Rosie Webster

Infobox soap character
name = Rosie Webster



caption1 = Rose Webster in 2008
series = Coronation Street
color=#F0E68C
first = 25 December 1990
residence = 4 Coronation Street,Weatherfield
born = 24 December 1990
parents = Kevin Webster
Sally Webster
siblings = Sophie Webster
Jake Webster (halfbrother)
grandparents = Bill Webster
Alison Webster
Elsie Seddon
great grandparents = Jim Webster
Helen Webster
aunts/uncles = Debbie Webster
Gina Seddon
Carl Webster
1st cousin once = Paul Seddon
2nd cousin = Nicolette Seddon
romances = Craig Harris
John Stape
occupation = Assistant, Underworld
portrayer = Emma Collinge (25 December 1990 - 27 December 1999) Helen Flanagan (23 January 2000 - )

Rosie Webster is a fictional character in the United Kingdom ITV1 TV soap "Coronation Street". She was originally played by Emma Collinge from her birth and, since January 2000 by Helen Flanagan.

Creation

Background

A character that viewers saw born in the soap, Rosie Webster's birth was part of the "Coronation Street" Christmas storyline in 1990; the first baby born to the long-running couple Kevin and Sally Webster (Michael Le Vell and Sally Whittaker). Rosie was the first of two Christmas births featured in the series that year, as Gail Platt (Helen Worth) was shown to give birth to her son David Platt the following day.

Casting

Since Rosie was 10 days old and during the majority of her pre-teen years, the character was played by child actress Emma Collinge." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/594408.stm New Rosie Webster for Corrie] , "BBC News". URL last accessed 2008-09-26.] She played Rosie in various minor storylines, most notably portraying the effect that parental separation has upon a child, leading to a spell as a school bully. In January 2000, the press announced that Collinge would be departing the serial "to devote more time to gymnastics". "Budding actress" Helen Flanagan was recast in the role. Nine-year-old Flanagan, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, joined the soap on 23 January 2000. At the time, Flanagan told the media that she was "thrilled" with her casting. [" [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-60888920.html I'm thrilled says Street's new Rosie] , "Birmingham Evening Mail". URL last accessed 2008-09-26.] Flanagan discovered she had been chosen just a few days before Christmas Eve 1999, but she was not permitted to reveal this to anyone for two weeks. In 2000, her mother Julia Flanagan commented, "She was really thrilled to get the part and she was bursting to tell people but she just couldn't. The "Coronation Street" people had asked us not to tell anyone so we had to keep quiet. The hardest bit for Helen was not telling her grandad because he's such a fan of the programme. When he did find out he was absolutely thrilled. She is loving every minute. She's met most of the cast and is still very excited about it all." [" [http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2000/1/8/745710.html Why Helen stayed 'Mum'] , "This is Lancashire". URL last accessed 2008-09-26.]

Development

Personality and identity

In 2004, as Rosie tried to carve herself an identity, the character was shown to go through a goth phase, dressing in black clothing, wearing black make-up and dying her hair jet black. The storyline was part of Rosie's romance with Craig Harris (Richard Fleeshman), with both characters spending "afternoons in Rosie's bedroom listening to a Dutch metal band called 'Stench of Death' and counting down the days to the apocalypse". [" [http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/mar/10/tvsfavouritegothsarebackf TV's favourite goths are back from the dead] , "The Guardian". URL last accessed 2008-09-26.] In 2008, Flanagan revealed to"The Mirror" that she disliked her character's goth attire: "I’m used to being a goth, seeing as I had to dress as one as Rosie for so long. It was all so unflattering - really unfeminine, long black skirts down to the floor and horrible jackets." [" [http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/celebs-on-sunday/2008/09/19/coronation-street-s-rosie-as-you-ve-never-seen-her-before-115875-20744498/ Coronation Street's Rosie as you've never seen her before...] , "The Mirror". URL last accessed 2008-09-26.]

The character went through some personality changes in 2007, taking on a more glamorous apperance and becoming more manipulative and troublesome. Flanagan commented, "she’s gone from being a real innocent, experimenting with being a goth and having this sweet relationship with Craig, to being a real minx." [" [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article616617.ece Rosie's getting bloomin' saucy] , "The Sun". URL last accessed 2008-09-26.]

torylines

Rosie was born on Christmas Eve 1990 to parents Kevin Webster and Sally Webster. She was delivered in the back of Don Brennan's taxi on Rosamund Street. Rosie grew up a troubled child due to her parents frequently turbulent marriage, and went through bullying problems at school. Sally later encouraged Rosie's ambition to become a pop star and enrolled her in Oakhill grammar school. Sally was a pushy parent, and her relationship with Rosie suffered as a result, particularly when Rosie discovered her mother was having an affair with her boss Ian Davenport and was forced to keep it a secret from her father.

