Toyah Battersby

Toyah Habeeb (also Battersby) is a fictional character from the British soap opera Coronation Street, played by Georgia Taylor. Toyah and her family were introduced to the serial by executive producer Brian Park in a bid to increase falling ratings. Actress and singer Toyah Willcox gave the producers permission to name the youngest member of the Battersby family after herself, since the character was said to be born during the height of her career. Taylor originally auditioned for the part of Zoe Tattersall, but was cast as Toyah instead. The role marked her acting debut. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 4 July 1997.

Toyah was portrayed as cocky, naive, too trusting and occasionally needing to be "a bit more clued up" about things. Taylor called Toyah a decent person and someone who was loyal to her friends and family. Taylor initially disliked Toyah's image, particularly her make-up and clothes, which were too revealing. Toyah's first major storyline saw her being abducted by a stranger. At the time, Taylor said it was one of the hardest storylines she had to film and the Independent Television Commission believed it should have carried a warning before it was broadcast. A few months later, Toyah became the show's first female character to be involved in a storyline surrounding the subject of under-age sex. The storyline was criticised by watchdogs, but Taylor defended it, calling it "educational".

Toyah began a relationship with Spider Nugent (Martin Hancock) in 1999, which lasted until Hancock's departure in July 2000. The following year, the character was the focus of one of Coronation Street's most controversial storylines, which saw her beaten and raped by Phil Simmonds (Jack Deam). The storyline marked the first time in 40 years that the show had included a rape. The storyline was criticised by some former Coronation Street cast members, who thought the producers were using the subject of rape to boost ratings. Taylor decided to leave the show in July 2002 and her character departed on-screen the following year on 5 February 2003. Toyah was well received by critics and Taylor received the Best Young Actor accolade at the Inside Soap Awards and Best Dramatic Performance at The British Soap Awards.

Following a thirteen-year absence from Coronation Street, Taylor announced that she had reprised the role in September 2016. She returned to filming the following month and Toyah's return scenes aired on 25 December 2016. Toyah's return storyline revolved around her decision to end her marriage to Toby Chapman (Andrew Dowbiggin) as she is having an affair with Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) whom she later has a relationship with and the pair becoming landlords of The Rovers Return Inn. Storylines since have included her desire to have children resulting in trying to pass Eva Price's (Catherine Tyldesley) baby off as a result of IVF treatment and her relationship and later marriage to Imran Habeeb (Charlie De Melo) which ends in Toyah causing his death. She was later arrested for his murder and found not guilty.

## Storylines

### 1997–2003

Toyah and her family move into 5 Coronation Street and soon upset the neighbours with their bad behaviour, most notably Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy). Toyah and her stepsister, Leanne (Jane Danson), steal from the local newsagent and indulge in under-age drinking. Toyah develops a crush on Spider Nugent (Martin Hancock) and turns vegetarian to impress him. She also asks him to help save a turkey from being slaughtered for Christmas. After arguing with her mother, Janice (Vicky Entwistle), and stepfather, Les (Bruce Jones), Toyah runs away to London to find her biological father, Ronnie Clegg (Dean Williamson). However, Toyah comes across Neil Flynn (Tim Dantay), who pretends to be her father and then abducts her. Neil takes Toyah to some woods, but while he is distracted, she escapes and is found by Janice and Les.

Toyah gets a job at Roy's Rolls, the local café, and begins dating Philip "Dobber" Dobson (John Donnelly). Dobber is a bad influence on Toyah, persuading her to steal from the café and threatening to dump her if she did not have sex with him. Toyah loses her virginity to Dobber but eventually sees through him and they break up. With the help of a former teacher, Ken Barlow (William Roache), Toyah's grades at school soon improve and she even wins a writing competition. While spending the night watching a lunar eclipse together, Toyah and Spider have sex. They soon begin a relationship and stay at Emily Bishop's (Eileen Derbyshire) house for a while until they find a place of their own. Toyah gets a second job as a barmaid at The Rovers Return and start to drift apart so when Spider asks her to go to India with him, she turns him down. Spider leaves Weatherfield alone. Toyah later has a one-night stand with Andy McDonald (Nicholas Cochrane).

After a night out with Sam Kingston (Scott Wright), Toyah decides to walk home alone, but is attacked and raped. Toyah is found by Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas), who takes her home. Janice initially thinks Toyah has been robbed and is shocked when Toyah tells her she was raped. Toyah gives a statement to the police and is examined at the hospital. Several male residents are suspected, particularly Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne), but they are ruled out by DNA tests. Toyah struggles to deal with what has happened to her and she develops agoraphobia. While being comforted at home by her friend, Phil Simmonds (Jack Deam), Toyah recognises his voice as he calls out her name and realises that he had raped her. Phil realises that she knows and stops her from escaping. Peter hears Toyah's screams and rescues her after knocking Phil unconscious. Phil is found guilty of rape and sent to prison. Toyah has a brief romance with Sam and moves into a flat with Fiz Brown (Jennie McAlpine) and Maria Sutherland (Samia Ghadie).

While on holiday in Blackpool, Toyah meets Goran Milanovic (Matt Zarb), an illegal immigrant. After a few dates, he proposes marriage, but she refuses before starting to date her college tutor, John Arnley (Paul Warriner). She is initially reluctant to introduce him to her flatmates and when she does, they are surprised to see that he is a lot older. John asks Toyah to move in with him and she agrees. When Toyah and Fiz argue about John, Fiz tells her that he and Maria had sex and Maria got pregnant. Toyah confronts Maria, who gives her the impression that John forced himself on her. Remembering her rape, Toyah attacks John in front of his class before dumping him. Toyah decides to leave Weatherfield after reuniting with Spider and they move to London.

