Christina Boyd (Amy Robbins) has only just learned the grim fate of the daughter she had adopted years ago in Coronation Street. The victim of a brutal and mysterious killing, for which her husband and cousin of Tim Metcalfe (Joe Duttine), Richie Parkinson (Nathan Sussex), is currently imprisoned, was actually born to Christina, though she had seen nothing of her since she was a baby.
Christina only discovered the shocking death of her daughter when her partner in business and romance, George Shuttleworth (Tony Maudsley), showed her around the funeral parlour's digital filing system. Coming across the file of Rachel Parkinson, the blood drained from Christina's face, and as George filled in the blanks – that she had apparently been killed by her husband and their daughter, Lucy Parkinson (Anya Dewin), had been taken in by Tim and Sally (Sally Dynevor) – she found herself in desperate need of some fresh air.
Christina's confession and painful past
The need for fresh air gave way to the need for numbing, and Christina found her way to the Rovers, then into a drunken stupor, before George arrived and ushered his girlfriend home. As he pressed Christina as to what was going on in truly emotional scenes, she finally confessed that Rachel was her daughter.
'She had this child, she was in a very difficult situation, and she gave the baby away as a young woman,' explained Amy. 'And that's absolutely carved out the rest of her life. It's the reason that she's never been able to fully commit to her second child. She found mothering Daisy [Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan)] so difficult, because she was feeling so guilty about the first baby that she gave away.'
Christina told George that Rachel was the product of an affair between her and her much older, married boss when she was 18, who wrapped her up in promises of leaving his wife so they could be a family – promises that, alongside her heart, he broke.
Tim turns to Lisa for help
Left to raise the child alone, a young Christina struggled to bond with Rachel, despite her best efforts and hopes that her maternal instincts would kick in. Crossing paths with her ex-boss again, she told him of her plan to have Rachel adopted and he pleaded for the opportunity to take her, explaining that the cracks in his marriage that led to his affair with Christina had come from their inability to conceive. Christina, alone and desperate, agreed, and the following week was the last time she ever saw her little girl.
Next week sees Tim turn to local super cop Lisa Connor-Swain (Vicky Myers), worried about Lucy's increasingly disturbing behaviour, and asks her to investigate any potential pressure Richie might be applying to her. After all, he had already asked Tim to tell the police that Rachel was abusing him, effectively handing him a 'self defence' alibi, so why wouldn't he be trying to get his daughter to do the same thing?
When Tim and Sally later find Lucy sleepwalking, she lashes out upon awakening and declares that everything is her fault, sending Tim straight back to Lisa, pleading with her to investigate – all in earshot of Christina.
Christina approaches Tim for answers
Needing answers, Christina later approaches Tim under the guise of discussing Rachel's plaque, before attempting to find out what he knows about her daughter's demise, but a harried Tim is in no mood to play ball and manages to shut the conversation down in a hurry.
Will Christina be able to get answers as to what happened to Rachel without revealing her true connection to the dead woman? Or is that ticking time bomb, wrapped up in a secret, coming ever closer to exploding?
