Craig Alexander Harris (previously Nelson) was the son of Tommy and Angela Harris, and the brother of Katy Harris.
Biography
The family moved into 6 Coronation Street in November 2002 as the "Nelsons", under the witness protection programme. Craig's mum Angela had witnessed a murder in their home city of Sheffield and the family moved to Weatherfield. He later used his real surname of "Harris" once the family's cover was blown and they decided to stay in Weatherfield.
In 2003, Craig befriended David Platt, Rosie Webster and Bradley Diggins, and the four of them enjoyed winding up Norris Cole and Rita Sullivan. When Craig's football was confiscated and destroyed by Norris, Craig convinced Tommy to make the two eldest pay the money back for the ball. They did and everything was sorted. When sister Katy started dating Martin Platt, her father's friend who was twenty years her senior, it caused Tommy and Angela to split up. Upset at this, Craig tampered with the brakes on Martin's car, hoping to split Martin and Katy up and bring back peace to his family. Unfortunately, Katy got in the car with Martin. Craig told his father and they raced to the rescue. Martin decided not to press charges once he found out the truth.
Tommy and Angela got back together when they realised how much their problems were affecting their son. Craig started dating Rosie, much to the annoyance of her mother Sally, who was trying to get Rosie to be a star. Upon discovering the two had taken their relationship further, Sally forced Rosie to dump Craig to concentrate on her "career" but she refused to stop seeing him. When Craig told Rosie that another girl had kissed him and that he wanted to just be friends, a hurt Rosie broke up with him. Later on, the two reunited and became goths, dying their hair black and wearing goth outfits. Rosie's parents were very annoyed, but soon warmed towards their beliefs. Rosie and Craig decided to sleep together, but at the last minute thought it would be best not to. However, Tommy found a condom Craig had been planning to use and thinking his son had slept with Rosie, punched him in the face.
Despite this, Craig was devastated when his father was killed. He found out Katy had committed manslaughter after discovering Tommy had lied to her over Martin having an affair, which caused her to abort her and Martin's child. Katy confronted Tommy and he made her so mad she grabbed a wrench and hit him with it. Angela took the blame for the killing, despite seeing what Katy had done and was sentenced to prison for four years. Katy couldn't live with the guilt any longer. Katy was diabetic, so she consumed a huge amount of sugar and died two weeks later in Weatherfield General with Craig by her side. Craig then lived with his grandfather Keith Appleyard, who, having decided that Craig had suffered enough problems, chose to move to Weatherfield rather than taking Craig back to Sheffield. He broke up with Rosie for a while after she made an insensitive remark about his family, but they put their differences behind them and got back together again. Craig then got a part-time job working in the Corner Shop for Dev Alahan. He and Rosie then split again at the Oakhill School ball as Craig broke his promise about not eating meat, but they made up the following day.
Rosie and Craig decided to have sex and slept together despite being underage and Keith and his girlfriend Audrey Roberts caught Rosie trying to sneak out of the house the morning afterwards. Rosie's parents found out on New Year's Eve when Rosie's mother Sally went round to wish the pair happy New Year. Craig answered the door, assuming it was a pizza delivery, in a dressing gown. Sally saw Rosie's dress lying on the sofa, and went upstairs horrified to find a naked Rosie in Craig's bed. When Sally dragged her back home, Rosie's father Kevin was infuriated with Craig so much he threatened him on several occasions. The pair were banned from seeing each other, despite protesting heavily that they were deeply in love. Craig and Rosie went through hell as Rosie's parents did such things as whisk her away on trips, report them to the police for illegal sex and attempting to make Rosie take pills. However, this didn't stop Craig and Rosie's relationship at all, as they got closer through their nightmare. Later on, Sally and Kevin warmed towards Craig after seeing how devoted he was to Rosie, and Kevin offered Craig an apprenticeship at his garage (incidentally, this is where Craig's father worked and was murdered).
Craig was devastated when Keith had an angina attack in the early summer of 2006, and was even more upset when Keith told him that Charlie Stubbs was evicting them from No.6. When Keith said they were going to move away to Bournemouth for a fresh start, Craig refused to leave Weatherfield as he did not want to leave Rosie while she travelled in France. Instead, he stayed behind at the Websters' house for the rest of the summer after seeing Keith off. When Rosie returned from her trip, she and Craig plotted to run away to Berlin together for a new life. When they were told they were going on holiday in Paris, Craig and Rosie decided that the trip would be a perfect time for their getaway. So on their final day in Paris, Craig and Rosie slipped away to pack their bags and headed for the train station. Rosie froze and she told Craig that she could not leave her family. After a long, tearful goodbye, Craig tore himself away from his sweetheart, telling Rosie he would always love her. Craig then got onto the train, leaving Paris, Weatherfield and his long-term girlfriend behind him.
A few days after Craig left, he sent a letter to Rosie. It was mentioned that he was staying with a friend's brother and had been employed in a youth hostel because of his good English. Rosie was happy that he was okay, but still missed him terribly. On Christmas Eve and Rosie's birthday, Craig phoned Rosie to say he was doing alright. He also said it was snowing in Berlin and that he was going to "really amazing places with really cool people". In February 2007, Rosie was saddened to not hear from Craig on their first Valentine's Day apart, but Sally reassured her that there would be a specific reason why he hadn't sent a card.
Background information
- In real life, Richard Fleeshman's parents David Fleeshman and Sue Jenkins have also starred in Coronation Street; Sue played Gloria Todd and David played various minor roles.
First and last lines
"Come on, very funny, let us out!" (First line)
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"It's my dream. I'll always love you. Whenever I close my eyes I'll see your face." (Final line, to Rosie Webster)