Bill Webster
Encyclopedia
William Geoffrey "Bill" Webster is a fictional character
in the UK television ITV
soap opera
, Coronation Street
. Portrayed by actor
Peter Armitage
, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 6 February 1984. He remained in the show until 1985 when Armitage decided to leave, he was bought back ten years later in 1995 but was axed two years later in 1997. He returned in 2006 and was axed in 2011, but later bought back again.
Bill is the father of Kevin Webster
(Michael Le Vell
), his sister Debbie (Sue Devaney
) and another son, Carl, from his marriage to Elaine Prior. He is grandfather to Kevin's daughters Rosie
(Helen Flanagan
) and Sophie Webster
(Brooke Vincent
) and Kevin's baby son Jack Dobbs.
(Pat Phoenix
). He also rents Len Fairclough's builder's yard from his wife Rita
(Barbara Knox
), and in the process the widow and widower become very friendly. Bill's first wife, Alison, had died of cancer in 1980. However, it is Percy Sugden
's niece, Elaine Prior, whom Bill falls for, and in January 1985 they marry and move down to Southampton with Bill's daughter Debbie, where Elaine opens a hair salon. Elaine later gives birth to Bill's second son Carl.
Sometime after this Bill and Elaine move to Germany
, where Elaine has an affair, and in July 1995, Bill realises their marriage is over, and moves back to Weatherfield, turning up on the doorstep of his son Kevin. Bill moves into Kevin's house whilst Kevin's wife Sally
(Sally Dynevor), whom he has never met, is away. To welcome his daughter-in-law home he cooks a meal, and burns down their kitchen in the process. Fortunately, he uses his building skills to give Kevin and Sally a new kitchen. Bill then gets a job as cellarman at The Rovers Return, and later moves in there. In November 1995, Bill loses his job at The Rovers when the Duckworths take over, and to make things worse, the next month he gets a tax bill for £1,400. He cannot afford to pay, so Kevin and Sally lend him the money - much to the annoyance of Rita who had given the Webster children £5,000. Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs
) asks Bill to do some work at the Crimea Street flats; in return he gets himself one of the flats and gets a business partner in the shape of Jim McDonald
(Charles Lawson
). In 1997, Bill has an affair with Maureen Holdsworth (Sherrie Hewson
) and the pair run away together to Germany just ten days after Maureen has married Fred Elliott
(John Savident
).
In August 2006, it was reported that Bill Webster was making a return to the cobbles of Coronation Street. He appears again on October 15, 2006 when Kevin, Sally, Rosie, Rosie's boyfriend Craig Harris (Richard Fleeshman
) and Sophie go for a weekend in Paris
. He returns to visit his family shortly after and begins romancing Audrey Roberts
(Sue Nicholls
). Bill returns to the Street again at Christmas 2006, and carries on his relationship with Audrey. However, Maureen turns up on Christmas Day, while Bill and Audrey are having dinner at the Platts' and Audrey's grandson David Platt
(Jack P Shepherd) reveals Bill and Audrey's relationship to a devastated Maureen. After Christmas, Bill and Maureen go home to Germany to talk through their problems. Several weeks later, Bill returns to Weatherfield alone confirming that his marriage is over. He moves in with Audrey, after working with Jason Grimshaw
(Ryan Thomas
) on the new take-away. Bill then announces his plans to buy 'Stubbs Building Yard', after the murder of owner Charlie Stubbs (Bill Ward
). Audrey puts up the money for the venture and the offer is accepted in April 2007. Bill goes on to hire David but later fires him as he believes that he is too much of a liability. Audrey and Bill split up in August 2008, following a disastrous trip to France with Janice Battersby
(Vicky Entwistle
) and Roger Stiles (Andrew Dunn
). In March 2009, Audrey tells Bill that she needs him to start making repayments on the loan she gave him and as business isn't sufficient enough he is forced to employ Jason on a job-by-job basis.
