Liam Connor

Liam Connor
Occupation	Businessman
Born	25th February 1974
Birthplace	Ireland
Died	16th October 2008
Father	Barry Connor
Mother	Helen Connor
Sibling(s)	Paul Connor Michelle Connor
Spouse(s)	Maria Sutherland (2008)
Children	Paul Connor Jr. (2008) Liam Connor Jr. (2009)
First appearance	30th August 2006
Last appearance	17th October 2008
Duration	2006-2008
Number of appearances	330
Played by	Rob James-Collier

Liam Barrington Connor was the brother of Michelle Connor and the late Paul Connor and appeared between 2006 and 2008. He was murdered in a hit and run organised by Tony Gordon, leaving his wife Maria widowed.

Biography

Arrival

Liam arrived in Weatherfield in 2006, along with nephew Ryan, sister Michelle and brother Paul

In September 2006, Liam arrived at the Rovers to visit his sister and, upon hearing Adam Barlow's dis-satisfaction at running Underworld, manipulated the naive and over-confident Adam into selling his 40% share for £80,000 (less than half its value). Upon his arrival, Liam briefly romanced resident Frankie Baldwin. In a comical misunderstanding, he thought that Frankie was a transsexual when, in fact, Hayley Cropper was the person being discussed. Liam confessed to sister Michelle the truth about the death of her late partner, Dean, revealing that during the car accident that claimed Dean's life, their brother Paul had been driving and was thus responsible for his death. Paul and Liam had plotted to move Dean's body to the driving seat to prevent Paul facing criminal charges. Michelle was horrified by Liam's confession and initially disowned both her brothers. Michelle later reconciled with Liam.

Liam fell for the charms of Leanne Battersby, unaware of her profession

Liam was once in a relationship with Leanne Battersby, before discovering her secret life as a prostitute. This secret was revealed after her services were hired by Paul. Leanne was later kidnapped by Paul and locked in his car boot. After jumping a red traffic light at a crossroads, Paul's Mercedes crashed into a skip and overturned. Paul was killed in the crash and Liam rescued Leanne from the boot of the car. Paul's wife, Carla Connor, revealed to Liam that Leanne was working as a prostitute. Despite attempts to rekindle their relationship, and Leanne's apparent continued feelings for Liam, the relationship could not survive the revelation.

Relationship with Maria Sutherland

Liam initially took a shine to Maria Sutherland and set his sights on her after dumping Leanne. He constantly flirted with Maria and, just a few weeks into their relationship, Maria revealed she was pregnant. Liam insisted he would support her and later on proposed to her after a row with his sister-in-law Carla, for whom he still had feelings. Maria happily accepted his proposal.

During a trip to the Lake District in January 2008, Liam fell down a ravine whilst trying to rescue the couple's dog, Ozzy. When Liam regained consciousness, his first words were to ask for Carla, which raised Maria's feelings of insecurity. To cement their relationship, Maria began to plan the couple's wedding whilst Liam was still in hospital. During an argument with Carla about her new relationship, Liam kissed her passionately. She eventually pulled away but was left confused about her feelings for him. Liam was also confused about his feelings for Carla, and continued to interfere in her relationship with Tony Gordon, trying to split them up.

Affair with Carla Connor

Liam had always loved Carla but never acted on it, he put it down to being protective over her. He first knew when his brother Paul brought her home - he felt different. Carla always looked out for Liam, and as they grew up together there was always a connection between. When Paul died it pushed Liam and Carla together and they got closer. They would hide their feelings by annoying each other, winding each other up and acting childish. At a conference in Birmingham, Liam and Carla got very close but Carla's plans were ruined when her boyfriend Tony Gordon turned up at the hotel. Prior to Liam's wedding to Maria, a further kiss ensued between Liam and Carla, but Liam still married Maria because he was still confused and scared of his feelings for Carla and he didn't want to hurt Maria or any of his family. He knew his feelings and love for Carla were forbidden.

