What is wrong with Toyah Battersby in Coronation Street and what is buried in the woods?
Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) will be left reeling in Coronation Street this week when a devastating ordeal she endured two decades ago comes back to haunt her.
The much-loved ITV soap mainstay, as viewers know, has been at war with sister Leanne (Jane Danson) in recent weeks over her obsession with cult leader Rowan (Emrhys Cooper).
But her attention shifts gear in upcoming scenes, after Roy Cropper’s (David Neilson) beloved pet dog Freddie goes missing while out on a walk with Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan).
Toyah is tasked with locating Freddie and thus she heads to a nearby park, where she spies a number of self-proclaimed internet sleuths digging at a rose bed.
The discovery leaves Toyah spooked and thus she wastes little time in quizzing the troublemakers about what they’re up to. They claim they’re trying to solve the case of missing Lauren Bolton (Cait Fitton), who vanished without a trace a number of months ago.
With Freddie spotted digging in the area previously, the sleuths reveal that they believe Roy, who is in prison for Lauren’s ‘murder’, disposed of the body in this particular spot and therefore they’re intending to dig it up.
Toyah is appalled and, overcome with emotion, she takes hold of the shovel and orders the sleuths to stop, smashing up their car in a bid to make them see she means business.
But just what has led to Toyah behaving in such a way? What’s exactly is it that has caused her outburst?
What is Toyah’s secret and what is buried in the woods?
It transpires that, after she was raped by Phil Simmonds in 2001, Toyah gave birth to a stillborn baby, which she buried in this exact spot.
The storyline in question, which was confirmed earlier this year, has been met with criticism from ardent fans and previous cast members of the show, will prove to be a massive retcon, rewriting the controversial and graphic storyline from 2001
At the time, there was no inkling at all of a pregnancy or stillbirth, despite Toyah being a prominent character during that particular timeframe.
But in scenes to come, viewers will be expected to believe that Toyah endured this ordeal in secret and buried her dead baby in the park.
Nick Tilsley (Ben Price), as viewers will see in Monday’s (April 22) edition of the ITV soap, knows there’s more going on than meets the eye and questions Toyah’s motives in smashing up the car, with Toyah adamant that she was simply defending Roy’s honour and that it hurt her to see the sleuths desecrating such a ‘special place’.
Her choice of words leave Nick puzzled.
In emotional scenes, Toyah opens up, revealing that when she was 19 years of age, she gave birth to a stillborn baby girl, which she kept a secret from everyone until now.
Simon Barlow (Alex Bain), meanwhile, returns home and, oblivious as to what’s going on, he confirms that the police are digging up the park in question, with Bobby Crawford (Jack Carroll) believing that they’ve found a body.