In June 2009, Bill meets a woman called Vanessa (Gabrielle Drake
) at a singles night and lies that he is an ex-soldier called Newton. He soon gets bored of Vanessa, and meets neighbour Pam Hobsworth (Kate Anthony
) who is having equally poor luck. The two manage to get rid of their respective dates during the next few days and begin to write personal ads. They soon realise that they are a compatible match and begin dating each other. In December 2009, Kevin tells Bill that Sally has breast cancer, and Bill is sympathetic and wanting to support him, as Bill lost his first wife, Alison (Kevin and Debbie's mother) to breast cancer in 1980. However, Kevin later admits to Bill that he has been sleeping with Pam's niece Molly Dobbs
(Vicky Binns
). Bill is disgusted with him and urges him to stand by Sally and forget about Molly. Facing increasing pressure from rival builder Owen Armstrong
(Ian Puleston-Davies
), who wins the contract to rebuild Underworld, as well as suffering the effects of the credit crunch on the building trade, Bill agrees to sell the building yard to Owen in August 2010. Since his retirement, Bill's appearances on the Street became less frequent. When Molly is killed in the tram crash in December 2010, a disgusted Bill cannot face attending her funeral with Pam, as he knows the truth about Kevin being the father of Molly's baby son Jack and is angry with the lies that Kevin is telling by comforting Tyrone and acting like his friend. Tyrone is suspicious about Bill's strange behaviour and has a furious argument with him after the funeral when he realises that Bill knew about the affair and Jack's paternity. Bill tries to reason with Tyrone and apologises for Kevin's actions but Tyrone furiously throws him out of his house. In April 2011, Kevin meets up with Bill in The Rovers and tells him that Sally had wanted half of the money he won on a lottery scratch card and that he had won the legal battle to keep it. Kevin tells Bill that he feels guilty for winning the money and tells Bill that Sally thinks he is greedy. Bill tells Kevin to prove Sally wrong and he later gives her the money. Bill and Pam later go travelling..
In September 2011, Bill returned with Pam and announced their plans to marry. After Pam told Kevin he is not allowed to attend the wedding an argument started and Bill suffered a heart attack and was rushed into hospital, he later recovered but Pam still stuck by what she said and refused to let Kevin attend the wedding.
The character was brought back for the second time in 2006, but as time went on his roles began to reduce. In 2011, the character was barely seen, only once in April. Later that year, it was said that Bill was axed by Phil Collinson, and that the character was travelling with Pam, which happened on-screen. Despite this however, Bill was brought back in September 2011 along with Pam. Collinson decided to bring him back later in 2011, having had a "change of heart" and later stating in an interview that he likes Bill and Pam together and admitted he had no clue as to why he wanted him axed.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the UK television ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. Portrayed by actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Peter Armitage
Peter Armitage (actor)
Peter Armitage is an English television actor who trained at the East 15 Acting School. He has been a regular on British screens since the 1970s. He has enjoyed three spells as the character Bill Webster on long-running soap opera Coronation Street, appearing in the role in 1984 , then from 1995...
, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 6 February 1984. He remained in the show until 1985 when Armitage decided to leave, he was bought back ten years later in 1995 but was axed two years later in 1997. He returned in 2006 and was axed in 2011, but later bought back again.
Bill is the father of Kevin Webster
Kevin Webster
Kevin John Webster is a long-standing fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actor Michael Le Vell, the character first appeared onscreen on 19 October 1983...
(Michael Le Vell
Michael Le Vell
Michael Le Vell is an English character actor, who since 1983 has played the role of garage mechanic, Kevin Webster, in the soap opera Coronation Street....
), his sister Debbie (Sue Devaney
Sue Devaney
Sue Devaney is an English actress. She has played various roles on British television including; Debbie Webster in Coronation Street, Rita Briggs in Jonny Briggs, Liz Harker in Casualty and Jane in dinnerladies...
) and another son, Carl, from his marriage to Elaine Prior. He is grandfather to Kevin's daughters Rosie
Rosie Webster
Rosie Webster is a fictional character in the British television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. The character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 24 December 1990. Originally portrayed by actress Emma Collinge from her birth until December 1999, the character has since been...
(Helen Flanagan
Helen Flanagan
Helen Joyce Flanagan is a British actress best known for playing Rosie Webster in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street.Flanagan has played Rosie Webster in Coronation Street since 2000, when she was ten years old....
