Eliza Woodrow is the granddaughter of Stu Carpenter.
Despite having only known Stu for a matter of months, Eliza was placed in his care at 6 Coronation Street after her mother Bridget Woodrow and grandmother Lucy confessed to the murder of Charlie Walter, a crime for which which Stu had served 27 years following a wrongful conviction.
Struggling to adjust to a new area and a new family, Eliza contacted her biological father Dom Everett in 2023 and has been focused on building a relationship with him, to the extent of moving out of 6 Coronation Street and in with her dad against Stu's wishes. Dom brought Eliza home in order to live with his family in Germany, accepting a £10,000 bribe from Stu to disappear, but returned the money in 2024, with Eliza finding out about her German family and going over to live with them.
Biography[]
Eliza Woodrow is the daughter of Bridget Woodrow and Dom Everett, born on 19th May 2011. Bridget and Dom split up soon after Eliza was born, and she grew up not knowing her dad.
Eliza's maternal grandfather Stu Carpenter was also excluded from her life, as he had become estranged from his family when he was convicted of the murder of Charlie Walter in the 1980s. In 2022, now a free man after serving twenty-seven years in prison, Stu started looking for Bridget. Upon visiting her home at 17 Henkel Street he came into contact with Eliza, the granddaughter he never knew he had. Bridget initially refused to allow Stu back into her life but his persistence paid off and she let him meet Eliza, with Stu dropping his efforts to have his conviction overturned in order to placate his ex-wife Lucy.
Within weeks of their reconciliation, a guilty Bridget confessed to Stu that she was Charlie's killer, and that Lucy had helped cover up her involvement and put the blame on him. Stu decided not to tell the police, but Bridget turned herself in when she was was implicated by DNA evidence collected by Alya Nazir shortly thereafter in her mission to exonerate Stu. Bridget and Lucy were charged with murder and perverting the course of justice, and Eliza was placed in foster care. Following Bridget's wishes, Stu applied for guardianship of Eliza, who came to live with him and his partner Yasmeen Metcalfe in November once his conviction was officially quashed.
Stu was determined not to fail his granddaughter, and was soon run ragged trying to make sure her life was disrupted as little as possible by the move. In April 2023 Eliza feigned illness to get out of attending school as she was being bullied because her mum was in prison. Having secured compensation for his wrongful imprisonment, Stu decided to apply for Eliza to attend the private Oakhill School, but when Eliza befriended Sam Blakeman, he obliged her request to be sent to Weatherfield High instead. Eliza's bond with Sam led a jealous Hope Dobbs to sabotage Eliza's stretch limo birthday party by getting invited guests from school to decline, and also to ruin a science display put on by Sam and Roy Cropper which set off the fire alarm at Speed Daal.
In July, when Bridget was moved to a prison in the North West, Stu bought Eliza a new tablet to keep in touch with her. Eliza used the device to make contact with her estranged father, Dom Everett, without Stu's knowledge. Stu was put in the picture when he caught Eliza meeting up with Dom in secret at Weatherfield Precinct. Having been similarly shut out of Eliza's life for years, Stu was inclined to give Dom a chance and persuaded Bridget to let Eliza see her father.
Stu soon realised that Dom had little interest in being a father. When he learned about Stu's compensation, Dom offered to walk away in exchange for £10,000, but Stu refused. When Dom failed to collect Eliza for a cinema trip, Stu and Alya had a film night with her at home instead. The next day, after Stu and Eliza had a row about Dom, Eliza ran into the path of a speeding car driven by Mason Radcliffe, ending up in hospital with a fractured arm. Not seeing Dom for the selfish man he was, Eliza decided she wanted to live with him. When Stu refused, Eliza ran away and was taken in by Dom. As Dom was her father, Eliza was allowed by social services to remain in his care. Stu accepted the situation rather than risk further alienating Eliza, but made a fool of himself when he called in social services after disbelieving Eliza's truthful story that she got a black eye at her Taekwondo lessons.
In December, Stu's PI Lesley Milner discovered that Dom had a son in Germany and appeared to be building bridges with a family he had there. Stu offered Dom £10,000 in cash to go to Germany and stay out of Eliza's life. Dom accepted and moved Eliza back into No.6, telling her he was working in Germany over Christmas. When the festive season was over, he texted her to say he was staying there, leaving her devastated, thinking she had driven him away. She discovered that this wasn't the case the following March when, finding a wad of cash at Speed Daal with a regretful note from Dom, Eliza heard a confession from Stu about how he'd paid Dom off only for Dom to get cold feet and return the money. Eliza intercepted Dom before he returned to Germany and told him she wanted to live with him and her half-brother, Ben. Dom and Stu agreed that she could spend Easter in Germany as a trial run. Eliza enjoyed the experience immensely and moved to Hamburg permanently in April.
Personality[]
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Background information[]
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First and last lines[]
"Mum... there's a man here to see ya." (First line)
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"Think I am, yeah!" (Final line, to grandfather, Stu Carpenter)
Appendices[]
List of addresses[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| 17 Henkel Street | Until 19th October 2022 |
| Foster home | 17th October to 16th November 2022 |
| 6 Coronation Street | 16th November 2022 to 13th September 2023 |
| Dom Everett's flat | 13th September 2023 to 15th December 2023 |
| 6 Coronation Street | 15th December 2023 to 17th April 2024 |
| Germany | 17th April 2024 onwards |