Tommy Deakin

Tommy Deakin was an Irish-born rag and bone man whose patch included Coronation Street, which he passed through occasionally in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His business was collecting and selling scrap, using a cart pulled by his donkey Dolores. He was known for his ragamuffin appearance and cheeky manner.

Tommy's regular haunt was the Flying Horse pub. In 1969, he played on the Flying Horse football team against the group from the Rovers, surviving an attempt by the Rovers regulars to get him drunk - Tommy turned out to be an even keener drinker than Stan Ogden. The following year, when the Rovers crowd were boycotting their own pub and drinking at the Flying Horse instead, Tommy organised a darts match and annoyed Albert Tatlock by trying to put Betty Turpin on the Flying Horse team. When the Rovers crowd returned to their pub, Tommy dropped by and tried to get a free drink from landlady Annie Walker by sending her a Valentine's card, but it failed as she considered him uncouth, his revelation shattering her illusion of a charming mystery admirer.

Tommy usually operated alone and was territorial over his patch. When he caught gypsies Reuben Ward and John Smith collecting junk in the Street, Tommy started a row but was saved by Ray Langton from being thumped by Reuben. In 1972, Tommy and another rag and bone man Dirty Dick opened the viaduct stables for Dolores, who they both laid claim to. They decided to settle the matter by holding a contest in the Street designed to let Dolores decide which owner she favoured, but the competition turned into a farce when Dolores went to sleep instead. Tommy then opted to give the donkey to Dick, but caused a stir by pretending to the residents that Dick had decided to sell Dolores to the slaughterhouse. The joint venture lasted only two months as in November of that year the pair were served with notice to quit the stable.

Apparently a pet lover, Tommy also had a greyhound called Duke. He did however sometimes want time on his own and in September 1968 he tricked Emily Nugent into agreeing to keep Dolores while he went on holiday in Majorca, telling Emily that he was going to hospital. In May 1974, Tommy and Michael Ryan were given lodings at 13 Coronation Street after advertising themselves as "businessmen" in the newspaper. The house's owner Stan Ogden wasn't happy about the deal and tried to make them leave even though they had paid £28 in advance. Tommy and Michael settled for their money back and Tommy managed to get Stan to agree to keep Dolores, cutting ties with his longtime business partner at last.

List of appearances
Episode count: 30.