) and Sophie Webster
Sophie Webster
Sophie Lauren Webster is a fictional character in the British television ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She is currently portrayed by actress Brooke Vincent, after previously being portrayed by both Ashleigh Middleton and Emma Woodward. The character first appeared onscreen during the episode...
(Brooke Vincent
Brooke Vincent
Brooke Levi Vincent is an actress in the British soap opera Coronation Street. She joined the soap in 2004, taking over from Emma Woodward in the role of Sophie Webster.- Career :...
) and Kevin's baby son Jack Dobbs.
Storylines
On 6 February 1984, Bill makes his first appearance when he comes to look at Brian Tilsley's (Chris Quinten) garage roof, which is leaking. Bill buys No.11 from Linda Cheveski, who is acting on behalf of her mother, Elsie TannerElsie Tanner
Elsie Tanner is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Patricia Phoenix from 1960 to 1973 and from 1976 until 1984. Elsie Tanner was one of the original core characters on Coronation Street and appeared in the very first episode...
(Pat Phoenix
Pat Phoenix
Patricia "Pat" Frederica Phoenix was an English actress who became one of the first sex symbols of British television through her role of Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street.-Early life and career:Born in Ireland to Anna Maria Josephine Noonan and Tom Manfield, but moved to Manchester before...
). He also rents Len Fairclough's builder's yard from his wife Rita
Rita Sullivan
Rita Sullivan is a long-standing character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street...
(Barbara Knox
Barbara Knox
Barbara Knox, MBE , is an English actress, best known for playing Rita Sullivan in the television soap opera Coronation Street.-Early life:Knox was born in Oldham, Lancashire...
), and in the process the widow and widower become very friendly. Bill's first wife, Alison, had died of cancer in 1980. However, it is Percy Sugden
Percy Sugden
Percy Sugden is a fictional character in the British soap opera, Coronation Street, played by Bill Waddington. He appeared between 1983 and 1997.-Creation:...
's niece, Elaine Prior, whom Bill falls for, and in January 1985 they marry and move down to Southampton with Bill's daughter Debbie, where Elaine opens a hair salon. Elaine later gives birth to Bill's second son Carl.
Sometime after this Bill and Elaine move to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where Elaine has an affair, and in July 1995, Bill realises their marriage is over, and moves back to Weatherfield, turning up on the doorstep of his son Kevin. Bill moves into Kevin's house whilst Kevin's wife Sally
Sally Webster
Sally Webster is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Sally Dynevor, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 27 January 1986.-Casting:...
(Sally Dynevor), whom he has never met, is away. To welcome his daughter-in-law home he cooks a meal, and burns down their kitchen in the process. Fortunately, he uses his building skills to give Kevin and Sally a new kitchen. Bill then gets a job as cellarman at The Rovers Return, and later moves in there. In November 1995, Bill loses his job at The Rovers when the Duckworths take over, and to make things worse, the next month he gets a tax bill for £1,400. He cannot afford to pay, so Kevin and Sally lend him the money - much to the annoyance of Rita who had given the Webster children £5,000. Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs
Johnny Briggs (actor)
Johnny Briggs, MBE is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Mike Baldwin in the soap opera Coronation Street, in which he appeared from 1976 to 2006...
) asks Bill to do some work at the Crimea Street flats; in return he gets himself one of the flats and gets a business partner in the shape of Jim McDonald
Jim McDonald (Coronation Street)
James "Jim" McDonald is a fictional character in the British television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actor Charles Lawson, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 27 October 1989...
(Charles Lawson
Charles Lawson
Charles Lawson is a Northern Irish film and television actor.-Early life and education:He was born Quintin Charles Devenish Lawson in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland,...
). In 1997, Bill has an affair with Maureen Holdsworth (Sherrie Hewson
Sherrie Hewson
Sherrie Lynn Hutchinson is an English actor, broadcaster and novelist.-Early life:Born in Nottinghamshire, Hewson was brought up in a showbusiness family; her father was a singer and her mother a model. She began performing at the age of six, touring the UK's theatres in revues with her own...