### 2016–present

Toyah returns on Christmas Day, telling Leanne that she has left her husband Toby Chapman (Andrew Dowbiggin), as she has been having an affair. Toyah later meets Peter Barlow, her new partner, and they agree to tell Leanne that they are together. Toby visits Toyah to try and save their marriage but she refuses to listen or reconcile. Toyah then goes with Leanne to the hospital after she has a migraine. Toyah and Peter decide to keep their relationship a secret, but Peter's son, Simon Barlow (Alex Bain), sees them kiss using his drone. Peter tells Toyah that Simon knows and they ask him to keep it a secret for Leanne's sake.

Toyah argues with Leanne's half-sister, Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley), for not passing on a message about starting a shift at the pub, but they agree to call a truce. Peter leaves cigarettes at Leanne's flat and Toyah tries to take the blame, but Simon is forced to cover for her. He later tells Eva who blackmails Toyah: stop Peter from shutting down Aidan Connor's (Shayne Ward) factory or Eva will tell Leanne about Peter and Toyah. Peter agrees to Eva's demands and they continue their affair. Toby returns in January 2017 and demands Toyah sign a paper to destroy their frozen embryos. Toyah is reluctant and after a heart to heart, they kiss. However, Toyah makes it clear that she does not love Toby and is staying with Peter, causing Toby to lash out and leave. Peter learns what has happened and decides to drop off Chloe Tipton (Jo-Anne Knowles), making Toyah jealous. They later make up and Leanne catches Peter and Toyah kissing. During a heated argument, Leanne disowns Toyah and refuses to talk to her again, despite her efforts. Leanne forgives Toyah after she helps deliver baby Oliver in a lift after it breaks down.

Peter buys The Rovers Return from Steve (Simon Gregson) and Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard). After another round of IVF fails, Toyah is told that future treatment is not recommended as problems with her uterus mean that she is very unlikely to ever get pregnant. She and Peter look into surrogacy after talking to Izzy Armstrong (Cherylee Houston). The couple are accepted as clients by a surrogacy agency and Jackie, a surrogate mother, agrees to carry their baby after meeting them. She strikes up a feud with Peter's ex-wife, Carla Connor (Alison King), upon her return to Weatherfield. Toyah is later devastated when Jackie miscarries the baby and she is shocked to discover that Eva is pregnant with her ex-fiancé Aidan's baby. Toyah supports Eva's decision to have an abortion. However, Toyah concocts a plan shortly before the termination where Eva would give birth to her baby and pretend the baby is Toyah and Peter's through Jackie. Eva gives birth to her baby girl who she Toyah and Peter name Susie as they go through with the plan of pretending Eva's daughter is theirs, with Peter none the wiser. Peter later finds out and breaks up with Toyah selling the pub. Eva leaves the street with Susie meaning that Toyah no longer has a child. She starts to move on with her life and gets a job at the medical centre and has a fling with Imran Habeeb (Charlie de Melo) unaware Leanne is also having a fling with him. When they find out, they hatch a plan and pretend they want a threesome with him but the plan backfires when he realises what they are up to. Toyah begins a relationship with Imran and they later foster children together including Kelly Neelan (Millie Gibson) and become embroiled in her murder charge for her role in Seb Franklin’s (Harry Visioni) death.

In October 2021, unbeknownst to Toyah, Imran has a one-night stand with Seb's mother Abi (Sally Carman), resulting in Abi getting pregnant and, in 2022, giving birth to their son, Alfie Franklin. Toyah finds out about Imran’s paternity to Alfie and after marrying him to gain custody they get custody of baby Alfie, which included Imran lying and stitching Abi up by hiring colleague Ben Chancellor (Jon-Paul Bell) to take pictures of her supposedly doing a drug deal for evidence in the custody battle, however this turns out to be Abi paying off an old friend Dean (Anthony Crank) to stay away from her. (Dean had caused trouble for Abi earlier in the year). In June 2022, Imran and Toyah caught on to the fact that Abi is planning to flee abroad with Baby Alfie. Toyah considers going to the police. Imran's guilty conscience took hold as he eventually persuaded Toyah against getting the police involved and he tells her the truth about him framing Abi as a drug addict. The pair were on their way home when a crash occurred with them in the car. Imran later dies of a cardiac arrest caused by the crash and Toyah survives, but ends up in hospital. It later emerges Toyah caused the crash on purpose and she is arrested and charged with careless driving.

In July 2023, Toyah is kidnapped.

## Creation and casting

The four-strong Battersby family was created and introduced to Coronation Street in a bid to increase falling ratings. News of the family's arrival came days after the series producer, Brian Park, had axed three regular characters. He stated "The Battersbys are an exciting injection of fresh blood. They follow in the great tradition of the Ogdens and Duckworths, balancing the mix of comedy and drama for which Coronation Street is justly renowned." Actress and singer Toyah Willcox gave the producers permission to name the youngest member of the family after herself, since the character was born in 1982 at the height of her career. Willcox later regretted her decision.

Actress Georgia Taylor was cast as Toyah and the role marked her acting debut. Taylor was studying for her A-levels when she originally auditioned for the part of Zoe Tattersall. She was unsuccessful, so she then auditioned for Toyah and won the role. Of her casting, she explained "When I got the call to say that I'd got the part I just sat there open-mouthed, hugging my best friend. I could barely believe it. It is all very different than being on stage – it's not quite so intense because your audience isn't right there in front of you. But it's a very different type of satisfaction, working much faster with storylines and characters developing all the time." At the time of her casting, Taylor was two years older than the character she portrayed.

