List of Coronation Street characters introduced in 2024
Coronation Street is a British soap opera first broadcast on ITV on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters introduced in 2024, by order of first appearance. Rowan Cunliffe made his debut in March, and was followed by Absolutely Fabulous star Helen Lederer who made a guest appearance as Elspeth. Kit Green made his first appearance on 13 May 2024, as the secret son of Bernie Winter. In June 2024, Joel Deering's parents, Anthea and Gus, were introduced.
Emily Wilkinson
Emily Wilkinson, portrayed by Ellena Vincent, is introduced as the wife of Joel Deering ; she made her first appearance on 9 February 2024. It was later revealed that she and Joel share a daughter named [|Maeve]. Ellena had shared that she had filmed scenes for Coronation Street, writing on Instagram: "Catch this Manc in Corrie! Had a lovely old time back in Manchester filming a few episodes of Coronation Street recently. Loved bringing Emily to the street and working with Calum Lill and Channique Sterling-Brown".Vincent played two roles at once in Coronation Street and EastEnders with the episodes airing within half an hour of each other. On Instagram Ellena wrote: "In a weird twist also ended up being in Coronation Street last night too which I'm telling myself is the soap equivalent of being in the Marvel/DC universes. Int life funny eh."
John Perry
John Perry, played by Ian Peck, is a criminal acquaintance of Harvey Gaskell, who gets in contact with Adam Barlow. He made his first appearance on 9 February 2024. Peck's casting was announced on 31 January 2024 and that he would be playing a guest character who would only be on Coronation Street for a short stint. This was Peck's third guest role in Coronation Street after playing a prison officer named Lindworth, and drug dealer Denton in 2015.John is terminally ill and owes Harvey a favour, so he is prepared to confess to the murder of Natasha Blakeman so Harvey can sort out his half-brother, Damon Hay, for Adam as she had an affair with his wife Sarah Barlow. Dan Seddon from Digital Spy described Peck's arrival: "Harvey's only chance of success lies on pinning Natasha's murder on somebody else – enter Weatherfield General patient John, who's willing to help them out."
Rowan Cunliffe
Rowan Cunliffe, played by Emrhys Cooper, made his debut on 15 March 2024. His casting was announced by Digital Spy on 5 March 2024. He met Leanne Battersby and Simon Barlow at the Chariot Square Hotel where they attend an event together. After Simon confessing to drink driving with Sam Blakeman in the back of the car, Leanne decides to help Simon by taking him to a seminar at the hotel being held by a mysterious group called The Institute. Debbie Webster advises Nick goes along with them as there's a wedding fayre on local to the hotel. On Rowan's character, Digital Spy reported that "Rowan approaches Leanne and offers her some unsolicited advice. Leanne is initially taken aback by Rowan's approach, but she drops her guard when he encourages her to share her deepest thoughts and feelings. When Rowan leaves and flashes Leanne a smile, she can't help but blush. Does this Weatherfield newcomer have a hidden agenda?"When Rowan arrived in Coronation Street, he begins to manipulate Leanne into The Institute, which begins to cause a rift in her relationship with Nick. This led to him having an affair with Leanne's step-sister, Toyah Habeeb, which Rowan finds out about and uses the information to blackmail Nick into investing into The Institute after he suggests to Leanne that it would be a good idea to invest £40,000 in the business. Rowan, along with Leanne have also been trying to persuade Amy Barlow into joining The Institute. Cooper spoke out about the behaviour of his character: "I think that he really wants to open another resource centre, so he's on a mission to raise the investment needed, however he can do that, and he wants to 'help' more people, so there might be some more characters he's bringing into the organisation…." Cooper added that he had "quite a lot of insight" when he researched into the role of Rowan before auditioning, and said it was "because I want to try to make the story as believable as possible".
On 12 July 2024, it was announced that Cooper would be departing Coronation Street. The Mirror reported that he would leave when his story "eventually comes to a close", but the storyline "is not ending soon, as the character's behaviour will worsen and escalate over the coming months." However, Digital Spy reported that Rowan's storyline was "always intended to run for a fixed period of time and set out with a clear beginning, middle and end." After being arrested on 9 September 2024, it was believed that Rowan had departed the series, however Cooper confirmed at the Inside Soap Awards, on 30 September 2024: "He hasn't quite finished his naughty business yet. There might be a little bit more of a twist yet to see, so keep watching and you'll soon see." When asked whether it was important to see Rowan get his comeuppance, Cooper replied: "I think so! It's been so fun playing Rowan. I think he's caused so much trouble that that would have to happen, right?" Cooper reflected on his time on Coronation Street: "It's been really fun, really exciting. It's a very important role, important subject matter. Just spreading the awareness has been a dream come true. There was lots of drama on screen, but off screen there was lots of laughs, lots of love. I made some really good friends and I enjoyed it all, really. Every day was a pleasure. I felt very comfortable with the actors I worked with. They gave me so much, so it was a really beautiful experience that I'll always treasure." Cooper was asked if Rowan would have tried to recruit anyone else. He laughed and responded: "Just the people with the most money, really! It would have been fun to do Ken! But I think it's the dollar amount – the most money would have been the most appealing."
