List of Coronation Street characters introduced in 1999
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street in 1999, by order of first appearance.
Ian Bentley
Ian Bentley, played by Jonathan Guy Lewis, first appeared on 29 January 1999. He is introduced as the fiancé of Sharon Gaskell. Ian begins an affair with the recently widowed Natalie Barnes. Sharon discovers the affair, but intends to marry Ian regardless, dismissing the affair as one last fling. However, during the service, Sharon calls Ian a liar and jilts him. Months later, after Sharon attempts suicide, she calls Ian and the pair decide to reconcile their relationship. When Sharon returns in 2021, she reveals to Rita Tanner that she and Ian have since divorced due to Ian's infidelity.Jessica Lundy
The Reverend Jessica Lundy, portrayed by Olwen May, was a pastor who was best known for officiating at the wedding Hayley Patterson and Roy Cropper, despite it being illegal due to Hayley being transsexual. Les Battersby almost made the wedding a failure as he ran into the church and protested.Jessica next appeared as the pastor to christen baby Bethany Platt ; Hayley and Bethany's teenage mother Sarah-Louise's best mate Candice Stowe were godmothers and Roy was godfather. Bethany's uncle David was intending to be godfather, but he jealously did a runner from the church. The christening party was also ruined when Candice's mother Marion turned up and angrily dragged her daughter away, and David turned up in a police car as he was caught shoplifting.
Jessica's surname was credited in her first two appearances, but on her last appearance, her first name was revealed.
Nita Desai
Nita Desai, played by Rebecca Sarker, arrives in January as a new assistant at the Corner Shop, which her family later take over.Nita managed the shop for her father [|Ravi] when he bought it from Fred Elliott, living in the flat above. After just four months, Nita, craving independence, left the family business to climb the managerial ladder at Freshco supermarket. She spent a year as assistant manager at the Weatherfield branch before, in 2000, leaving the street for Inverness to run her own store.
Ravi Desai
Ravi Desai took over the management of the Corner Shop on Coronation Street in January 1999. Played by actor Saeed Jaffrey, Ravi left Weatherfield due to family issues later in the year, and sold his empire of corner shops in the area to his nephew, Dev Alahan. In June 2019, Dev receives a phone call and learns that Ravi is dying and he takes his children Aadi and Asha to see him in India. However, when Dev returns in August, he reveals Ravi is still alive and well.Darren Dobbs
Darren Dobbs is the father of Tyrone Dobbs who appears in March 1999 to take his wife Jackie home to Liverpool. Darren made a return in September 2018 to tie in with ex-wife Jackie's death among Darren's return he had revealed to Tyrone that he and Jackie weren't actually Tyrone's real parents.Vikram Desai
Vikram Desai was played by Chris Bisson. Vikram is Dev Alahan's cousin and he used to own the shop with Dev and worked with Sunita Parekh. During his time in Weatherfield, he dated Leanne Battersby and Maria Sutherland. In 2000, he briefly dated Candice Stowe but he later learns that she is under the age of consent. In 2002, he was forced to smuggle drugs in from abroad again, but this time he asked Steve and Karen McDonald if they wanted a free holiday and they accepted. When they came back Steve discovered powder at the bottom of his suitcase and inside was drugs, and he found out that Vikram had done it. Karen was horrified as well as Steve and he dumped the drugs in the canal and told Vikram to leave Weatherfield for good, and if he comes back Steve said he will kill him. He now lives in India.Vikram was mentioned when Sunita's aunts came to stay in 2010, after Dev said that they were even worse than him. In 2021, Vikram's name was seen among Aadi Alahan's Xbox Live contacts. In 2025, Vikram was mentioned by Dev when he plans to send Aadi to live with him in India.