## Development

### Characterisation

A month before she made her debut on-screen, Toyah was described as being Janice's (Vicky Entwistle) 14-year-old illegitimate daughter, who would become "the scourge of every Weatherfield Comprehensive teacher". During an interview with the Daily Record's Polly Graham, Taylor stated "Toyah's gobby and cocky and makes her parents' life a misery. But it's brilliant playing her, it's more fun than playing somebody nice." Graham explained that both Toyah and her stepsister, Leanne (Jane Danson) were well known to the police for under-age drinking and burglary. Taylor said that she hated her character's clothes, as they were too revealing for her. She explained "In the beginning, the clothes that Toyah wore were terrible. I was very conscious of my bum hanging out from these tiny mini-skirts. There are a lot of girls who wear those tarty skirts, but I never felt comfortable in that sort of thing." Taylor also disliked Toyah's make-up, which was initially bright pink lipstick, a lot of black eyeliner and no foundation.

Toyah's image eventually began to change and she became more aware of the way she looked when she got a boyfriend and started college. Toyah also took extra English lessons from Ken Barlow (William Roache) in a bid to better herself. Taylor later commented that her character got on her nerves due to her naivety. She also thought that Toyah had a romantic view of love, was too trusting and occasionally needed to be "a bit more clued up". The actress added that Toyah was "a very decent person", who was loyal to her friends. Digital Spy's Kris Green described Toyah as "the more mellow of the Battersbys" and thought that it was due to Les (Bruce Jones) not being her biological father. The Daily Mirror's Charlie Catchpole commented that Toyah went "from lumpy, sulky schoolgirl to confident, radiant young woman".

### Abduction

Following an argument with Janice and Les, Toyah runs away to London to find her real father, Ronnie. However, she was "led on" by Neil Flynn (Tim Dantay), a stranger pretending to be Ronnie, and was later abducted by him. Taylor said that the storyline was one of the hardest she had to film: "In the story, I come down to London to track down my real father and things go badly wrong. Toyah hitchhikes all the way and just leaves herself so wide open. She is so naive and trusting and open to being used and abused." The storyline was filmed on location in the city of London in early August. An hour long episode focusing on Janice and Les' search for Toyah was broadcast a month later.

Jones, who played Les, revealed that the runaway storyline was tough on him and he began crying when he read the scripts. He continued "The four of us in the Battersby family read our scripts together to work out how we are going to play our parts. On this occasion, all four of us were sobbing. It is not like a normal Coronation Street story, it's more like a Taggart or a Cracker." Jones thought the "scrapes" that Toyah found herself in were frightening and hoped that if the storyline could stop one teenager from running away from home, then it would be worthwhile. The storyline attracted the attention of the Independent Television Commission, who believed that the episode featuring Toyah's abduction should have carried a warning before it was broadcast.

### Under-age sex

In October 1998, Toyah became the first female Coronation Street character to be involved in a storyline surrounding the subject of under-age sex. Toyah, who was sixteen at the time, had a holiday romance with Philip "Dobber" Dobson (John Donnelly). She quickly introduced him to her parents and was prepared to do anything for him, like stealing from the local café. When Dobber asked Toyah to have sex with him, she agreed, despite knowing that she should wait. Toyah was scared that if she said no, Dobber would break up with her. Toyah was persuaded to lose her virginity to Dobber in the back of his car. The storyline was branded "controversial" and "shocking", while watchdogs stated that it sent out the wrong ideas to young schoolgirls. Taylor defended the storyline and her character, saying "We have taken a strong moral line and are not promoting teenage sex. It's quite the opposite. Toyah's actions should be a lesson for other girls not to fall into the same trap. It was an educational storyline, and I feel it was done in a responsible way."

The actress went on to explain that the storyline showed how Toyah regretted her actions and that young female viewers could learn from her mistakes. She added "Anyone watching can see Dobber is just using Toyah and I hope the message gets across to other girls not to fall into the same trap." Toyah did not use protection with Dobber, so her sister, Leanne, persuaded her to go to the doctor for the morning-after pill. Taylor praised Leanne for being Toyah's "conscience and the voice of common sense". She thought that Leanne had given her good and responsible advice on how to deal with what happened. The Daily Record's John Millar agreed with Taylor and wrote that the storyline was "building to a stark warning for the millions of teenagers tuning into the Street." Millar believed at no time did the viewers get the impression that Toyah was doing something "admirable" and proclaimed that Toyah was "the sort of girl who needs care and affection, which explains why the poor soul was coaxed into losing her virginity after a holiday romance convinced her that she was in love."

### Relationship with Spider Nugent

Five months after moving onto Coronation Street, Toyah developed a crush on her neighbour, Spider Nugent (Martin Hancock) and even turned vegetarian to try and impress him. Hancock told All About Soap's Hilary Kingsley that Spider initially saw Toyah as "a chubby schoolgirl, a pesky brat who had a crush on him." However, when she listened to his issues and helped him with his battles against the local supermarket and the council, Spider began to admire her instead. Hancock explained "She was so efficient and hard-working that she became a friend. And then, over the summer, it hit him, "Blimey! She's turned out nice!" While Spider and Toyah watched the 1999 solar eclipse together, they ended up having sex for the first time. Hancock observed that both Spider and Toyah were overcome by the excitement to the point that there was "an explosion of lust." However, in the morning, Spider was torn about what had happened. He admired Toyah, but knew that if they became a couple, it would cause a lot of problems, particularly as there was a ten-year age gap between them. Taylor explained that she was happy that her character was getting together with Spider, although their scenes together often took place in the "grottiest" of locations.