On 4 December 2024, Cooper had announced his departure from Coronation Street. Cooper revealed that Rowan's cult storyline "resonated with my personal journey and childhood," as he had previously revealed that his parents were part of one. He continued: "Getting this part felt like a sure sign from the universe that it was written in the stars for me to return home. I haven't looked back," he added, describing his time on Corrie as "one of the most incredible professional experiences of my life." Cooper also thanked the cast and crew: "Lastly, I want to say I will forever be grateful to the amazing fans who embraced the evil Rowan despite all his dastardly deeds."
Elspeth
Elspeth, played by Helen Lederer, made a guest appearance on 27 March 2024. She caught the eye of Ken Barlow during a singles' cocktail night at the Chariot Square Hotel. She sends drinks over to him and his son-in-law Steve McDonald. Lederer had already teased a potential role on Coronation Street before her casting was officially announced on March 17, 2024.Lederer first spoke out about her casting to Digital Spy: "It came out of the blue but for me Coronation Street, of all the soaps, is the most substantial and ironic with such humour, it's really a class act. So when you get the call for Coronation Street you drop everything. And to be offered a part playing a role opposite William Roache is even more exciting. I had met him once before when I sat next to him at an event and I thought what a lovely man he was and so personable. So for me to be offered this brief role was a joy." Although Elspeth is only set to appear in one episode for now, Helen confirmed that she's open to returning to the role in the future and said "The answer to that is 'most definitely'. Ken had Steve to deal with but he was certainly interested in her. He definitely made sure he got her number, he initiated it. So who knows one day he might actually call her and I can come back to Weatherfield."
Rebecca
Rebecca, played by Gemma Merna, is a client of Adam Barlow whom he is to set his sights on. She made a guest appearance on 15 April. Inside Soap first reported Merna's casting on 2 April 2024 and Rebecca was announced to be a guest character as Digital Spy reported: " isn't expected to be a recurring role."Merna also commented on her casting: "I've wanted to be on Coronation Street since I was a little girl." She further discussed her feelings towards her casting by saying "Can you believe it?! I've wanted to be on Coronation Street since I was a little girl. Being born and bred in Manchester, it's truly a dream come true for me. It's been on my vision board for over 10 years, and finally, I got the chance to walk the cobbles. I can't even believe I'm writing this. I think the best part was ringing my mum and telling her." Merna also told Digital Spy that her family have been fans of Coronation Street: "To my dad, nana, grandad, and grandma, who all watched it for many years, and were huge fans. I hope you're proud of me up there. Rebecca will be gracing your screens in the next coming weeks."
Denny Foreman
Denny Foreman, played by Danny Cunningham, is the estranged father of Gemma Winter and Paul Foreman who made his first appearance on 29 April 2024 after hearing Paul talk about motor neurone disease and the struggles he has from suffering from it on the radio. His casting was announced on 22 April. Denny walked out on his family in 1992, when he and Bernie Winter split up. Gemma and Paul were two years old. Digital Spy reported that Denny's arrival will cause concern for Paul's family including his husband Billy Mayhew, who isn't happy about his arrival, reminding Paul that Denny used to be violent towards him when he was a child. Bernie is also upset at Denny's sudden arrival as she is concerned that Denny might "expose secrets from her past" to her current partner Dev Alahan. This will be Cunningham's second role in the soap as he previously appeared as Jimmy Sykes between 2000 and 2001. Chloe Timms from Inside Soap called the character "horrid" and hoped that Bernie would chase the character "out of Weatherfield".On 24 September 2024, it was announced that Denny would be returning to Coronation Street for Paul's funeral. He appeared in scenes airing on 2 October 2024. As the day of Paul's funeral arrives, Billy is emotional as it would have been their first wedding anniversary. After he arrives at the church, he is appalled to see Denny lurking around drunk. Knowing that everyone will be upset to see Denny again after he tried to steal from Paul, he orders him to stay hidden. On 30 September 2024, at the Inside Soap Awards, Daniel Brocklebank, who plays Billy, spoke out about Paul's funeral episode: "To film it was incredibly emotional. It's Corrie, so the fans can expect it to be moving, humorous, a bit of drama." On Denny's unexpected arrival, Daniel added: "Naughty Denny! What is he doing? He's so naughty. He does turn up. Billy's focus is more on the fact that he's about to bury his husband on what would have been their wedding anniversary. So he's thrown a little bit by Denny turning up. I don't know how much I can say without spoiling it, but it causes issues, let's just say that!"