[|Tom Ferguson]
Tom Ferguson, played by actor Tom Wisdom, is the son of Duggie Ferguson, who arrives later in the year. Tom is a hairdresser, and worked at Audrey Roberts' salon until he quit in January 2000 and left Weatherfield to get away from his father.Boris Weaver
Boris Weaver was a butcher who worked for Ashley Peacock at Elliott and Sons butchers. Boris appeared for the first time in 1999 and appeared recurrently and made his last appearance at Christmas 2004, at Ashley's wedding to Claire Casey. From then on, Boris was still referred to and looked after the shop when Ashley was away. In later years both Kirk Sutherland and Graeme Proctor successively worked for Ashley at the shop, it is assumed that Boris was no longer an employee there.Danny Hargreaves
Danny Hargreaves is played by Richard Standing between 1999 and 2001. A market trader, Danny meets Sally Webster at work and begins a relationship with her. Danny and Sally fell in love and got engaged, but he jilted her on their wedding day after discovering that Sally had a one-night stand with ex-husband Kevin.Beryl Peacock
Beryl Hayden Peacock is the sister of Fred Elliott. Beryl and her husband Sam had raised Fred's son, Ashley Peacock, as their own. Beryl first appeared when Ashley asked her for the truth about his parentage and she was forced to tell Ashley that she was actually his aunt, not his mother. Beryl made her most recent appearance at Fred's funeral in October 2006.Beryl did not attend Ashley's funeral when he died in a tram crash in December 2010.
Belinda Peach
Belinda Peach, portrayed by Maxine Peake, appears briefly at the Freshco's Summer Ball where she tries to woo Ashley Peacock. Ashley is amused by Fred Elliott's attempts to pair him with Belinda, despite him attending with Maxine Heavey. Maxine gets annoyed by Belinda's overly friendly manner and pushes her in the direction of Curly Watts.Lee Sankley
Lee Sankley, portrayed by Stephen Graham, was a drug dealer who worked with Steve McDonald selling tobacco in Weatherfield. He told Steve that the area was his patch, however when Steve recognised Lee as an ex-convict, he began to sell tobacco to him cheap from No. 11, however when his father, Jim McDonald arrived home, he discovered this and threw Lee out of his house. Lee was later arrested and Jez Quigley took his place as the local dealer. Jez was later arrested for the murder of Tony Horrocks and Lee gave evidence at his trial.Doreen Heavey
Doreen Heavey is the mother of Maxine Peacock, played by actress Prunella Gee, who had three spells on the Street between 1999 and 2004; the third of these covering the period of her daughter's death at the hands of Richard Hillman in early 2003, after which she moved back in with her ex-husband Derek, Maxine's father, in order to give their relationship another go. Doreen was last seen in November 2004 when she, Ashley Peacock and her grandson Joshua went to lay flowers on Maxine's grave on what would have been her 29th birthday. She told Ashley that she liked his new fiancée Claire Casey and gave him her blessing to marry Claire.Derek Heavey
Derek Heavey is the father of Maxine Peacock, who had three spells on the Street between 1999 and 2003; the third of these covering the period of her daughter's death at the hands of Richard Hillman. His marriage to Maxine's mother, Doreen Heavey wasn't a happy one and ended up leaving her for another woman in 2002. After Maxine's death, Derek and Doreen reconciled.Melanie Tindel
Melanie Tindel, portrayed by Nicola Wheeler, was a school friend of Maxine Heavey whom she asked to do her her for her wedding, which was subsequently cancelled. Maxine however quickly stepped in when the church booking became vacant. Melanie agreed to be her bridesmaid at her wedding to butcher, Ashley Peacock. At the bridal suite, Melanie had a fling with Tom Ferguson, which became an affair until Tom broke it off a month later.Vinny Sorrell
Vinny Sorrell, played by James Gaddas, appeared for a period of 15 months between 1999 and 2000. He has an on/off relationship with Natalie Barnes throughout, and works alongside her at The Rovers Return Inn as a barman and cellarman. Vinny departs Weatherfield in November 2000 after his affair with Natalie's sister Debs Brownlow is revealed. Vinny moves to Southampton with Debs where she gets a new job. Unbeknownst to Vinny, Natalie is pregnant with his child and she gives birth to their daughter, Laura, off-screen in 2001. Gaddas had previously played Robert Prescott in 1989, the brother of Dawn Prescott.Kathleen Gutteridge
Kathleen Gutteridge is the biological mother of Ashley Peacock. She is first mentioned when Fred Elliott reveals that he is Ashley's father. Fred tries to talk him out of finding her as it would hurt Ashley's adoptive mother, in reality his aunt, Beryl Peacock. Kathleen had abandoned Ashley when he was born and Fred gave him to his sister, Beryl, and her husband Sam.When Kathleen and Ashley eventually meet, Ashley is very bitter towards her. However, they are able to eventually reconcile and Kathleen attends Ashley's wedding to Maxine Heavey. Fred tries to woo Kathleen again, but she turns him down.