Spider decided to "dodge his responsibilities" and began staying away from Toyah, who was not happy about it as she wanted them to make a commitment. Spider eventually changed his mind and Hancock commented "The fact is that he really fancies Toyah and he figures that he may as well be hung for a sheep as a goat." The actor reckoned that Spider and Toyah brought out the best in each other. Spider and Toyah soon began a proper relationship and briefly lived together. However, when Spider announced that he wanted to settle down and buy a house with Toyah, the couple realised that they had started to drift apart. Spider thought that if they got a mortgage together, it would help save the relationship, but Toyah did not want that at all. When Spider was offered a promotion, he realised that he did not want to work for the DSS anymore and quit. He then told Toyah that he had bought them tickets to India so that they could go and "find themselves." However, Toyah insisted that she did not want to leave Weatherfield. Nicole Carmichael from Inside Soap wrote that while Spider did not want to lose Toyah, he felt that he could not stay and soon departed.

### Rape

In April 2001, Toyah was the focus of one of Coronation Street'''s most controversial storylines. After enjoying a night out with her friend Sam Kingston (Scott Wright), Toyah is raped, beaten and left for dead in an alleyway by an unknown assailant as she walked home alone. The storyline began during a special 45-minute episode that was broadcast during the Easter weekend. Viewers saw Toyah being grabbed by her attacker, but not the actual act of rape. Instead Toyah is found by Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) just as he set out for an early morning run. Jason takes a "traumatised" Toyah back to her house, where she tells her mother what had happened. Toyah then has to repeat the story to the police and reveals that she does not know who raped her because she was semi-conscious during the attack. Toyah undergoes an examination and counselling at the local hospital. The scenes were shot at the St Mary's Hospital Sexual Assault Centre in Manchester, where the writers spent four months researching victims' experiences and working with the clinical director and the staff to get the scenario right.

The storyline was criticised by some former Coronation Street cast members who believed the producers were using the subject of rape to gain higher ratings than rival soap opera EastEnders. Taylor defended the storyline and hoped that it would help other women who had been attacked to seek help. She stated "The main focus of the storyline is the psychological effect that the attack has on Toyah. There are many women out there who have been raped or sexually assaulted and we owe it to them to make sure that the story-line is handled sensitively and accurately. There is no denying that rape is a sensitive and controversial storyline. But I have put my heart and soul into it trying to portray it accurately and I only hope that women who have experienced it will think I have given it justice." A show spokesperson commented that the storyline would be "handled sensitively" and that it would not become "a whodunnit". Some of the male residents came under suspicion and were forced to give DNA samples. Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) briefly became the prime suspect, but DNA soon eliminated him from enquires.

Toyah was aware that her attacker knew her as she remembered him calling her name, but could not put a name to the voice. She also struggled to deal with her "physical and emotional scars" and soon developed agoraphobia. Toyah found support from her mother and neighbour Charlie Ramsden (Clare McGlinn), who revealed that she had once been raped. Taylor told Inside Soap's Allison Maund that Charlie's advice really helped Toyah to start getting back on her feet. However, the process was hampered when Toyah received an anonymous phone call, which left her feeling "extremely frightened". The phone call sparked "a terrifying event" in which Toyah's rapist was finally revealed to be her friend Phil Simmonds (Jack Deam). When Phil came round to comfort Toyah, she recognised his voice as he called out her name and realised that he was her rapist. While Toyah tried to escape, Phil grabbed her and held her hostage. Toyah's screams were heard by Peter, who broke the door down and knocked Phil unconscious. A show spokesperson commented that Toyah would be left to worry about whether Phil would deny the rape and be convicted.

A couple of months later, Toyah received a letter from Phil asking her to visit him in prison and ,in return, he would plead guilty to raping her. Until the letter arrived, Toyah had been piecing her life back together by getting her job back at the Rovers and starting a romance with Sam. Of how Toyah felt about the letter, Taylor told Adrian Lobb from Inside Soap, "By the time Toyah gets the letter, she has grown a little stronger. But it comes as a complete surprise. Toyah doesn't trust Phil, obviously, and she thinks he's playing games. While part of her wants to confront him about the attack, there's another side of her that wants to let it go, and just leave it to the courts to deal with him." Toyah agreed to Phil's request to visit him and Taylor said that Toyah believed that seeing Phil in person would help her to come to terms with what happened. When Toyah came face to face with Phil, her first thought was how pathetic he looked. When Phil tried to make excuses for what he had done, Toyah did not feel any pity and told him to plead guilty, which he agreed to do. Toyah left the prison feeling "tearful, but triumphant" and Taylor commented that while she would never fully recover from her ordeal, Toyah was determined to look towards the future.

### Departure

On 30 July 2002, Neil Wilkes from Digital Spy reported that Taylor had quit Coronation Street after five years. Wilkes revealed that her contract would expire in October that year, but the actress had chosen to stay with the serial beyond that to give the writers time to come up with a storyline for her character's departure. Series producer Kieran Roberts added that he was sorry to see Taylor go, but understood her decision to move on. Taylor later explained that she chose to leave because she and the writers struggled to come up with storylines for Toyah. She told the Liverpool Echo's Janet Tansley "I was asked where she would go from there and couldn't think what she could do. If I couldn't see a future for her, I couldn't play her." Taylor filmed her final scenes on 3 January 2003.

