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Craig Bartholomew Tinker is a police constable and the son of Beth Sutherland.

Beth raised Craig by herself as his father Darryl Parkins was always in prison, and eventually Beth gave up on him. Mother and son moved around a lot as Beth went from job to job. It wasn't until 2016 that Craig met his father at Highfield Prison, though he didn't visit him again as Darryl was only interested in using Craig as a drug carrier.

In 2012, Beth and Craig came to Coronation Street when Beth gained employment at Underworld. In the street, Craig has held down friendships with Faye Windass and Bethany Platt, and dated his first girlfriend Caitlin Ryan. In 2016, he applied to join the Weatherfield police force and the following year he was accepted as a trainee. He later played a big part in bringing corrupt policeman Neil Clifton to justice.

Craig's childhood friend was his beloved pet rat, Darryl. Since 2017, he has suffered from OCD. He currently lives alone at 2a Coronation Street after his split from Faye.

Biography

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1998-2012: Building a family

Craig was born on 2nd September 1998 to Darryl Parkins and Beth Tinker. Following his birth, his career criminal father got himself locked up, leaving Beth on her own to raise Craig. She never revealed to Craig the truth about his father, and although absent, his father was still in his thoughts and Craig also named his pet rat Darryl, as Beth thought the tribute was fitting.

During his upbringing Beth would have a string of boyfriends, although the relationships wouldn't last. When Beth reconciled with her old flame Steve McDonald in August 2011, Craig accompanied his mother to Nick's Bistro on a date with Steve, as Beth was unable to find a babysitter for her son. The date was an attempt by Steve to make his estranged wife Becky jealous, although the date didn't go well due to Beth's loud nature and Craig silently and creepily staring at Steve during the evening. Following a row between Beth and Becky, this resulted in Beth, Craig and Steve being thrown out of the bistro.

Beth and Craig moved into 13 Coronation Street six months later, which was rented out to them by Steve, who had previously lived there with his newly-estranged wife Tracy and their daughter Amy. Craig brought along Darryl with him, much to Tracy's frustration. Tracy couldn't stand the pair of them and had a go at Craig for eating all of the cereal, much to Beth's anger. However over time Tracy and Beth began to soften to each other and became friends, much to Steve's annoyance as he was hoping having Beth in the house would drive his wife out. A few months later, Steve evicted Tracy, Beth and Craig as he sold the house to Kevin Webster. Beth and Craig moved into 17a Tile Street, but the flat was too dirty so they promptly moved into 9a Rosamund Street above Barlow's Bookies, which was rented out to them by Leanne Barlow.

Later in 2012 Beth began to date Kirk Sutherland after he came to her aid when another date of hers turned bad and the man harassed her. Although Kirk was punched for coming to her defence, Beth was moved that somebody would come to her aid and became interested in him. Kirk integrated himself into the Tinker family and became close to Craig and treated him and his mother well. Kirk moved in with the pair of them, and they spent the festive period together. They enjoyed living above the bookies, but would later be forced to move out due to financial difficulties.

2013: Crossing paths with Killer Karl

During 2013, Craig began acting shifty, especially around Karl Munro. Craig later revealed to Karl that he had spotted him on the night of the fire at the Rovers as he was smoking, but disposed of the cigarette and thus, believed he had caused the fire and subsequently killed Toni Griffiths and Sunita Alahan (although Karl actually started the fire from inside the cellar). Karl began to assure Craig it wasn't his fault, but Craig kept insisting it was him which annoyed Karl, who didn't want Craig revealing what he saw. Craig began bunking off school and keeping to himself and Karl attempted to buy him round by giving him money for a video game. However, when Beth found out and approached Karl about the matter, Karl threatened Craig to keep quiet. Craig later ran away after leaving a note for Beth and Kirk, asking them to apologise to widower Dev. Craig later owned up to Dev and Jason Grimshaw about witnessing Karl at the Rovers the night that Sunita died, and along with Beth they went to the police. Karl was later arrested and sentenced for arson and the deaths of both Sunita and Toni. 

2014-2020: Zero to hero

Craig later began a friendship with Faye Windass and supported her when she was being bullied at school and when her family were experiencing financial hardship following Owen's bankruptcy. Craig befriended Faye's father Tim Metcalfe in January 2015 and started working for him as an apprentice window cleaner. When Faye discovered she was pregnant to classmate Jackson Hodge, Craig reluctantly agreed to keep it a secret from everyone else, however he attempted to convince Faye to tell her mother Anna about her condition.

