There was a time when Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) loved surprises. Then her life was changed forever by two things – a dementia diagnosis, and her no-good son Carl Webster (Jonathan Howard).
Unfortunately, one was made significantly worse than the other. Conniving Carl was only ever interested in getting his grubby mits on Debbie’s money, including her beloved Chariot Square hotel. This often involved gaslighting his poor mother into believing her dementia was worse than it was.
When Carl wasn’t trying to scam his dear old sister (who turned out to be his mum), he was causing giant headaches for her by having an affair with his brother/uncle Kevin Webster’s (Michael Le Vell) wife, or causing the hit and run that left Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) confined to a wheelchair.
But Carl’s truly unforgivable crime was driving while drunk after Debbie’s wedding and crashing his car into the wedding minibus, making him responsible for the crash that killed beloved Corrie vicar Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank). In case that wasn’t horrific enough, he slid his poor unconscious mother into the driving seat and gaslit her into taking the blame.
This was the beginning of the end for Debbie. The stress of prison life, the loss of her routine and the anxiety of being separated from her nearest anddearest caused her dementia to rapidly decline. She got confused and injured herself at work, and even briefly forgot the name of her beloved husband, Ronnie Bailey (Vinta Morgan). This made Ronnie determined to get Carl out of Debbie’s life for good.
But Ronnie needn’t have tried so hard. In the end, it was Carl’s own scummy behaviour and his attempt to extort Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby) of her late adoptive dad’s life insurance money that made Debbie finally give up on her son’s redemption. She handed him two grand in an envelope, and basically told him to do one.
Kevin Webster, however, wasn’t going to let the man who destroyed his marriage exploit his beloved sister one last time, and promptly stole the two grand back. Enraged, Carl snuck into the garage in the dead of night and tampered with one of Kevin’s cars in revenge. However, a mysterious figure was watching him… and sent the car crashing down on Carl.
This mysterious figure turned out to be Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall), but that’s another story.
Now after all the drama, it seems Carl is turning over a new leaf. While the jury’s out on whether that will last five minutes, Debbie’s story will shift away from the classic soapy family feuds and instead focus on how she lives with dementia on a day-to-day basis.
This will involve Ronnie and Kevin, as well as the support of her friends, Debbie’s Angels – Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor), Glenda Shuttleworth (Jodie Prenger), Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove) and Christina Boyd (Amy Robbins). This indominable Cobbles Girl Squad have helped Debbie navigating everything important in her life that her condition makes harder, from her wedding day to her work in the Dementia Choir.
Show boss Kate Brooks recently teased the role that Debbie’s friends will have in the next chapter of her story: ‘Christina, Glenda, Sally, Debbie, Bernie, those five women are just phenomenal actors, and the warmth and the comedy that they all emanate, is just contagious. It won’t just be Debbie at the front and centre.’
But Debbie’s condition is getting worse, and upcoming scenes of Coronation Street will leave the Angels deeply concerned for their friend when a heartfelt gesture provokes a troubling reaction from Debbie.
Christina, Glenda and Sally are excited as they surprise Debbie, revealing they’re taking her on holiday to Spain.
But while the girls are giddy for sunshine and sangria, Debbie’s response leaves them more worried than ever. What does Debbie say?