Despite a rumour that Toyah would become a victim of serial killer Richard Hillman (Brian Capron), the producers decided that she needed "a fiery fling" before she left. Therefore, Toyah's last storylines saw her embark on "a passionate affair" with her university tutor John Arnley (Paul Warriner). However, the relationship quickly turned into a love triangle when John had an affair with Toyah's flatmate Maria Sutherland (Samia Ghadie). When Toyah discovered the affair, she decided to leave the Street and made her on-screen exit in February 2003.

### Reintroduction

On 20 September 2016, it was announced Taylor had agreed to reprise her role after an absence of 13 years. Taylor began filming her scenes in October 2016 and made her on-screen return in the episode broadcast on 25 December 2016. Toyah has often been mentioned and referred to by her family members since her departure. Taylor expressed her happiness at her return, saying "I am thrilled to be re-joining my old friends on the cobbles and hugely excited to be given the opportunity to explore the character of Toyah 13 years on. Coronation Street has always had a place in my heart and I'm delighted to be working again with my good friend Jane Danson and bringing the Battersby sisters back together." The actress also said that the upcoming storylines played a part in her return to the show. She described them as "fantastic, clever, and detailed". The show's series producer, Kate Oates, added that Toyah would have some secrets upon her return that she has kept from her sister, Leanne. The character's return storyline saw her showing up in Weatherfield after deciding to end her marriage to husband Toby (Andrew Dowbiggin), because she has been having an affair. Toby later follows Toyah to the Street, where he asks her to reconsider her decision and try for a baby. However, Toyah makes it clear that their marriage is finished and asks him to leave.

## Reception

In 1998, Taylor earned the "Best Young Actor" accolade at the Inside Soap Awards. In 2001, Taylor won "Best Dramatic Performance" at The British Soap Awards. She was also nominated for "Most Popular Actress" at the 7th National Television Awards. At the Inside Soap Awards, Taylor earned a ""Best Actress" nomination, while Toyah's rape was nominated in the "Most Dramatic Storyline" category. In July 2018, Taylor was longlisted for the "Best Actress" award at the Inside Soap Awards. She did not progress to the viewer-voted shortlist. For her portrayal of Toyah, Taylor was nominated for Best Soap Actor (Female) at the 2018 Digital Spy Reader Awards; she came in eleventh place with 1.5% of the total votes.

The People's Gavin Blyth and Jon Clarke stated that Toyah and Leanne were "rough, tough and make other streetwise teenagers look like they are fresh out of nursery." The characters were credited with increasing the show's ratings from 13 million to 19 million viewers. When Toyah met Dobber, the Daily Mirror's Tony Purnell commented "If anyone was going to find Mr Wrong on holiday it was Toyah Battersby." John Millar from the Daily Record wrote "The Street should be congratulated if the plight of Toyah Battersby – a brilliant performance by young Georgia Taylor, by the way – means just one schoolgirl says no to her lusting boyfriend."

An Inside Soap columnist observed that during the controversy over whether the show was right to run a storyline about rape, Taylor's "magnificent" portrayal of a rape victim seemed to have been forgotten. The Daily Mirror's Tony Stewart also praised Taylor's performance throughout the storyline, saying it was "so heart-achingly convincing". Stewart also wrote that Toyah's attack was "a chilling reminder of how brutal life can be". Stewart's colleague, Sue Crawford, branded Toyah a "disaster magnet". In June 2011, Rachel Tarley from the Metro included Toyah's rape in her list of the top 10 most controversial soap storylines.

Lorna Cooper, editor for MSN TV, included Toyah in a feature about soap's forgotten characters. Cooper said Toyah "didn't have the best of luck during her 1997–2003 stint on Coronation Street." A writer for Virgin Media quipped "Wayward teen Toyah rampaged through The Street in the 1990s. She fell for eco-warrior Spider but her life fell apart after she was raped by evil Phil Simmonds. She then followed Spider to London." In November 2012, Paul Millar from Digital Spy stated "Toyah Battersby was one of Coronation Street's best-loved characters – certainly the best-loved Battersby – during the time in which she graced the cobbles."

Laura-Jayne Tyler of Inside Soap praised Toyah's return, stating "We're loving every single second of Toyah being back, and actress Georgia Taylor is rocking her return like she's never been away. Having said that, we're not sure that she's fully embracing Toyah's steamy snogging sessions with Peter Barlow. If it were us, we'd be getting properly stuck in!" In September 2017, Katie Fitzpatrick of the Manchester Evening News'' noted how viewers found Toyah's middle name, Laverne, "hilarious" when it was revealed on-screen.

Fictional character from Coronation Street

Fictional vegan and vegetarian characters

Television characters introduced in 1997


Hobey Baker

Hobart Amory Hare "Hobey" Baker (January 15, 1892 – December 21, 1918) was an American amateur athlete of the early twentieth century. Considered the first American star in ice hockey by the Hockey Hall of Fame, he was also an accomplished American football player. Born into a prominent family from the Philadelphia area, he enrolled at Princeton University in 1910. Baker excelled on the university's hockey and football teams, and became a noted amateur hockey player for the St. Nicholas Hockey Club in New York City. He was a member of three national championship teams, for football in 1911 and hockey in 1912 and 1914, and helped the St. Nicholas Club win a national amateur championship in 1915. Baker graduated from Princeton in 1914 and worked for J.P. Morgan Bank until he enlisted in the United States Army Air Service. During World War I he served with the 103rd and the 13th Aero Squadrons before being promoted to captain and named commander of the 141st Aero Squadron. Baker died in December 1918 after a plane he was test-piloting crashed, hours before he was due to leave France and return to America.

