Debbie has been sentenced to time behind bars
Coronation Street star Sue Devaney has revealed the changes she’s had to make as she portrays Debbie Webster’s prison plight in the long-running show.
Fans have been desperate for the much-loved character not to face time behind bars, with her taking the blame for the crash which killed Weatherfield vicar, Billy Mayhew, last month.
As those who watch the ITV soap know, the incident took place after a drunk Carl Webster left Debbie and Ronnie Bailey’s wedding, which was taking place in Yorkshire, with Debbie in the passenger seat. Viewers saw tensions rising between Carl and Debbie in the car.
And just as the latter was about to tell him something Carl ended up losing control, ploughing into the existing wreckages that had already piled up between Becky, Lisa and Betsy Swain, Emmerdale’s Aaron Dingle and John Sugden, and the minibus, carrying a number of Debbie and Ronnie’s wedding guests, driven by Billy.
In a cruel twist, Carl pulled an unconscious Debbie from the passenger side into the driver’s seat to make it seem like she was behind the wheel. He later collapsed and was aided at the side of the road by trainee paramedic, Asha Alahan. Meanwhile, Billy perished the minibus burst into flames, which came after Theo Silverton seemingly stopped him from freeing himself, knowing he knew of his abuse towards partner Todd Grimshaw.
As he recovered after the tragic accident, Carl was quick to convince Debbie she was the one driving. But little did he know, Debbie knew the truth, and was just keeping up the lie to protect him as she’s his biological mother.
Earlier this week, Debbie was continuing to get her affairs in order as she prepared for a prison stint, while also trying to create peace in her family by staging an intervention for her brother, Kevin.
However, they were interrupted by a fuming Carl, who wanted to have it out with Debbie after discovering she had chosen Ryan to take charge of the Chariot Square Hotel while she’s gone. Later, as he visited her at the flat, Debbie admitted to Carl that she was frightened about going to prison, especially following her dementia diagnosis last year, and Carl appeared to show a glimmer of guilt.
Carl finally had a change of heart about Debbie taking the blame for him when a distressed Ronnie told him that Debbie had called him ‘Ray’ and expressed his concerns that her dementia would only get worse when she’s put behind bars. Carl vowed to put things right, and when Ronnie explained his confusing exchange with Carl, Debbie rushed to stop him from going to the police. As Carl admitted it was him driving, Debbie said she knew and eventually blurted out that he’s her son.
An emotional confrontation then ensued between the pair, in which Debbie explained she was 17 when she gave birth and that while her step-mother, Elaine, wanted her to have an abortion, their dad, Bill, agreed to bring Carl up as their own. But Carl admitted it wasn’t the dream childhood and that he now knew why Elaine never wanted him.
Debbie broke down in tears as Carl said that she only wanted to go to prison for him to ease her own guilt, branding her selfish and a liar and that he hopes she enjoys prison as he won’t be visiting her when she’s behind bars.
During Friday’s (February 6) Corrie, ahead of her appearance in court, Debbie was upset to find Carl’s key to her flat behind the bar at the Chariot Square Hotel. Not wanting to go to court without him there, she headed to the cafe to find him, where he only confirmed how much he hated her for what she had done.
Later, as she took the stand, the judge explained how he would have given her a four-year prison sentence. However, after taking into account her guilty plea and dementia diagnosis, Debbie was handed two years and eight months inside. There were emotional scenes before, in the cell, she began to remove her false eyelashes as the noise of her fellow prisoners began to intensify.
Seeming to lose her vision, she cried for someone to help her. Her family were then informed that Debbie had suffered yet another mini stroke, and had been rushed to receive medical attention.
Speaking about playing Debbie’s upcoming prison scenes, actress Sue Devaney confirmed the changes that have been made to her long-standing alter-ego. She said: “So, I go into the dressing room, and there’s not a lot of makeup. So, I just give myself some mascara, scruff my hair up a bit. I have a really cheap lipstick ’cause you can buy makeup in prison.
“But it’s not the expensive Chanel that Debbie has. It’s cheap. She’ll have a little cheap lipstick and she’ll have a little cheap bottle of perfume so I’ll make sure that I don’t put my perfume on when I’m in prison. And the nails are off. No nails.”
On how Debbie is, she continued: “Oh, she’s scared. She’s frightened. She’s so frightened. She’s never been anywhere like that. Everything’s going to be stripped from her. Debbie’s mask is going to be gone, isn’t it? The dementia is taking every last bit from her, but also the prison is gonna be taking everything from her. And it’s how she survives that.”
But playing a different side to Debbie is something the soap star is loving. She said: “It is fantastic.Just a bit of mascara, you know, nothing else. It’s interesting to play somebody that, the whole front, the makeup, the way that they look, the what they drive, who they marry, everything has to be on show. So when you strip all that back, it’s interesting to play Debbie when it’s all stripped back. Who is she?”
And she’s also relishing the different storylines being thrown her way. “I love it,” Sue said. “Just when you think, oh, right, okay, I’m playing this dementia story then Oh, I’m getting married with a dementia choir. Oh now I am in a crash in a crossover episode, and to top it all my brother is really my son and I’m in prison for a crime I didn’t commit! How fabulous!”
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