Why I love Fiz Brown

I love Fiz-bomb Brown. I think she’s one of the most interesting women that Corrie’s had in a long time and so it’s time I put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to sing her praises and tell the world why I enjoy watching the character of Fiz Brown so much. It’s no surprise she’s been nicknamed Fiz-bomb by Sean, she’s fizzling and sizzling with desire and passion, has mad handbags and fashion sense, and kicks out against the constraints of the cobbles as often as she can. Refusing to settle for Kirk, well-meaning though he is, is exactly in line with what her character would do. Fiz wants more than the cobbles can give or ever offer to her.

When she joined Coronation Street back in 2001, Fiz (played by Jennie McAlpine) was fostered by the Croppers after being dumped by her mother who’d gone on holiday and left her. We hadn’t met Cilla back then, but this sounds just like the sort of thing she would have gone and done. Fiz was a troublemaker in her early days on Corrie and falsely accused Roy of hitting her while she was in the care of the Croppers. She even threatened to sell her story to the tabloids after the Croppers kidnapped young Wayne.

When she returned to the Street as a regular months later, Fiz was still bubbly and loud but caused a bit less trouble. When she started work at the factory, she had all sorts of fancy ideas and wanted to be a fashion designer. Mike Baldwin laughed at her and wasn’t sure he would give her a job as he thought her too young. "How old are you?" Mike asked her. "Old enough to know me way around a cotton gusset" Fiz replied. It was good enough for Mike who took her on in the factory on a weeks’ trial and she’s worked there ever since. In those early days when she was chatting to the girls about life, love and men, Fiz told Edna the cleaner: "I need a man with a bit of lead in his pencil." "No" replied Edna, "You need a man with a bit of plastic in his wallet".

Fiz is a bright lass, with 8 ‘O’ levels. She’s loyal to her mates and acts as a mother to Chesney as Cilla has let them both down so much in the past. Much as I love her together with Kirkeh, she’s done the right thing, I believe, in ending their relationship. But is Mr Stape the right man for Fiz? Again, I think not. He patronised her in Monday night’s episode when he said she was great with kids and “you could be a great classroom assistant”. You’ll notice he didn’t think her good enough to ever be a teacher, a classroom assistant is the limit to her abilities and talent, according to him.

For me, Fiz Brown is a special type of Coronation Street woman. Her energy, enthusiasm, passion and desire are too strong and too big to be constrained in any way. When Kirk bought her the scooter it gave her some freedom of movement away from the Street but look what happened then – she crashed and burned while out chasing Chesney, trying to bring her little brother back into the fold. And the more she hits out against the confines of the cobbles – because she will, mark my words - the more she’s likely to get hurt, physically, emotionally and financially. Just you watch.