Maria & Liam's heartbreak

Towards the end of April, Maria was horrified to discover that her baby was no longer kicking. She was escorted to Weatherfield General alone to receive the news that her child had died. When she went into hospital again and gave birth to the deceased infant, she decided that Liam shouldn't know about the end of her pregnancy. Because the pregnancy was so advanced, the midwives advised her to have labour induced straight away.

A grieving Liam carries his son Paul's coffin at the funeral in July 2008

After the stillbirth of the baby boy, Maria still decided to keep the news from Liam and hid from him at Audrey's. house. In fact, Liam only found out about his child's death from a midwife when she called to check on Maria. The newly married couple had a huge argument, which climaxed in Maria declaring that the marriage was over just under three months into it. With Maria walking out on him, Liam went into a short depression and sought comfort in sex with Carla. He and Maria then considered a new baby on their reunion. Carla began to blackmail him into selling his share of the factory to Tony. He signed over his 40% share for ₤180,000 in an attempt to keep the truth of his infidelity from Maria. Liam and his cousin Tom Kerrigan planned to start a new business called Lad Rags together, but Tom failed to obtain £50,000 for setting up costs. This eventually led Carla into the situation, making her part of the business. Frustrated with this, Liam was furious with Tom, although he didn't tell Maria about the situation. It was evident that Liam still had strong feelings for his old flame.

Murder

Liam and Carla reignite their affair, with disastrous consequences

In October, upon seeing Carla in her wedding dress, Liam's passion for her was reignited and they again had sex. On the day of Tony and Carla's stag and hen parties, Liam met with Carla, told her that he loved her and urged her to call off the wedding. During the day Liam rang and sent text messages to Carla, appealing to her to do the right thing. Meanwhile, Tony was quietly suspicious and correctly guessed that Liam was secretly contacting Carla, and Carla was convinced by Leanne to follow her heart and pursue Liam. Her words struck a chord and Carla decided to end her engagement with Tony and go with Liam. However, it was then revealed that Maria was pregnant. Carla was heartbroken and, not wanting to be the one to take away the unborn child's father, urged Maria to tell an unknowing Liam the news.

Liam lies dead in the road while still wearing his mask during Tony Gordon's stag party celebrations

Liam was murdered during Tony's stag-do after Tony had secretly arranged a hit and run car accident. Liam had left the money that had been gathered for the stag do in the pub that they had just left, and was told by Tony to rush back and get it. As Liam was walking backwards across the road he was hit by a car at high speed. In tears, Tony fell to the ground and ordered everyone to move out of the way and call an ambulance. As the rest of the stag party called for an ambulance. Tony whispered the words "Looks like the best man lost" as well as "Brother", "Son", "Father" and "Roadkill". Moments after the incident, Maria arrived to tell Liam the news that she was pregnant but she was, of course, distraught to find him dead. It seemed that Liam has been killed upon impact and could not be saved despite the paramedics' efforts. News of Liam's death spread quickly over Weatherfield as friends and relatives mourned his passing. Tony had actually taken Liam's wallet, and, after taking the money, threw it into the canal.

Other information

• His son was delivered in July 2009 by his killer Tony Gordon. Widow Maria named the baby Liam, in his memory.

Background information

• In February 2008 it was announced actor Rob James-Collier quit the role of Liam because of typecast fears. It was revealed that he would be killed off in a "whodunnit?" mystery, where he would be murdered by either his lover Carla Connor, wife Maria, or enemy Tony Gordon; his killer was later revealed to be Tony. Three totally different death scenes were recorded for the character, with Tony Gordon featuring as the killer in each case. In the days leading up to "murder week", ITV released pictures from each scenario, and viewers were left to guess which one would eventually be used in the programme, with Liam's hit-and-run fate not revealed until the episode was broadcast. The other death scenes were a fall from a balcony which took place during the day and saw Tony push Liam over the balcony from one of the higher storey flats in Victoria Court (It is unclear when this scene would have taken place within the context of that week's episodes) and a shooting which would have taken place during the paintball game in Episode 6926 and saw Tony first eliminate Liam from the paintball game and then shoot him with a real gun.

First and last lines

"Why would I tell the taxi driver that?" (First line, to Steve McDonald)

See also

• Full list of appearances