Coronation Street ‘changes history’ as soap legend laid to rest before bombshell
Coronation Street legend Jim McDonald was laid to rest on Thursday night's episode of the ITV soap before a major retcon was put in place about the much-loved character
Jim McDonald was laid to rest on Thursday night’s episode of Coronation Street (Image: ITV)
Coronation Street legend Jim McDonald was laid to rest on Thursday night’s episode of the ITV soap. It was announced some time ago that the ex army man, played by Charlie Lawson, who initially appeared on the world’s longest-running TV soap from 1989 until 2000 and then made various stints until 2018, would be written out of the programme, and last week, his son Steve (Simon Gregson) received a call informing him that he had passed away.
As the world’s longest-running TV soap continued, Steve was all dressed up in a black suit ready to deliver the eulogy at his father’s funeral, but viewers did not get to pay respect to the much-loved character as all the action took place off-screen. Back at the Rovers, his granddaughter Amy (Elle Mulvaney) explained that just 17 people had been in attendance.
Rovers owner was then handed the order of service to take a look at as she poured the pints, and look of horror came across her face, especially when one of Jim’s old army mates from Ireland, known as Declan, walked in.
Steve prepared for his father’s funeral on Thursday’s Coronation Street (Image: ITV)
Later on, things had started to crumble as Declan confronted Maggie in the yard of the pub over “the big secret.” She pretended to have no clue what he meant, but he was hellbent on bringing it up. He said: “He was a married man. You knew that. With two young boys. Not that it was all your fault. Big dumb squaddie like Jim.
“You were awful lucky nobody caught on. I’m assuming they didn’t. I’ll not cause you any bother. The past is the past… and isn’t there plenty of it?” Towards the end of last year, viewers learned via a flashback episode that Maggie had had an affair back in her native Ireland but this is the first time it has been mentioned on the programme that it was with Jim McDonald, seemingly confirming that he had fathered Ben Driscoll.
For much of his time on the programme, Jim was famously married to Rovers landlady Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard), and, while the marriage survived numerous infidelities on her side, it collapsed for the first time when she admitted to having had an affair with his army colleague.
Newcomer Maggie Driscoll has been keeping a secret to do with Jim(Image: ITV)
Jim also endured numerous spells in prison, and a second attempt at marriage with Liz came to an end in 2005, but, as far as viewers were aware, Jim had never been unfaithful to his wife, whom he referred to as Elizabeth.
In the weeks leading up to the death of Jim, actor Charlie Lawson criticised his final storyline, which saw Jim uncharacteristically decide to con Liz out money by pretending that his girlfriend was the daughter they had lost several years earlier.
Charlie, who has also appeared in The Bill, Bread and Doctors throughout his lengthy television career and also worked extensively in theatre, recently hit out at the “weak” storyline, which was brought in when Kate Oates, who later went on to work on EastEnders, was in charge of the soap.
Charlie said: “The storyline was weak. So many people contacted me to say they hated it. I agreed to it before I even saw the script. The work was lucrative — you can’t really turn it down. Now he can’t be ruined any more. He’s out of his misery.
“I know I will watch that last scene and be able to say, ‘Well, what a load of s***e that was’. I will raise a glass to the old Jim, the one I loved and was proud of, who spoke his mind, with cracking, strong storylines in the Nineties.”
Speaking to The Sun, he added: “There are some bits I will miss about Corrie and some I won’t. But I have no regrets. That’s just life, so it is.”
