| Claire Peacock | |||||||||||||
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| Coronation Street character | |||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Julia Haworth | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 2003–2011 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 5483 9 April 2003 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | Episode 7514 14 January 2011 | ||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||
| Created by | Kieran Roberts | ||||||||||||
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Claire Jane Peacock (also Casey) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by Julia Haworth, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 9 April 2003, as the new nanny of established character Ashley Peacock's (Steven Arnold) son Joshua (Benjamin Beresford). Her storylines have since seen her fall in love with and marry Ashley, developing post natal depression after giving birth to their son Freddie. Claire was originally intended to be central to a long-running child abduction storyline, however, this was dropped by the show's producers as a result of its close resemblance to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
The character has been criticised by Coronation Street's former executive producer David Liddiment, for being used as a vehicle to support a politicised corporate campaign, encouraging social action and volunteer work. The storyline which saw Claire sectioned for mental health issues after developing post natal depression was similarly criticised by health workers, who opined that the plot line was poorly handled, and could potentially prevent women suffering from the condition from seeking help.
Haworth has commented that she sees the role of Claire as "one job in a career of many jobs".[1] The actress took a temporary break from the show in mid-2008 to give birth to her first child, though her character never left officially onscreen. Claire reappeared on 16 February 2009. On 23 April 2010 it was announced that the Peacock family had been axed from the ITV soap and Claire made her last appearance on 14 January 2011.[2]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Digitalwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Coronation Street's Peacocks Given the Axe". BBC. 25 April 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2010.