved Battersby – during the time in which she graced the cobbles." Laura-Jayne Tyler of Inside Soap praised Toyah's return, stating "We're loving every single second of Toyah being back, and actress Georgia Taylor is rocking her return like she's never been away. Having said that, we're not sure that she's fully embracing Toyah's steamy snogging sessions with Peter Barlow. If it were us, we'd be getting properly stuck in!" In September 2017, Katie Fitzpatrick of the Manchester Evening News noted how viewers found Toyah's middle name, Laverne, "hilarious" when it was revealed on-screen. ==References==