In August, the extended family went on a camping trip to Wales where they met experienced camper Dougie Ryan. During the search for a mobile phone signal, Craig met a girl who showed him her artwork, but he accidentally offended her by assuming she'd copied someone else's style. She was later introduced by Dougie as his daughter Caitlin. As the week progressed, Craig and Caitlin began to hit it off and ultimately shared their first kiss, which an unimpressed Dougie witnessed. However, after Caitlin spoke candidly to her father about his possessiveness, he backed down and gave them his blessing. As the clan packed up the cars for their return to Weatherfield, the teenagers vowed to text each other every day.

Craig met his biological father Darryl Parkins for the first time ever in September 2016. Darryl was serving a prison sentence at Highfield Prison, and when Craig went to visit him, he told Craig that he was still married to his mother. This made Beth a bigamist; she had married Kirk Sutherland in January 2015, but the legality of the ceremony was put in doubt. Upset that his chance of joining the Special Constabulary was at stake, Craig called the police on his own mother, which caused friction between them, but they eventually made amends.

In 2017, Craig was finally accepted into the police force. When Bethany Platt opened up to him about her rape at the hands of his mentor Neil Clifton, Craig started to question his faith and confronted him. Neil denied it, but Craig tricked him into spilling the details - and recorded the foolish officer's details in secret. Later on, the police informed Craig that his job was at risk because he recorded Neil illegally. Bethany felt guilty but Craig reassured her that she wasn't to blame. Eventually, Beth asked Craig if he loved Bethany, to which he said that he did, but was happy enough being her friend.

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Personality

Craig has struggled with OCD since early-2018. It began when he started obsessing with time during Bethany's trial for assaulting a man at a lap dancing club she was illegally working at. From then on, his OCD began to control his life; flicking switches on and off an even number of times in the belief that he can save everyone.

Craig doesn't like rap music.

Relationships

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Hobbies and interests

Craig's hobbies include pottery which is something his granddad had done. This impressed Tracy's mother Deirdre, who was a fan of pottery herself.

Background information

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Craig was originally brought in as a short-term character along with his mother Beth for two episodes in August 2011. After Beth proved popular with viewers, she was brought back full-time in December that year, with Craig returning in February 2012 after the pair of them were moved into the street proper.

First and last lines

"Tracy had a go at me because I ate all the cereal." (First line, to mother Beth)

Appendices

(To be completed)

List of addresses

Address Duration
13 Coronation Street 24th February 2012 to 9th July 2012
17a Tile Street 9th July 2012 to 20th July 2012
9a Rosamund Street 20th July 2012 to 24th December 2012
2a Coronation Street 24th December 2012 to 11th February 2013
14a Victoria Street 11th February 2013 to 27th January 2014
5 Coronation Street 27th January 2014 to 13th November 2017
2a Coronation Street 13th November 2017 to 2nd March 2018
19a Victoria Street 2nd March 2018 to 29th June 2020
18a Victoria Street 29th June 2020 to 5th January 2022
2a Coronation Street 5th January 2022 onwards


Employment history

Role Institution Duration
Special Constable/Constable Weatherfield Police 5th May 2017 to present
Packer Underworld 25th February 2022 to late-March 2022

See also


Current characters
Ken Barlow | Rita Tanner | Gail Rodwell | Tracy McDonald | Audrey Roberts | Nick Tilsley | Kevin Webster | Debbie Webster | Jenny Connor | Sally Metcalfe | Sarah Barlow | Steve McDonald | David Platt | Daniel Osbourne | Roy Cropper | Leanne Battersby | Toyah Habeeb | Tyrone Dobbs | Dev Alahan | Eileen Grimshaw | Maria Connor | Kirk Sutherland | Bethany Platt | Adam Barlow | Todd Grimshaw | Fiz Dobbs | Simon Barlow | Sean Tully | Chesney Winter-Brown | Amy Barlow | Aadi Alahan | Asha Alahan | Ryan Connor | Carla Barlow | Dylan Wilson | Gary Windass | Mary Taylor | Liam Connor | Brian Packham | Izzy Armstrong | Max Turner | Jack Webster | Hope Dobbs | Beth Sutherland | Craig Tinker | Joseph Brown | Ruby Dobbs | Tim Metcalfe | Jake Windass | Lily Platt | Alya Nazir | Yasmeen Metcalfe | Gemma Winter-Brown | Billy Mayhew | Alex Warner | Harry Platt | Shona Platt | Summer Spellman | Abi Webster | Paul Foreman | Evelyn Plummer | Bertie Osbourne | Ed Bailey | Michael Bailey | Aggie Bailey | Bernie Winter | Aled Winter-Brown | Bryn Winter-Brown | Carys Winter-Brown | Llio Winter-Brown | Nina Lucas | Elaine Jones | George Shuttleworth | Sam Blakeman | Daisy Midgeley | Ronnie Bailey | Glory Bailey | Stu Carpenter | Alfie Franklin | Eliza Woodrow | Glenda Shuttleworth | Dee-Dee Bailey | Lauren Bolton | Cassie Plummer
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