Jackie Dobbs

Jackie Dobbs is the gobby and troublesome mother of Tyrone Dobbs and ex-cellmate of Deirdre Barlow. She left the Street to go off with her husband Darren, but returned ten years later for Tyrone's wedding to Molly Compton, although Jackie was still up to trouble when she took money from Tyrone to pay off debt, caused trouble at Molly's hen night and ended up pinching their honeymoon tickets.

A year later, Jackie returned again to support Tyrone after Molly left him and gave Molly a piece of her mind by confronting her in the Corner Shop and threatening her. Jackie showed a more caring side, but went back to her own ways by inviting men back for one night stands. Tyrone and Molly got back together and Tyrone threw Jackie out of the house after having quite enough of her. Jackie was imprisoned some time later for assualting a police officer and couldn't arrive for Molly's funeral when she died following a tram crash in the Street.

1954-1999: Life on the Street
Jackie proved to be an old hand at prison knowing how to adapt to the system. We learned that she has had at least one prior spell in jail when she spotted an old friend from an earlier stretch in Styal Prison and shared a cell inside Redford Prison with Deirdre during Spring 1998. Jackie initially gave Deirdre a hard time but claimed this was for her own good as she was guaranteed a tough spell in prison if she thought she was better than the other inmates.

Jackie's protective attitude towards Deirdre was demonstrated when she punched a prison warder, Officer Veitch, on Deirdre's behalf, who took particular pleasure in baiting Deirdre. Jackie knew that Deirdre was due out on appeal and declared that as she was in for at least six more months Deirdre could "have this one on me" as she floored Veitch. Just before Deirdre left prison Jackie made it clear that she owed her.

Jackie called the debt in by turning up unannounced on Deirdre's doorstep seven months later. Jackie was out on parole and found that her man had taken up with another woman. She looked to Deirdre for help. Jackie made herself comfortable, though unwelcome, at Deirdre's flat.

Jackie soon showed she was a chancer out for a good time by sizing up the male clientele of the Rovers and latched on to Les Battersby whom she got to buy her drinks by declaring he had "come to bed eyes". Jackie continued this throughout her stay on the Street, teasing Les and leading him on, usually to get him to buy her more drinks.

Jackie further established her credentials as a mouthy troublemaker by embarrassing Audrey Roberts when she made it clear that she did not want to let her rent the flat above the hairdressers. Jackie loudly announced that Audrey was a "stuck up cow" and shouted to the salon customers that she "hoped they all got nits".

Jackie managed to talk Mike Baldwin into giving her a job at Underworld and regaled the girls with tales of lurid goings on during Deirdre's spell in prison.

Jackie's next surprise for Deirdre was the arrival of her delinquent son Tyrone Dobbs, who had been thrown out on the streets by his father. Tyrone broke into No.7, left empty by Curly Watts. Jackie and Tyrone ended up squatting at Curly's place when Deirdre's patience finally cracked at their abuse of her hospitality.

Jackie again got help from Deirdre when she was sacked from Underworld for stealing knickers. Deirdre persuaded Mike not to call the police as this would probably have resulted in Jackie being sent straight back to prison.

Jackie asked Alma Halliwell, who was looking after No.7 in Curly's absence, to allow her and Tyrone to stay on a more formal basis paying rent (or at least Social Security would pay rent on her behalf). Alma had her hand forced when Jackie told her that the building society was looking to repossess the house as the mortgage was not being paid.

Jackie's life became complicated with the return of Curly Watts who, understandably, wanted his house back. Jackie prepared for a siege, pouring water over Curly's head as he banged on the door demanding to be let in. Jackie got Les Battersby to change all the locks by again leading him on. She invited him for the evening but arranged for Tyrone to arrive home early. She managed to steal Les's wallet, which led to her eventual downfall as Les gave Curly a spare key in revenge when he realised what she had done.

1999-2008: Leaving the Street
Curly, assisted by Spider Nugent, let himself back into his house and a stalemate ensued as both sides prepared to sit it out. Tyrone announced that he had phoned his father who was on his way, claiming that he was prepared to do anything for Jackie and would sort Curly and Spider out. Jackie told Curly she would move on in exchange for £1000 but he refused. She promised that now "her fella" is on the way Curly had "signed his own death warrant". When Darren eventually arrived he turned out, despite his fearsome appearance, to be quite a reasonable man and whisked Jackie back to Liverpool. In 2007, Tyrone flew to Spain to bail Jackie out of prison after she was arrested for theft.

2008-2010: Visits
When Jackie eventually returned after Tyrone contacted her about his engagement to Molly Compton, she had dyed her hair pink. She acted quite friendly to Molly, but when Tyrone and Molly discovered that Jackie owed money to an old friend of Darren's named Brian, Jackie failed to pay this debt but Tyrone and Molly came to the rescue after she lied that the debt was for the utility bills and claimed to have only went to Brian as she was desperate. Molly persuaded Tyrone to use their wedding cash in order to repay Jackie's debt. When Brian told them that Jackie had lied, they refused to speak to her. When she visited No. 9 later that day, she was asked to leave by Jack Duckworth.

Jackie returned to Coronation Street on 2nd January 2009, homeless without any money. She broke into the Duckworths' to use the toilet. She used a guilt-trip in an attempt to secure a place in the household. Molly, Pam and Jack wanted her out, but Tyrone agreed to let her stay. Jackie did not attend Tyrone and Molly's wedding, but did show up at the reception in a black wig. She was upset that Tyrone had nothing to say about her. She pocketed Tyrone and Molly's tickets for Paris for their honeymoon, and left the Street - looking back with a bit of pride for the man Tyrone had become. When Molly left Tyrone in 2010 after stating she didn't love him, Jackie turned up again on the Street. Believing Molly had been having an affair (which was actually true), she turned up at the Corner Shop to start a fight with her and threw cans about the shop. She warned Molly away from Tyrone, claimng she would kill her. Even though Jackie seemed to be a changed woman and was there to support Tyrone, she began to slip back into her old ways and ended up taking men back to the house for one-night stands. When Tyrone got back with Molly after the pregnancy was revealed, he threw Jackie out and got her into a taxi, telling the driver to take her anywhere away from the Street.

Upon Molly's death in December 2010, Jackie couldn't attend to support Tyrone as she was back in prison for assualt.

Personality
Jackie is the archetypal gobby Scouser, brash and cheeky. She is one of the few women who can match Janice Battersby in a stand up row. This was confirmed when they both turned up at the Valentines Day fancy dress disco as the same character, Blondie's Debbie Harry. Janice saw Les frisking Jackie after he caught her attempting to steal some of his prized records. Janice thought they were in a romantic clinch and, when she steamed over, a catfight ensued.

Quotes
"Whatever you say, Miss." (First line, to Maggie Veitch)

"She will break your heart Tyrone you mark my words!" (Final Line)

Background Information

 * Margi Clarke was axed from Coronation Street in 1999 due to issues interfering with her work, which led to Jackie being written out of the programme. When it was decided to reintroduce Jackie in 2008, almost ten years since her last appearance, it was considered to recast the role, but producers decided to give Ms Clarke a chance. She originally believed she was auditioning for another role as no scripts for Jackie had been written, so she dyed her hair pink. Producers where impressed and offered her a two month contract. The character made an appearance for a few episodes in August 2008 and returned again for the wedding of Tyrone and Molly in January 2009. The character made another return in March 2010.