Baker was widely regarded by his contemporaries as one of the best athletes of his time and is considered one of the best early American hockey players. When the Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1945, Baker was named one of the first nine inductees, the only American among them. In 1973, he became one of the initial inductees in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975, and is the only person to be in both the hockey and college football halls of fame.

F. Scott Fitzgerald idolized Baker and based Allenby, a minor character in the 1920 novel This Side of Paradise, on him. In 1921, Princeton named its new hockey arena the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink. The Hobey Baker Award was introduced in 1980, awarded annually to the best collegiate hockey player.

## Early life

Baker was born in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, the second son of Alfred Thornton Baker, a wealthy upholsterer, and Mary Augusta Pemberton, a socialite. Alfred, known as Bobby to his friends, had played halfback while a student at Princeton University in the 1880s, the same school his father had attended. One of Baker's ancestors was Francis Rawle, a Quaker who emigrated to Philadelphia in 1688 and became one of the wealthiest members of the city. Baker was named after his uncle, Dr. Hobart Amory Hare, who was the obstetrician at his birth and president of the Jefferson Medical Hospital in Philadelphia. At the age of eleven, Baker and his twelve-year-old brother Thornton were sent to St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. Baker's parents divorced in 1907 and both remarried.

While at St. Paul's, Baker was introduced to ice hockey. Malcolm Gordon, one of the first people to help develop hockey in the United States, was the coach of the school team and recognized Baker's skill. Baker was known by his classmates to be an exceptionally fast and agile skater. He spent nights skating on frozen ponds to improve his ability to move with the puck while not looking down. Baker was named to the school's varsity team at the age of fourteen and helped St. Paul's defeat some of the best prep schools and universities in the United States. In every sport he attempted, Baker soon demonstrated proficiency. His cousin said that Baker swam through water "like some sort of engine". After his first attempt at golf he was able to score in the low 40s on the school's nine-hole course; after using roller skates for the first time, he was able to perform one-legged stunts within minutes. He once entered St. Paul's annual cross-country race for fun and won, defeating some of the school's most proficient runners. At the age of fifteen he was named the school's best athlete for his skill in hockey, football, baseball, tennis, swimming, and track. Most of his former classmates recalled their time at St. Paul's with Baker solely by his athletic achievements.

Alfred Baker lost much of his savings in the Panic of 1907 and could only afford to send one of his sons to college. Thornton agreed to let his talented younger brother continue his education, a sacrifice that Hobey Baker never forgot. Although an above-average student, Baker stayed an extra year at St. Paul's in 1909 to allow his father another year to save money. By the time Baker left St. Paul's, his sporting achievements had helped make him one of the school's most popular students.

## Princeton

In 1910, Baker enrolled at Princeton University as a member of the Class of 1914. Along with six other classmates from St. Paul's, he lived in a house at 82 Nassau Street in Princeton. He joined the school's hockey, football, and baseball teams in his freshman year. The university's rules stated that students could only play two varsity sports, so Baker played outfield for the freshman baseball team before he gave up that sport to focus on hockey and football. In one of his first games with the football team, he helped defeat rival Yale when he faked a drop-kick field goal and instead ran the ball for a touchdown. Easily recognizable on the field because he wore no helmet, Baker was referred to as "the blond Adonis of the gridiron" by Philadelphia sportswriters. Princeton finished the 1911 season with a record of eight wins and two ties in ten games and won the national championship. During a game against Yale on November 18, 1911, Baker set a school record that still stands when he had 13 punt returns for 63 yards.

During the 1911 football season Baker scored 92 points, a school record that lasted until 1974. Princeton finished the 1912 season with seven wins, one loss, and one tie in nine games. As the Princeton hockey team did not have its own ice rink, most of their home games were played in New York City at the St. Nicholas Rink, one of the few facilities in the world with artificial ice at the time. The team finished the 1911–12 hockey season with a record of eight wins and two losses in ten games. During his sophomore year, Baker was invited to join the Ivy Club, the oldest and most prestigious of the eating clubs that were at the center of social life at the university.

Baker was named captain of the football team in 1913, his senior year. Princeton finished with a record of five wins, two losses, and one tie. Over his three-year football career with the Tigers, Baker scored 180 points, a school record that lasted until 1964 when Cosmo Iacavazzi broke it in the final quarter of his last college game. Baker caught over 900 punts in his career, and averaged 300 yards in punt returns per season. He was awarded a varsity letter in football five times; combined with the three letters he earned in hockey, his total was the most that could be earned at Princeton at the time.

It was during the 1913–14 hockey season, Baker's senior year, that his most famous game with Princeton took place. On January 24, they played Harvard at the Boston Arena. Initially the favorite to win, Princeton had a setback as one of its star players was injured and unable to play, and another was suspended. Baker was repeatedly called offside, as he was too fast for the two replacement Princeton players (players were required to stay behind the puck-carrier at the time). In the "sudden death" overtime, after sixty minutes of play, Baker was not even breathing heavily. The game was the longest college hockey game played up to that point.

The final hockey game of Baker's Princeton career was at Ottawa's Dey's Arena against the University of Ottawa on February 28, 1914, for the Intercollegiate Hockey Championship of America. Ottawa defeated Princeton by a 3–2 score. Princeton won the 1914 national championship after they finished with a record of ten wins and three losses. Statistics were not kept of his time at Princeton, but biographer Emil Salvini estimated Baker to have scored over 120 goals and 100 assists in three years, an average of three goals and three assists per game. As well as skill, Baker was known for his sportsmanship. In a hockey game against Harvard on January 22, 1913, Baker recorded the only penalty of his collegiate career, for slashing; Princeton lost the game 5–4 in overtime. He visited the dressing rooms of opponents after every game to shake hands with each player.

