Sam Brewster

Detective Inspector Sam Brewster's investigative career with the Weatherfield CID brought him to Coronation Street on three occasions during the 1970s.

In July 1973, then a Detective Sergeant, Brewster headed up the investigation into Bet Lynch's mugging. Bet couldn't identify her attacker, but provided Brewster with his first lead when she told him that her £75 cut of a syndicate pools win was in her stolen handbag. Brewster suspected Stan Ogden, a fellow syndicate member. Under questioning, Stan lied about his movements before meeting Hilda at Jackon's Chip Shop, their destination immediately before they came back to the street and found Bet. With the finger of suspicion pointed at him, Stan - away from Hilda's ears - admitted to Brewster that he had been carrying Clara Regan's shopping home for her to 19 Inkerman Street during the missing fifteen minutes. Once Mrs. Regan confirmed Stan's alibi, Brewster let Stan know - in front of Hilda - that he was in the clear and exactly who he had to thank.

Another suspect was Norman Leach, who had recently threatened Bet, although Bet refused to tell the police why. Brewster told Bet that he couldn't proceed without full disclosure, but in any case Leach's mother gave him a complete alibi for the evening in question. The police were left with no leads until Bet's handbag surfaced, having been tossed over a wall in the yards. The bag contained the £75 and Leach's fingerprints. The CID had a good case against Leach, but still lacked a motive. This was provided by Alf Roberts, who fearful that Leach was going to get away with it, went to the police station to tell them what Bet was holding back for his protection: Leach had blackmailed Alf for £200 in exchange for keeping quiet after Alf "hit" his mother with his car (which was stationary at the time). As Mayor-elect, Alf couldn't risk a fuss so paid Leach for his silence. However, Bet, who had been with Alf in the car, forced Leach to return the cheque to Alf, correctly assuming that he had a criminal record and had more to lose from the situation than Alf. Brewster admitted to Alf that they had Leach in a cell and using the threat of charging him with blackmail, he invited Leach to plead guilty to assault. Brewster meant the threat as a bluff; as he told Alf, the courts would see the demand for money as an offer to settle out of court. Leach refused to play ball, but upon further consideration, he changed his plea to guilty.

Brewster next visited Coronation Street just after a robbery at Baldwin's Casuals in which wages clerk Ernest Bishop had taken a fatal shotgun blast. Now an inspector, Brewster took over factory owner Mike Baldwin's questioning from Det Sgt Thornton, going over the moment leading up to the gun being fired and getting descriptions of the gunmen while they were fresh in his mind. The men grew impatient with each other as Mike had only caught a brief glimpse of the men and was still in shock, while Brewster had to press him on the finer details. Afterwards, he arranged for Thornton to use Elsie Howard's office to interview the factory girls. As the wages snatch had taken place on a week when bonuses were being paid, Brewster suspected that the culprits had inside knowledge, but leaned towards the information being given out innocently rather than an inside man being more directly involved. Mike was then taken down to the station to look at mugshots. Using the information provided, the police apprehended the shooters, Ed "Tommo" Jackson and Dave Lester within days, and they were later found guilty of first-degree murder.

Brewster's final case in Coronation Street was the search for missing mother and daughter Deirdre and Tracy in the wake of a lorry overturning in Rosamund Street and spilling its load of timber into the front of the Rovers. At first, Tracy was thought to be under the wreckage, but a search underneath only turned up Tracy's doll. When the fireman went to tell Deirdre, she thought they were going to announce that they'd found Tracy dead, and slipped away from 3 Coronation Street with suicidal thoughts. Brewster was intrigued when Emily Bishop outlined the difficult few years Deirdre had been through, which included an assault in 1977 and a marriage breakdown several months earlier. Considering the possibility that Deirdre had killed Tracy herself, he questioned Emily, Annie Walker and Bet Lynch on Deirdre's state of mind before the crash. Annie and Bet confirmed that neither of them had actually seen Tracy outside the pub. Ena Sharples provided Brewster with a lead when she identified the doll as a gift to Tracy from Sally Norton, whose own baby had been put up for adoption. Emily got Sally's address from the hospital, and police found Tracy with Sally, having been snatched from outside the Rovers mere moments before the crash. Deirdre was located shortly afterwards at the canal side by WPC Harris. To stop her jumping into the water, Len Fairclough went back to get Tracy to prove that she was alive.


 * Brewster's first name was given in dialogue in Episode 1303 (11th July 1973).

1973

 * Mon 9th Jul
 * Wed 11th Jul
 * Mon 16th Jul
 * Wed 18th Jul

1978

 * Wed 11th Jan

1979

 * Wed 14th Mar
 * Mon 19th Mar