HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, MANCHESTER EDITION

'CORONATION STREET'

'SCOTT & BAILEY' - S1.E2

CHARACTER STUDIES:

JACK WALKER (1900-1970) - FATHER

DSUP. THOMAS WALTERS (1931 -) - SON

In the Weatherfield suburb of Greater Manchester, the center of community interaction is the Rovers' Return Inn which was run by Jack Walker from 1937 until his death in 1970.

Walker and his wife had two children, Billy and Joan.  But as seems to be endemic in most soap opera locales, Jack had at least one illegitimate offspring.  However, it's likely that this child, a boy, was born out of wedlock to another woman before Jack Walker was married to Anne Beaumont.

It's my theory of "relateeveety" that Jack knew this girl from his school days; that they shared the same homeroom because they had similar last names: He was a Walker and she was a Walters.

Jack and Miss Walters met up again when they were about thirty and had a brief fling which resulted in Miss Walters giving birth in 1931 to a boy.  She named him Thomas and despite how it looked during those times, she raised him on her own.

By the time we in the Trueniverse audience met Thomas Walters, he was a retired Detective Superintendent of the Manchester Police, already 80 years of age.  DC Janet Sharp consulted with him about the one murder case he could never solve and which he could not let go - that of a six-year-old girl who had been Janet's childhood friend.

Working with new leads, Janet was able to solve the case, which probably gave D.Sup Walters the closure he sought for a more peaceful retirement.

ToobNotes:

Usually when I do these theories of "relateeveety", it's because the same actor is playing the two roles.  But this was something special: D.Sup Tom Walters was played by Tony Broughton while Jack Walker was portrayed by Arthur Leslie during those first ten years of 'Coronation Street'.  

And in real life, Mr. Leslie was the father of Mr. Broughton.

That both characters were living in the Manchester area, with such similar names, made it too irresistable to pass by as a link.

Happy Father's Day!