In early 1914, Baker graduated from Princeton, majoring in history, politics, and economics, and finished with above-average grades. He was named the school's best football player, hockey player, and all-round athlete and the man who had done the most for Princeton. The football team had posted a record of twenty wins, three losses, and four ties in Baker's three seasons as a member; the hockey team fared equally well with a record of twenty wins and seven losses. By the end of his football career at Princeton, he had two notable achievements: he had never fumbled a punt, and had never lost to Yale.

## Post-university years

The summer after graduation, Baker toured Europe as a celebrity correspondent for The New York Times, where he wrote about events like the Henley Royal Regatta. Through his Princeton classmates, he was hired by Wall Street insurance firm Johnson & Higgins upon his return to the United States. Soon after, another Princeton graduate offered him a job at J.P. Morgan Bank. Hired onto a two-year trainee program, Baker earned about \$20 per week. Baker befriended a rich New York socialite, Percy R. Pyne II, who had also attended St. Paul's and Princeton. Though ten years older than Baker, they quickly became friends and Pyne allowed Baker to stay at his house at 263 Madison Avenue. Pyne later introduced Baker to Jeanne Marie Scott, a socialite known as Mimi, to whom Baker was briefly engaged late in 1918. A quiet individual, Baker was embarrassed when bank executives brought important clients by his office to see him. He quickly tired of working in an office job, and looked for ways to alleviate his boredom.

Baker found enjoyment outside the office through sports. He joined the St. Nicholas Club, an amateur hockey team in New York, soon after he arrived in the city. Pyne introduced Baker to both polo and auto racing, sports he quickly mastered. Baker remained well known from his time at Princeton; marquees at his home arena, which was shared with Princeton, often said "Hobey Baker Plays Tonight". This made Baker uncomfortable and he eventually asked the building manager to take down the sign. Preferring a life out of the public eye, he once told a reporter that he would rather have nothing written about him. In order to leave the arena quickly after hockey games without having to deal with the public, Baker often borrowed Pyne's valet and car. During the two years that Baker played hockey with St. Nicholas, he was recognized as one of the best players in the American Amateur Hockey League and named to the post-season All-Star Teams both years. While still with the St. Nicholas Club, Baker was offered a contract by the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey Association. He turned down an offer of \$20,000 to play three seasons as social conventions prohibited a person of his standing from playing sports for money.

On March 24, 1917, Baker played his last hockey game at the Winter Garden at Exposition Hall in Pittsburgh. The game pitted an amateur all-star team from Philadelphia, led by Baker, against an all-star team from Pittsburgh's amateur leagues. The Philadelphia team defeated Pittsburgh in overtime by a score of 3–2. Baker scored all three Philadelphia goals to net a hat trick. Baker began to tire of playing hockey after 1915; the constant physical play of opposing players on the ice had taken its toll, and the growing professionalism of the sport went against his belief that sports should be played for the love of the game.

### World War I

Looking for new adventures, in 1916 he joined a civilian aviation corps led by New York City attorney Phillip A. Carroll on Governors Island, off the coast of Manhattan, a privately funded program to train civilians to pass the Reserve Military Aviator flying test and receive commissions in the Signal Officers Reserve Corps. He often went to the island late in the afternoon after he finished work for the day. Baker found the same enjoyment in flying that he had in sports, but with a more serious aspect. Prior to the annual Yale–Princeton football game on November 18, 1916, Baker in a Curtiss "Jenny" flown by fellow Governors Island student Cord Meyer (a Yalie), joined a squadron of New York National Guard Jennies led by Captain Raynal Bolling, the most to have ever flown in military formation, and flew to Palmer Stadium, home of the Princeton football team. The planes performed several maneuvers, to the delight of the crowd, and Baker landed on the field, becoming the first person to reach a football game by air.

The entry of the United States into World War I excited Baker, as it finally gave him a purpose in life and allowed him to make good use of his pilot training. He left the United States for Europe in the summer of 1917, among the first group of Americans to do so. Though eager to join the front immediately, Baker was told that he had to be certified by the French. Success in the courses was dependent on how quickly the pilots learned French, the predominant language of instruction. Though he managed to complete all the courses easily, a lack of qualified teachers meant that Baker was first sent to a school in England for more training and then back to France to teach Americans what he had learned in England, in an attempt to create pilots as quickly as possible. This discouraged Baker, who was eager to get into the front lines and fight. Owing to a lack of aircraft supplies, Baker was stuck in Paris, and doubted he would ever get to the front. While in Paris, he was happy to continue seeing Scott, who had enlisted as a nurse and worked at a hospital in France.

Baker was finally sent to the front in April and assigned to the 103d Aero Squadron, formed from former members of the Lafayette Escadrille and Lafayette Flying Corps in January 1918. Baker helped to bring down an enemy plane for the first time in his career on May 21, but due to a complicated system of confirming kills, he was not given credit for it. In a letter home describing the battle, Baker said it was the "biggest thrill I ever had in my life", and compared it to the feeling after a big sports game. Throughout the spring of 1918 Baker continued to lead planes over the front, and continued to see Scott, although he began to have reservations over their future together due to the financial disparity between them. After his first confirmed kill on May 21, 1918, the French government awarded him the Croix de Guerre.

