Fiction mirrors life for Charlie Condou

There's a nice interview in the Mirror today with Charlie Condou who plays Marcus Dent on Coronation Street. Marcus has returned to our screens and I'm very chuffed that he's back. He's reunited with his ex, Sean Tully and Sean has had to take on caring for his son with Violet, Dylan, while Violet recovers from a car accident injury.

Marcus is fully supportive of Sean and is more than willing to help and his portrayer, Charlie, can relate. Off the screen, Charlie is in a very similar situation, co-parenting a toddler with his long time partner Cameron Laux. Charlie and a very good friend decided to have a baby via IVF and he and Cameron do their part in bringing their little girl up. In the interview, he relates that same sex parenting is getting more and more comming, and the high profiles of some celebrity gay parents is really bringing the issue to the forefront.

He says “It’s a great thing to have on TV, ­especially with a soap like Coronation Street which ­reaches so many people.” and finishes with “It’s the best thing I ever did. I don’t think you ever know love like it until you have children.”

It looks like Sean will have Dylan on board for a few months, so we should be seeing all the ups and downs of the couple suddenly taking on parenthood. I reckon they should rent that flat that Jason and Tina still own that seems to have been forgotten since the Kabin was rebuilt around it.

Will Sean and Marcus raise Dylan?

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Sean and Marcus with a baby carriage? Maybe, though I can't see it, myself. The Sun is touting an Elton John copycat storyline where Marcus and Sean get back together and end up adopting Violet and Sean's son, Dylan.

Unless something drastic happens to Vi, it doesn't seem like she'd give up the baby easily. And if something does happen to her, well, haven't we already done a similar storyline with Simon losing his mum and ending up with a reluctant Peter? Ok, that's the difference, in that Sean would be more than happy to take Dylan and raise him.

I think it's more realistic that Sean and Marcus get shared custody and have Dylan part-time but when has the sun of reality shone brightly on Corrie lately? Anyway, it doesn't matter, it will be great to see Marcus back together with Sean, whatever happens with Dylan.

Oh, Sean

I adore Sean. Well, I adore Antony Cotton and have done since I saw him in Queer As Folk at my tender age of 14. I love Sean but I think he's criminally underused. I would love for him to find a lovely man, get married and settle down - maybe they could move into the Peacocks' house if they are definitely leaving? I hate how Sean is mostly just a spare part and mostly - sadly - just the funny gay man who ribs the factory girls. I have a lot of issues with GLBT issues in Coronation Street anyway, but that's a different post.

But, aww. Tonight's first episode showed Sean being allowed to show some feelings for a change! He was complaining about Becky being all: "Baby baby baby," without any regards to his feelings as an absentee father. I forget sometimes about that kid. He must miss him. (Was he called Dylan?) Maybe we could have a storyline about Sean pushing for access?

Side note, I once saw Violet and Jamie (Jenny Platt and Rupert Hill) at a Ryan Adams gig in Manchester. It was shortly before they left Corrie. It was very surreal.

Will Sean be reunited with his son?

The Daily Star reports that Sean Tully may be reunited with the baby boy he fathered with ex-bezzie mate Violet Wilson. There's not a lot of detail and they've got the baby's age wrong, saying Violet left with Sean's two year old son, when the baby, Dylan, (The first baby born in the Rovers' bar) was actually two weeks old, though he would be two years old now.

Anyway, it seems Sean is going to attempt to track Violet down through Facebook. It seems a bit far fetched that she'd hook up to Facebook if she doesn't want Sean to find her but there you go. Time will tell.

FAQ: The first baby born in the Rovers Return?

Was Violet's the first Coronation Street baby to be born in the Rovers Return?

By 'eck it was good. With Sean supporting Violet's head and Marcus the midwife at the business end, there was screaming, hyperventilating, panting and groaning. And Violet did much the same too.

There are more Frequently Asked Questions here.