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Jack Webster (formerly Dobbs), named after Corrie legend Jack Duckworth, son of Kevin Webster and the late Molly Dobbs, has already managed to pack a lot of action into a relatively short time.
He was born in his parents' living room in September 2010, and for the first few weeks of his life he was raised by Molly and her husband Tyrone, who believed he was the father. Obviously nothing stays secret for long in soap land, and Tyrone discovered that Jack was actually the result of his wife's affair with his best friend, and then Molly was killed in the tram crash disaster in December 2010, so baby Jack went to Kevin, which was kind of awkward seeing as Kevin had previously told Molly he didn't want to raise a child with her, and Jack had been delivered by Kevin's wife Sally. His life was fairly quiet for a while and he was actually absent for two long periods of time when Michael Le Vell who plays Kevin took some time off.
But that all changed in 2015 when Kevin started going out with Jenny Bradley, who was secretly struggling with the death of her young son Tom. Maddie Heath, girlfriend of Jack's big sister Sophie, uncovered Jenny's plan to abduct Jack, but tragically died before she had a chance to share her discovery, and during her funeral, Jenny carried out her plan and took him to Hull. High drama followed when Jenny threatened to jump off a balcony with Jack as Kevin, Sophie and Rita desperately tried to talk her out of it. Thankfully Jack was handed back to Kevin and Jenny was taken away and sectioned.
It wasn't long before the next bit of drama came in 2016 when Jack was nearly run over by a tram in Blackpool, by which time he had a new face! Now, I have to be completely honest here, I saw spoiler pictures before the episode aired and my first thought was "eugh, what the hell's happened to Jack?!" That was in no way a reflection on Kyran Bowes who had taken over the role, it was just that he looked absolutely nothing like twins Jaxon and Maddox Beswick who had played Jack since he was a baby, and whilst they were incredibly cute, they were, to be fair, not really actors. Anyway, as soon as I started watching the episode I completely changed my mind, because Kyran was awesome! And what did it matter anyway, kids get recast with completely different looking kids all the time eg. Jack's own sister Rosie Webster, and Hope Stape.
Straight away it was obvious the character of Jack had changed, he was no longer a child being played by a child, he was a character being played by an actor. In Blackpool Jack ran off, because he wanted a balloon (kids!), and ran straight into the path of an oncoming tram, but was saved by Jenny who was there to put her own demons to bed after her own father, the notorious Alan Bradley was knocked down and killed by a tram there in 1989 while chasing Rita. So this wrapped up the bad blood of Jenny's past and the bad feeling between her and the Websters nicely, saving new Jack sort of made up for previously going mad with old Jack, and from there, new Jack went from strength to strength.
On New Year's Eve night, Jack went out on his own to look for help after Anna Windass, who was still recovering from earlier injuries, fell down the stairs. I swear his frightened little face looking up at the fireworks at the end of the episode could break even the hardest of hearts. He did only manage to find Anna's arch enemy Pat Phelan, but he did his best, and he was only six. Let's also not forget the morning after Kevin and Anna had had another argument, after Jack had heard Anna crying in the night, he offered her his teddy bear and said "I'm looking after you, cos you look after me". Find me a cuter kid than Jack Webster. I'll wait. Let's also remember how polite he was on his seventh birthday, thanking everyone for his presents, and what a cool little spy he was when he waved at Anna through the window as she was creeping off for her final showdown with Phelan, but kept it a secret like she asked, I mean honestly I could just make an endless list of reasons to love Jack.
And, drum roll please, in my opinion a Corrie Golden Moment earlier this year... "I know who you are Pat, and I don't think it's a game." He's seven years old and he stood up to one of the most feared villains in Corrie history, okay he could be bribed with a tenner, but even that was so he could buy some socks for Kevin for Father's Day, so there's no contest really, he is the coolest kid on the Cobbles.
Now this week poor Jack has been rushed to hospital with sepsis and his life hangs in the balance. Corrie have been using their platform to the absolute best of their ability lately and this is just the latest in a long line of storylines that is being used to raise awareness of hugely important issues that affect so many people. In the UK alone, 44,000 people a year die from sepsis, which is more than breast, bowel and prostate cancer combined, and globally it kills 6 million people a year. Next week Jack will end up having his foot amputated in order to save his life. Not only is this a very necessary storyline, it is also in very capable hands with Kyran, who has absolutely smashed these difficult scenes. He and the rest of the Corrie team have worked closely with experts and met up with real life heroes who have survived this terrible illness, in order to make this storyline as authentic as possible, and they have definitely succeeded. There is no point in doing such a serious storyline, designed to raise awareness of an illness, if the actor in question doesn't portray the symptoms of said illness convincingly, but that has absolutley not been the case here.
I thought Kyran was awesome anyway, but he gave an outstanding performance and absolutely surpassed himself in Monday night's episode, and I can't wait to see how Jack and his family will deal with the after effects of the amputation.
So, to conclude, however this storyline ends up playing out, Coronation Street definitely made the right decision in who they chose to portray it. Jack has evolved fantastically over the last two years, Kyran lights up every scene he's in, he pulls off happiness, sadness, fright and illness with amazing ability for his age (I don't know how old he is in real life but obviously not that much older than the part he's playing), and he's also adorable. I can't lie, I do want to adopt him! :) Also, in my opinion, if Alex Bain can win a British Soap Award for Best Young Performance as Simon Barlow in 2011, then there is something very wrong with the world if Kyran isn't nominated for one too after this. I just hope Jack doesn't do a Simon and get horrible as he gets older. I really hope we get to see a lot more of Jack in the future, and he must never be recast, ever. Jaxon and Maddox Beswick were perfect for when he was little and he only needed to look cute, but now he has grown and developed and become properly involved in dramatic storylines, there is only one Jack Webster, and that's Kyran Bowes, he is an amazing talent who absolutely shines, and he should be very very proud of the brilliant work he's doing. Take a bow Kyran, and when you're older and massively successful, remember this old lady who thought you were brilliant right from the start!
Guest blog post from Jade Rainbow who is on Twitter: @MissJE1994
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2 comments:
It's a bit of a stretch though, an 11 yr old playing a 7yr old. When the actor is 14 and sprouting facial hair is he still going to pass for 10?
Pedantics. Just enjoy the storyline for what it is. Never heard of a razor?
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