Character Study: Gail Platt

Many Coronation Street fans these days regard Gail Platt as a bitter, miserable, bossy woman, a clone of her horrible mother-in-law, Ivy Tilsley. I think Gail is a wonderful character and she's number five in our list of top 50 characters. She's also another one, like Sally Webster, whose personality hasn't really changed all that dramatically over the years, just progressed in a logical pattern due to life circumstances.

Click through to learn all about Gail Potter Tilsley (twice) Platt Hillman (and now back to Platt again)

Gail Potter was the second child of teenage Audrey Potter. Audrey had a son, Stephen, a year or so earlier and was forced to give him up for adoption. She dug her heels in and insisted she keep her daughter. Audrey was not the most responsible single mum and Gail pretty much raised herself with some help from Audrey's parents while Audrey spent her time gadding about and chasing boys. Gail was the responsible one, and as a result, Gail had to be tough, strong and independent. What Gail missed most was the security and support of a real family.

When we met Gail, she was 16 and working in the Mark Brittain warehouse. She was soon living on her own, sharing a flat with Tricia Hopkins (photo above), and later with mate Suzie Birchill. Gail liked to have fun but always seemed to be the more sensible of the two, going along for the ride rather than instigating the escapades. She had her heart broken early by an older married man, Roy Thornley, the first of many. Career wise, Gail has often been in a supervisory position, even at that young age. Clearly she had the personality for telling people what to do!

She met her future husband, Brian Tilsley and he appeared to be everything she wanted. Good looking, with a full time job and a loving family, he was the ideal man; someone she could settle down with and have a family of her own. Gail's strong and bossy side soon came out, trying to force spendthrift Brian to save every penny for a house and her independent side surfaced when she insisted on working, even after her children were born. She had to stand her ground many a time over the years against her interfering mother-in-law who never really approved of her. She and Brian even split up for a time after she turned to his cousin for comfort when her marriage was going through a rocky patch. A single mother, something she never wanted to be, was a hard row to hoe and in the end, she and Brian reconciled. She soon realized she made a mistake. She couldn't be the wife Brian wanted, someone like his mother who would cook and clean and look after him and his children above all else. After a massive row over a potential divorce, however, Brian was killed in an alley outside a club and Gail was now a widow.

Not only did she have to deal with her own and her children's grief, but she had to deal with guilt and even worse, Ivy's grief and anger. Strength and determination helped get her through this period and she soon found herself leaning on young Martin Platt who was a great help with young Nicky. Even though she found love again, Gail's stubborn streak caused many a ruction in that house. She was always afraid she'd lose Martin to a younger woman and nearly terminated a pregnancy because she didn't want the young man to be tied down but he persuaded her to have the baby, David, They married, Martin adopted Gail's two children and they bought a house on Coronation Street, all of which Gail had initially not wanted to do, preferring the safe to the unknown. Martin's optimistic youthfulness was good for Gail, it helped lighten her a bit and he was more than willing to take on his share of responsibility.

But in the end, Martin let her down and did indeed leave her for a younger woman. Gail then had to deal with the shock of having her 13 year old daughter become pregnant. Gail was not only a single mother again, but helping to raise a grandchild. She lost one of her best friends to cancer and it wasn't long after that when she married again, a man she thought would give her the security and love she was always looking for. He turned out to be a murderer, nearly killing her whole family and leaving her in debt and doubt about herself. Is it any wonder she started clinging to them and insisting she knew what was best for them?

She seems to have made peace with her mother over the years but the old bitterness still bubbles over once in awhile. When her own life has been filled with turmoil, she pins all her hopes on her children, her only constants in life. She's become the woman she always swore she wouldn't, her mother-in-law Ivy! Ivy doted on and spoiled her only son but Gail's children were part of her survival instinct, they are what got her through so much tragedy.

Gail grew up knowing she could only depend on herself, that's where her "I know what's best for you" attitude comes from. She wanted nothing more than to be the mother that she didn't have but has gone too far the other way and over compensated. She was determined that her children would never have to fend for themselves but never figured out how to let them go and do just that when they were old enough. She has hung on too tightly and seen her offspring slip through her fingers and in David's case, go right off the rails. She makes excuses for them and seems to have blinders on to their negative traits because she feels guilty about making decisions that affected them badly. The Gail we know today is a product of years of guilt, tragedy and survival. She has built a wall around her heart and has made her children her life.