The five Coronation Street storylines that sunk without trace – from the Platt’s killer secret to the factory roof truth
OVER the course of its 60 year history Coronation Street has endured countless dramatic storylines.
The ITV soap has never shied away from tackling heavy plots and long-running stories and has become notable for the topics in which it covers.
However, the soap has fallen foul to a forgotten plot line on more than one occasion.
Eagle-eyed fans have been left puzzled at forgotten secrets, unfinished plots and those stories that gained all the hype but had very little delivery.
The Sun has compiled a list of the five stories that seemed to have been fallen into the abyss.
From Toyah’s much-hyped baby debacle to a forgotten pensioner romance, here are the five stories that sunk without trace.
Toyah’s Baby Plot
When it was revealed by The Sun that Toyah Battersby would be involved in a storyline that would reveal she had a secret dead baby, the Coronation Street fans were left in uproar.
Fans were left sickened at the horrifying plot which was touted to become the soap’s biggest talking point of the year.
It seemed producers were pushing the boundaries with the seriously dark reveal that following Toyah’s harrowing rape in 2001 she had fallen pregnant and chose to bury the baby in the park after it was stillborn.
However, when the week came to the start of the storyline, it also appeared to be the end of it too.
Alongside the long-running Lauren Bolton murder story, fans had expected Toyah’s baby plot to last for months.
However, upon confessing the truth to Nick and Leanne, the dark plot appeared to be forgotten.
It failed to be mentioned again until weeks later when the Police questioned Toyah about the remains they had found.
Similarly, she soon found she was not being charged with any wrongdoing and after an off-screen funeral in the following episode, the story once again vanished.
Could producers have scrapped an extended plot as a result of the fan fury?
Mystery of the Factory Roof
In 2019, disaster hit the cobbles when the roof of Underworld horrifyingly collapsed.
The huge collapse had catastrophic consequences with Rana Habeeb killed by the event.
However, to this day, the residents of Weatherfield either have no idea or do not care that it was Gary who was responsible for the roof collapse.
Whilst it was confirmed to the viewers that his sabotage was the reason for the collapse and Rana’s death, it took a lot longer for anyone on the Street to cotton on.
It came during Gary’s evil debt-collecting era where be became the Street’s sneakiest sinister villain.
As well as being Rick Neelan’s killer and burying his body, another somewhat forgotten plot, Gary was never brought to justice for his role in the factory collapse and managed to sweep it under the carpet.
Whilst some residents had their suspicions about Gary, it appeared to go no further and although the police did take him in for questioning, he was soon released with no further questions.
Ever since, Gary has lived on the Street without any worries or care that he was the sole cause for Rana’s death and script writers have failed to ever make reference to it since the immediate aftermath.
Platt’s Killer Secret
Hidden and forgotten murders seem to be becoming a recurring theme on the Cobbles with the Platt family also hiding a killer secret.
Back in 2015, the soap aired a huge live episode to mark the 60th anniversary of the ITV network.
It all centred around Callum Logan’s evil hold of the Platt family.
Callum was linked to the family as a result of being Kylie’s ex and the father of Max Turner.
He had reconnected with Max during the year and soon struck up a relationship with Max’s step-dad David’s sister, Sarah.
It quickly became toxic and during the live episode, Sarah and Callum were involved in a furious show down.
As he pinned her to the ground, Kylie walked in at just the right time and in a bid to stop Callum from hurting Sarah, she brutally whacked him over the head.
It proved to be a fatal blow and after calling on David’s help to dispose of the body under their house renovation, Callum remained undetected for eight months.
Eventually as his body was found, questions were asked but fingers failed to be pointed in the Platt’s direction.
As the weeks went by, the story continued to fade away and other than Sarah and David’s brother, Nick, to this day, no one else ever discovered that it was the Platt’s who were responsible for the death.
Izzy’s Pandemic Problem
During the COVID pandemic, actress Cherrylee Houston, who plays Izzy Armstrong, was forced to go into shielding.
It meant that she failed to appear in the soap throughout 2020 however soap bosses eventually decided to incorporate her real-life issue into the show.
In 2021, it was revealed that Izzy would feature in a working-from-home storyline.
She initially appeared over webcam during the slow-burning plot line.
Eventually, Carla agreed to allow Izzy to work from home however it soon turned out that they were giving her fake orders to fulfill as they did not have the turn around to be able to pick up the orders from her house and send them out to customers.
In a bid to catch them-out, Izzy filled a box with paper and demanded that Kirk pick it up.
When he did and just left it inside his van, an unbeknown Sarah praised Izzy for her work before realising that Izzy played her.
It forced Izzy to stop working until she had a confrontation with Carla and Sarah where she opened up about her struggles with the pandemic.
Bizarrely, as the episode, aired in August 2021, drew to a close, no resolution appeared to have been agreed between Izzy, Carla and Sarah.
Izzy then failed to appear in the soap for the rest of the year with the storyline having no clear conclusion.
During her next appearance on the soap, it was never addressed with Izzy still continuing to be employed at the factory.
Audrey and Ken’s forgotten romance
Following Deirdre Barlow’s sad death, Ken was left mourning his beloved wife’s passing.
However, a few years later, it seemed that romance could be brewing between Ken and close pal Audrey.
Although the pair began to get close, the budding romance soon appeared to fizzle out.
Having gone from hanging out together one-on-one, they soon were back to hanging out among their wider group of friends.
Commenting on the unfinished storyline, one fan noted: “Ken and Audrey being a couple were built up to for a while a few years back.
“It was never a major focus and never got to the point where it was definite a romance would happen so it isn’t too unrealistic realistic it would fizzle out though.”
During one poignant scene, Ken found Audrey suffering from chest pains in the Salon and as he helped to comfort her, she was left close to confessing her love for him.
Coronation Street's shock exits 2024
Corrie has said goodbye to several cast members this year. Let's break down who's left the famous soap:
Eliza Woodrow (Savannah Kunyo) has said farewell to Corrie to start a new life in Germany.
The youngster moved to live with her dad Dom Everett, who went back on the £10,000 bribe Eliza’s grandfather Stu had offered to keep him out of her life.
Paul Foreman will bow out of the soap this summer when he loses his fight with motor neurone disease (MND) in tragic scenes.
After being diagnosed last year, the fan favourite, portrayed by Peter Ash, was devastated to learn he only had months left to live.
Viewers know he is planning to take his own life to end his suffering.
Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby) departed the cobbles after being offered the opportunity of a lifetime to study in America.
Though she struggled to decide with her stepdad Paul’s impending death from MND, she was convinced she had to live her life to the full.
Simon Barlow (Alex Bain) has struggled with the sudden departure of his father Peter from the cobbles.
The Weatherfield legend left his family and loved ones behind on Boxing Day, 2023, when his wife Carla Connor encouraged him to travel around the world with a friend.
Simon’s been on a downward spiral ever since and his exit could end in tragedy.
Alya Nazir is set to leave the cobbles as actress Sair Khan prepares to go on maternity leave ahead of the birth of her first child.
It looks likely she’ll be heading to Dublin after securing a lucrative new job, leaving her colleague and fling Adam Barlow behind.
Show stalwart Eileen Grimshaw is taking a break to star in the Sister Act The Musical UK tour.
She’s had to leave the Street immediately after her son Jason broke his back after falling off a moped in Asia. She will be back filming in May once her dates on the tour come to an end.