It’s Kelly’s sentencing this week, how worried is Toyah about Kelly’s state of mind?
She’s really worried, Kelly attempted suicide after the verdict so she’s clearly hugely vulnerable and fragile and there’s a real worry that the sentencing could tip her over the edge.
Imran’s got himself in a bit of a fix after his blow out on the night of the court verdict and unbeknownst to Toyah, Sabeen is now blackmailing him to work on Harvey’s appeal. Does Toyah have any suspicions about Imran’s behaviour that night?
I think it’s fair to say that Toyah has been wary ever since Sabeen has been on the scene. That’s not because she doesn’t trust Imran, I think she doesn’t trust Sabeen. But to add to that Imran’s behaviour over the last few weeks has been out of character, he’s been so obsessed with Kelly and the trial that at times he’s been quite short with Toyah and rather neglectful. I think we’ve started to see a fracture in their relationship, they’re definitely not in a great place. Then the night of the verdict Imran stayed out all night, he told Toyah he got drunk in the office and slept there but even that is so out of character for him that it raises a few red flags with Toyah. There’s a part of her that’s trying to push it to the back of her mind but little things keep happening, for example she has a conversation with Gary where he tells her he saw Imran in town that night going into a bar, which obviously contradicts what Imran has told her so straight away she’s thinking what has he been up to and why would he feel he needed to lie. Prior to this Toyah and Imran have been a really solid couple but these cracks have started to appear and his behaviour has become a bit erratic.
When do the alarm bells start ringing for Toyah? Is it his reaction when Kevin confronts Sabeen outside court or when she realises he lied about his whereabouts that night?
Imran inadvertenly gets caught up in this and ends up with an elbow in the face. Sabeen jumps up straight away and says she’ll take him to hospital which annoys Toyah because she just doesn’t want this woman around, it seems like she’s popping up more and more. Then when Toyah gets to the hospital and sees them together there seems to be something they’re whispering about, which the viewers will know is the blackmail, but for Toyah it’s just suspicious. She’s trusting her instincts and her gut is telling her that something isn’t legit.
How does he react when she confronts him and does she believe him?
He just denies everything to start with, although his story keeps changing, and when you catch someone in a lie it just validates your fears. Initially he’s saying he slept in the office, then he went to a bar, next he crashed at a bar so Toyah doesn’t know what to believe. He’s not helping the cause by not being honest and making her feel paranoid. It’s really horrible, I really feel for her because she’s almost being made to feel like she’s going a bit crazy. It will turn out that there are things he’s lied to her about that night so she is justified in feeling like this but at the time she’s made to feel like she’s the one going mad.
How important is trust in the relationship to Toyah? Does she ever worry he could be a womaniser, he didn’t have the best start did he when he was dating Toyah and Leanne at the same time?
No because I think we’ve seen the character of Imran evolve from that place, although it was outrageous, in his defence they’d never actually agreed they were exclusive and Toyah was just using him for sex at the time. I think it was morally a grey area. Since then we’ve seen him really mature and want to be part of a family, going through the fostering journey with Toyah. There’s been a real softening of him and a really gentle and caring side has come out. They went through the trauma of him losing his sister quite early on in their relationship and I think that really cemented them as a couple because Toyah was really there for him. So I don’t think Toyah’s ever not trusted him, up until this point!
They’ve been through a lot together with losing Rana as you say, then the fostering journey and now Kelly. Do you think they are a strong couple?
I do think they’re a strong couple but obviously until they’re really tested who knows whether they’re strong enough to withstand the revelations that are about to come out. Charlie and I love working together, we feel very safe and when we’re busy we’ll get together to run our lines because you don’t get that rehearsal time on set. We have a similar work ethic, he’s really caring and he’s really good fun to be around so from a purely selfish point of view I really don’t want them to split up. We love working together but in a soap you can’t take anything for granted.
Would you like to see them get through this or do you think there could be someone else out there for Toyah?
No I can’t think of anyone else on the street that I could see her leaving this happy little fostering bubble of a family that she’s created for, I just can’t. But sometimes our producers throw us a real curveball and put characters together that you wouldn’t expect so who knows long term what they might have up their sleeve.
Do you think Toyah will continue to fight for Kelly, would you like to see her back with them or do they have doubts about such a troubled teen?
I think she would like to have Kelly back but what will be interesting is if the opportunity comes up to foster another child while Kelly is in prison. The maternal nature in Toyah is something that she can’t switch off. Toyah is more of a realist while Imran has become so emotionally involved in Kelly’s case. Toyah cares about Kelly immensely but she’s also a bit more realistic about what her chances are of actually getting out. They still have room in their home and room in their hearts to look after another child. But long term if Kelly were to come out then I think Toyah would welcome her back with open arms.
Are you enjoying the fostering element of the story, and the opportunity it opens up for lots of different stories in the future?
Definitely, we had the really sweet storyline at Christmas where they got a baby but it was so short lived, then came Kelly. I think it offers a really great opportunity for a variety of storylines and when you look at a variety of ages of different children that’s what is really interesting to explore, the difference between them fostering a toddler or fostering a troubled teenager. Both comes with their own huge challenges so it opens up a real sense of variety. I hope it continues because I think it’s really great to explore. There’s a really good history of fostering in Coronation Street that goes right back to Rita, then explored again with Anna and Faye and I think it’s a really good thing to shine a spotlight on. It’s nice to continue that tradition on.
Glenda Young
Twitter: @Flaming_Nora
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2 comments:
I wish the script writers could have left their relationship alone. There's a lot going on in this storyline, it doesn't need this extra bit. No couple is allowed to stay happy for long are they?
I agree. Toyah and Imran are a good couple, which means in soapland they must be put through the wringer and not left to be happy.
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