During the summer, Baker was transferred to the 13th Aero Squadron after its commander, Captain Charles Biddle, requested that he join the squadron as a flight commander. Though reluctant to leave the 103rd, Baker felt that Biddle would not have requested him without confidence in his abilities. On July 20, the 13th Squadron recorded its first confirmed kill during a flight led by Baker; he and two other men shot down a German plane. In August, Baker and another pilot were promoted and given command of their own squadron; Baker was given charge of the 141st Aero Squadron, composed of 26 pilots and 180 enlisted men stationed behind the front line, where they had to wait for equipment to arrive before leaving for the front.

Various delays in the arrival of planes and equipment meant that Baker's squadron was unable to participate in the final major offensives of the war. In September, Baker became engaged to Scott. He asked Pyne to sell a bond to pay for an engagement ring, and the newspapers in the United States carried headlines that announced the engagement. Early in October, Baker was promoted again and given the rank of captain. The planes and equipment arrived for his squadron soon after. Baker had the planes painted in Princeton's black and orange and adopted a tiger for the squadron insignia. He recorded two more kills on October 28 and November 5, the last of his career (despite reports at the time of his death, Baker was not an ace, as that required five confirmed kills).

Around the time of the armistice which ended the war, Baker's engagement with Scott was broken off; Scott then began a relationship with an American diplomat in Paris, Philander Cable. Missing his fiancée and the excitement of the war, he felt directionless; he dreaded going back to work in an office and considered himself a sportsman rather than a businessman. Though he was scheduled to return to the United States in December, Baker requested and was refused an extension of his time in France.

## Death

On December 21, 1918, Baker received orders to return to the United States. Reluctant to leave France and return to his life in America, he decided to take a final flight at his squadron's airfield in Toul. As he went for his own plane, the mechanic brought out a recently repaired one instead, in need of a test flight. The other pilots remonstrated with Baker, but he maintained that as commanding officer he could not let anyone else test the aircraft.

In heavy rain, Baker took off and began to level off at 600 feet. A quarter of a mile into the flight, the engine failed. The plane was generally easy to crash-land if necessary, something he had done previously at the cost of a few broken ribs.

A few hundred yards from the airfield, his plane crashed nose first into the ground. He was quickly freed from the aircraft by his men, but died in an ambulance minutes later; his orders to return home were found in his jacket pocket. Baker was buried in a small military cemetery near Toul; in 1921, his mother had his remains moved to her family plot in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Though newspapers reported that Baker had died as a result of engine failure, unsubstantiated rumors began to circulate that his death was not accidental. Those who knew him were aware of his reluctance to return to civilian life and his feelings over the loss of Scott. He could have returned to America and played professional sport, where he could have earned far more money than from a job in finance, but his upbringing made that impossible for him. A career in business held no appeal; during a weekend vacation with a fellow Princeton graduate, Baker revealed that he felt his life was over, and he would never again experience the thrills of football or hockey. In 1966, author John D. Davies published a biography of Baker, in which he noted that a relative of Baker's could not see a future for him in the post-war world. However, Davies refused to elaborate on what he called the "suicide theory of [Baker's] enigmatic death", as he feared that "some of the old guard would be furious if they thought I was trying to prove it".

## Legacy

Baker is considered one of the greatest ice hockey players of his era, and the first great American hockey player. He was one of the first nine players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame upon its founding in 1945, the first American so honored, and was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as one of its charter members in 1973. Baker was posthumously awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy by the National Hockey League and USA Hockey in 1987 for his contributions to hockey in the United States. In 1975, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and is the only person in both the College Football and Hockey Halls of Fame. Baker was also inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

His popularity was such that, after he enlisted in the military, so many of his fellow Princeton athletes followed his lead that the school had to cancel its hockey team for the 1917–18 season; all five starting players enlisted in the armed forces. Of the eleven players on the team the previous season, nine enlisted shortly after Baker.

Baker was also the inspiration for literary works. In 1913 F. Scott Fitzgerald enrolled at Princeton as a freshman, when Baker was a senior. Though he only spoke to Baker once during their time at Princeton, Fitzgerald idolized him. His first novel, This Side of Paradise, has several references to Baker: the main character is named Amory Blaine after Baker's middle name, and the minor character Allenby is Baker himself. Mark Goodman's 1985 novel Hurrah for the Next Man Who Dies is a fictionalized account of Baker's life.

Baker's honors included a citation on March 27, 1919, by General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, for exceptional bravery on May 21, 1918, when he brought down his first plane. The Hobey Baker Award was established in 1981 and is awarded annually to the best player in NCAA hockey. The Hobey Baker Legends of College Hockey Award was also created that year and is given to the "all-time great contributors to the game of college hockey" each year. Since 1950, Princeton has awarded the Hobey Baker Trophy to the "freshman hockey player who, among his classmates, in play, sportsmanship and influence has contributed most to the sport." When Princeton opened their hockey arena in 1921, it was named the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink. At St. Paul's, hockey players compete for an award known as "Hobey's Stick". Inside the bar of the Nassau Inn in Princeton is a photo of Baker flanked by two other famous Princeton athletes, Bill Bradley and Dick Kazmaier. The Ivy Club, of which Baker was a member, has had a painting of him in the living room.

## Career statistics

### Regular season and playoffs

Amateur statistics from Total Hockey,
‡ Assists were not officially recorded as a statistic. The numbers here reflect only the assists that were credited to Baker. The actual total is likely higher.

## Awards

### AAHL

### NHL

## See also

- List of ice hockey players who died during their playing career

American athlete (1892–1918)

American military personnel killed in World War I

Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in France

Players of American football from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey players

Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)

Sportspeople from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni

United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I

United States Hockey Hall of Fame inductees

Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1918