Rosie went through a a goth phase and became romantically involved with Craig Harris. She and Craig slept together twice, and when her parents discovered this they were furious; [http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/coronation_street/Rosie+Webster-12365.html] Rosie and Craig were banned from seeing each other. However, their relationship continued, and on one occasion Sally forced her to take the morning after pill, despite Rosie's insistence that Craig had used a condom. Rosie began taking the contraceptive pill, but when Sally discovered this, she phoned the police, although no action was taken against Craig as the sex was consesual. Sally drove Rosie at high speed to the moors to teach her a lesson, but lost control of her emotions and the car; both nearly died when the car skidded and, later on, Rosie had a second near-death-experience when she was hit by a car. Craig's caring attitude towards her after this incident led her parents to accept their relationship. However, the romance ended when Craig's family moved away from Weathefireld, and despite an attempt to elope to Berlin, Rosie realised she could not leave her home and family, so Craig departed alone.

In 2007, Rosie left school and began working at the knicker factory, "Underworld", as a personal assistant (PA). Rosie developed a crush on her boss Liam Connor, but her advances were quickly rebuffed. After some persuasion she returned to education to complete her A-Levels. She then began pursuing her college teacher John Stape, who was in a relationship with Fiz Brown. [http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/coronation-street-rosie-webster-is-after-fizzs-man/] [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article393952.ece] They began an affair in October 2007, which was revealed to the rest of Weatherfield on Christmas Day 2007, due to a mishap with John's Christmas present intended for Rosie, but opened by Fiz. Rosie and Fiz fought and Kevin beat John so badly he was arrested on assult charges. [http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/coronation-street-kevin-webster-goes-to-jail/] Realising the trouble she'd caused, Rosie ended her affair with John, while he was expelled from the teaching profession for having sex with a pupil.

John returned in July 2008, attempting to win Fiz back. When this went awry, he kidnapped Rosie in September 2008, after spying her kissing a boy. John blamed Rosie for all his woes. In a bid to frighten her, he sped around Weatherfield with Rosie in the back of his minicab, to teach her a lesson. He condemned her for destroying his chances with Fiz and ruining his teaching career.Rosie was terrified but unharmed as he eventually brought her back to Weatherfield. She turned the tables on him when she verbally abused him out on the street when he let her out of the cab. She told him that she wasn't sorry for Fiz breaking up with him. She became furious when Sally and Kevin would not believe what John had done to her as Lloyd Mullaney had witnessed her shouting at him refusing to pay the fare. [http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/latest/2008/08/06/coronation-street-rosie-webster-in-kidnap-plot-115875-20685780/]

After Rosie discovered an affair between her bosses, Carla and Liam Connor (in-laws) in May 2008, Carla attempted to bribe her, still unaware that Rosie had camera footage of them in a passionate clinch. In an attempt to snare Carla's fiance Tony Gordon, a scantily clad Rosie tried to seduce him at a hotel, but when he rebuffed her advances, she showed him the camera footage of Carla and Liam. [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23533646-details/Coronation+Street's+Tony+has+murder+on+his+mind+after+Rosie's+seduction+attempt+backfires/article.do] Tony responded in fury, threatening to harm Rosie if anyone found out about Carla's affair.

Rosie subsequently vanished much to the worry of Kevin and Sally. Police questioned Tony as he was the last person to see her. He told them that he had left her at the hotel following her sexual advances. They then questioned John who said that he hadn't seen her. In the meanwhile, Rosie's disappearance coincided with Janice Battersby's lottery scam in which she had used Rosie's identity to claim nearly 25,000 pounds which really belonged to the syndicate at the factory. This led to Janice becoming very worried. Sally and Kevin then discovered a letter from the lottery which led them to believe that she had absconded with the winnings. However, Janice has now admitted that she stole the money, Rosie's parents are even more worried and confused.

References

External links

* [http://www.itv.com/Soaps/coronationstreet/castandcharacters/qtoz/RosieWebster/default.html Rosie Webster at ITV soaps]