Tony Gordon

Tony Gordon is a villainous character, who arrived as a love interest of Carla Connor, eventually marrying her in December 2008, after murdering her brother in law, Liam.

Arrival and Relationship with Carla Connor
Tony arrived in Coronation Street as the owner of a clothing firm, giving a contract to Carla Connor and her brother-in-law Liam, owners of the underwear factory Underworld. However, he was more interested in Carla than the business. Tony was unpopular with the rest of the residents in Coronation Street when he commissioned development for flats in the area, and also killed a colony of bats. Liam was suspicious of Tony, and discovered he had an ex-wife called Lindsey. She told Liam that Tony was only really interested in money and mostly himself, but Tony just told Carla that his ex was "crazy". Tony proposed to Carla in 2008 and she accepted, although she still had feelings for Liam, but he went on to marry hairdresser Maria Sutherland.

Tony's Empire
Tony planned on expanding Underworld and offered to buy The Kabin off Rita Sullivan, she started to like the idea. Tony also tried to buy Kevin Webster's garage, but Kevin refused and took an instant dislike to Tony. Tony then hired his friend, another mechanic, Jimmy Dockerson to sabatage Kevin's business and steal his customers.

Tony began to menace pensioner Jed Stone in August 2008, and wanted him evicted from his home in order to redevelop the place. Jed refused however, and kept closing the door in Tony's face. However Tony returned one day and barged in, and the stress caused Jed to collapse with a heart attack. Tony dumped Jed's cat on the Street, and called an ambulance, although he was tempted before just to leave Jed to die. He got Jason Grimshaw to board up the house, although Jason was wary as there where still money about and food in the fridge. Tony told the paramedics that Jed was about to sign over the house. Jed was distraught by losing his cat and home.

Murdering Liam Connor and Marrying Carla
Tony had suspicions that Carla was having an affair with Liam, so got Rosie Webster to video them. His suspicions were proven when Rosie showed a video of them kissing. Tony decided to have Liam killed in revenge. In early October 2008, Tony invited Liam and Maria to come with him and Carla for a weekend away. Tony took Liam to an underground cave and asked him to be his best man. Tony claimed he and his brother Pat had fallen out. Liam agreed to be Tony's best man at the wedding.

On the night of 16th October 2008, Tony hired his friend Jimmy to run Liam over on his stag night. Tony stole Liam's wallet and when they headed to a men's club, Liam thought he left his wallet back at the pub, so Tony convinced him to head back. When Liam stepped onto the road, Jimmy raced round the corner in his car and hit Liam, killing him on impact. Tony held Liam in his arms while the other men called an ambulance, and told him "the best man lost". Tony dumped Liam's wallet in the canal later that night after taking money out of it.

After the funeral, Carla decided to have a break and called off the wedding, before leaving for Los Angeles, much to Tony's annoyance. However, she later returned and they got married in December 2008. Jed also returned to the Street when Emily Bishop gave him a room at her home. Jed began to blackmail Tony for money. When Maria suspected Tony had murdered Liam after seeing the video of Liam and Carla kissing, and discovering Tony knew about the affair, she tried to convince everyone he killed Liam. Jed teamed up with her and told Maria about Tony evicting him from his home.

On Christmas Eve, Jed confronted Tony and after Tony accidently told Jed about Liam's killer Jimmy, Jed threatened to go to the police, which resulted in Tony strangling him. Thinking he killed him, he stuffed Jed's body into a Christmas hamper, and returned the next day to discover he was still alive. Tony took Jed to Wigan, telling him never to return to Weatherfield.

Carla's Discovery and Relationship with Maria Connor
In January 2009, Maria still tried to prove Tony was her husband's killer. When she looked for Tony in the empty factory, he confronted her. He then told Maria he murdered Jed Stone at Christmas, much to her disgust. She tried to tell everyone about his confession, but people thought she was still grieving and going crazy. After a failed attempt to tell the police, an upset and distraught Maria hit Tony with her car before crashing it. Tony was seriously hurt, but decided to stop Maria once and for all, and later took Jed back to Coronation Street and into the pub, making Maria look even crazier, which humiliated her. Carla however began to get suspicious of Tony when he saw him telling Jed never to return to Coronation Street again, or it will be the last thing he does. Carla followed Jed back to Wigan to confront him and discovered the marks on his neck. Tony tried to claim that they were marks when Jed tried to kill himself, but Carla was still suspicious and confronted Jimmy. When Jimmy failed to answer her questions, she knew that Tony must have had Liam killed.

Tony locked her in the factory in February, and Tony confessed to the murder, which led to Carla managing to escape and flee to Los Angeles, leaving Tony behind crying in the rain.

After a short relationship with Natasha Blakeman, Maria began to soften towards Tony when she saw him mourning at Liam's grave. They later became good friends with the previous events of her accusations completly forgotten about. Tony helped Maria deliver her and Liam's son, who she called Liam after her late husband.

Life looking up for Tony?
In late 2009, Tony and Maria state a romantic relationship, and on 16th October 2009, one year since Tony had Liam killed, he proposed to Maria at Liam's graveside. She happily accepted.

However, Carla returned from America and told Tony that he had gone far enough, telling him to leave Weatherfield after signing his shares of Underworld over to her, and to never return. Tony hired Jimmy to kill Carla, but later changed his mind and raced over to his flat where Carla was waiting. However, Carla knocked Jimmy out with a candlestick. Tony fooled her into thinking she had killed Jimmy. Carla packed and left again.

Quotes

 * Carla. Pity its not in happier times. (first line)
 * Father, son, brother, roadkill! Looks like the best man lost! (To Liam after having him ran over)

Background Information

 * For Liam's murder, three alternative endings where filmed to keep fans guessing which event would occur. Endings film where Tony pushing Liam from a balcony at one of the Victoria Flats, shooting Liam with a real gun during a paintballing session and having him run over. The third murder was used in the narrative.
 * Tony Gordon's absence from November 2009 to May 2010 was due to actor Gray O'Brien doing panto work. Although it was orginally intended for Tony to leave in 2009, producers offered Gray a contract to return for another storyline in Spring 2010 as they liked the character.