) and the pair run away together to Germany just ten days after Maureen has married Fred Elliott
Fred Elliott
Frederick Handel "Fred" Elliott is a fictional character from the British soap opera Coronation Street, played by John Savident from 1994 until 2006.-Development:...
(John Savident
John Savident
John Savident is a British actor, best known for playing the part of Fred Elliott in the soap opera Coronation Street from 1994 to 2006. And also was a frequent guest on Soccer AM alongside fellow actor Jack 'The Rigger' Spooner....
).
In August 2006, it was reported that Bill Webster was making a return to the cobbles of Coronation Street. He appears again on October 15, 2006 when Kevin, Sally, Rosie, Rosie's boyfriend Craig Harris (Richard Fleeshman
Richard Fleeshman
Richard Jonathan Fleeshman is an English actor and singer-songwriter. His television career began as a twelve year old, playing Craig Harris for four years in Coronation Street and most recently "All The Small Things"...
) and Sophie go for a weekend in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He returns to visit his family shortly after and begins romancing Audrey Roberts
Audrey Roberts
Audrey Roberts is a long-standing fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Sue Nicholls, the character first appeared during the episode aired on 16 April 1979....
(Sue Nicholls
Sue Nicholls
Susan Frances Harmar Nicholls is an English actress, best known today for her long-running role as Audrey Roberts in British soap opera Coronation Street.-Early life:...
). Bill returns to the Street again at Christmas 2006, and carries on his relationship with Audrey. However, Maureen turns up on Christmas Day, while Bill and Audrey are having dinner at the Platts' and Audrey's grandson David Platt
David Platt (Coronation Street)
David Daniel Platt is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. The character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 26 December 1990 and is portrayed by actor Jack P...
(Jack P Shepherd) reveals Bill and Audrey's relationship to a devastated Maureen. After Christmas, Bill and Maureen go home to Germany to talk through their problems. Several weeks later, Bill returns to Weatherfield alone confirming that his marriage is over. He moves in with Audrey, after working with Jason Grimshaw
Jason Grimshaw
Jason Grimshaw, is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actor Ryan Thomas, the character first appeared during the episode airing on 25 December 2000, when he comes looking for mother Eileen at the Battersbys' home.Jason is very much the...
(Ryan Thomas
Ryan Thomas
Ryan James Thomas and is an English actor who is currently starring as the character, Jason Grimshaw on ITV's Coronation Street.-Career:...
) on the new take-away. Bill then announces his plans to buy 'Stubbs Building Yard', after the murder of owner Charlie Stubbs (Bill Ward
Bill Ward (actor)
Bill Ward is an English actor who played Charlie Stubbs in Coronation Street.-Biography:He completed a degree in History at Bristol University. He is a former advertising executive. After Coronation Street, he had a role in the ITV series Cold Blood with Pauline Quirke...
). Audrey puts up the money for the venture and the offer is accepted in April 2007. Bill goes on to hire David but later fires him as he believes that he is too much of a liability. Audrey and Bill split up in August 2008, following a disastrous trip to France with Janice Battersby
Janice Battersby
Janice Bernadette Battersby is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Vicky Entwistle, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 6 January 1997....
(Vicky Entwistle
Vicky Entwistle
Vicky Entwistle is an English actress who is most famous for playing the role of "loudmouth" factory worker Janice Battersby in ITV1's long-running soap opera Coronation Street....
) and Roger Stiles (Andrew Dunn
Andrew Dunn (actor)
Andrew Dunn is an English actor, best known for the role of Tony in the BBC sitcom Dinnerladies between 1998 and 2000. He was born in Leeds, but was raised in North Shields, eight miles east of Newcastle upon Tyne, before leaving for London at the age of 20. He trained as a teacher but decided he...
). In March 2009, Audrey tells Bill that she needs him to start making repayments on the loan she gave him and as business isn't sufficient enough he is forced to employ Jason on a job-by-job basis.
In June 2009, Bill meets a woman called Vanessa (Gabrielle Drake
Gabrielle Drake
Gabrielle Drake is a British actress who was born in Lahore, British India and lived in several Far Eastern countries .-Career:...
) at a singles night and lies that he is an ex-soldier called Newton. He soon gets bored of Vanessa, and meets neighbour Pam Hobsworth (Kate Anthony
Kate Anthony
Kate Anthony is a British actress.She has appeared in Doctors playing Ellen Murray, Sparkhouse playing Jenny Bullock, Casualty playing Angela Phillips, and As Time Goes By. More recently she has appeared in Totally Frank, heartbeat and EastEnders playing Annie Grey...
) who is having equally poor luck. The two manage to get rid of their respective dates during the next few days and begin to write personal ads. They soon realise that they are a compatible match and begin dating each other. In December 2009, Kevin tells Bill that Sally has breast cancer, and Bill is sympathetic and wanting to support him, as Bill lost his first wife, Alison (Kevin and Debbie's mother) to breast cancer in 1980. However, Kevin later admits to Bill that he has been sleeping with Pam's niece Molly Dobbs
Molly Dobbs
Molly Cosette Dobbs is a fictional character in the British television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Vicky Binns, the character first appeared on screen during the episode airing on 5 September 2005. On 7 May 2010, Binns announced she was quitting the soap...
(Vicky Binns
Vicky Binns
Victoria Jane "Vicky" Binns is an English actress who is best known for her two roles in the two veteran ITV soap operas Emmerdale and Coronation Street respectively. She had a lead role in 'Von trapped' opposite Caroline Quentine and also appeared in Children's Ward playing a character named...
). Bill is disgusted with him and urges him to stand by Sally and forget about Molly. Facing increasing pressure from rival builder Owen Armstrong
Owen Armstrong
Owen Armstrong is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Ian Puleston-Davies. He made his first on-screen appearance on 9 June 2010.-Casting:...
(Ian Puleston-Davies
Ian Puleston-Davies
-Early life and career:Born in Flint, Wales, Puleston-Davies has starred in the ITV drama Vincent alongside Ray Winstone, and Ghostboat , alongside David Jason. He has also played the lead roles in Conviction and the BBC Three series Funland.He has starred in long-running dramas such as Holby...
), who wins the contract to rebuild Underworld, as well as suffering the effects of the credit crunch on the building trade, Bill agrees to sell the building yard to Owen in August 2010. Since his retirement, Bill's appearances on the Street became less frequent. When Molly is killed in the tram crash in December 2010, a disgusted Bill cannot face attending her funeral with Pam, as he knows the truth about Kevin being the father of Molly's baby son Jack and is angry with the lies that Kevin is telling by comforting Tyrone and acting like his friend. Tyrone is suspicious about Bill's strange behaviour and has a furious argument with him after the funeral when he realises that Bill knew about the affair and Jack's paternity. Bill tries to reason with Tyrone and apologises for Kevin's actions but Tyrone furiously throws him out of his house. In April 2011, Kevin meets up with Bill in The Rovers and tells him that Sally had wanted half of the money he won on a lottery scratch card and that he had won the legal battle to keep it. Kevin tells Bill that he feels guilty for winning the money and tells Bill that Sally thinks he is greedy. Bill tells Kevin to prove Sally wrong and he later gives her the money. Bill and Pam later go travelling..
In September 2011, Bill returned with Pam and announced their plans to marry. After Pam told Kevin he is not allowed to attend the wedding an argument started and Bill suffered a heart attack and was rushed into hospital, he later recovered but Pam still stuck by what she said and refused to let Kevin attend the wedding.
Development
Originally set to be a long-running character from his introduction, Peter Armitage decided to leave the show early on, and bowed out from his first stint as Bill Webster in 1985. Producer Bill Podmore voiced his disappointment about that in the book Coronation Street - The Inside Story (1990). Bill was reintroduced 10 years later in 1995, and remained until he was axed by Brian Park in 1997.The character was brought back for the second time in 2006, but as time went on his roles began to reduce. In 2011, the character was barely seen, only once in April. Later that year, it was said that Bill was axed by Phil Collinson, and that the character was travelling with Pam, which happened on-screen. Despite this however, Bill was brought back in September 2011 along with Pam. Collinson decided to bring him back later in 2011, having had a "change of heart" and later stating in an interview that he likes Bill and Pam together and admitted he had no clue as to why he wanted him axed.