Sam Blakeman is the son of Nick Tilsley and the late Natasha Blakeman.
Born in 2011, Sam didn't meet his father until he was nine years old as Natasha and Nick had split up before Natasha knew she was pregnant. A chance encounter at Weatherfield General in 2020 caused Nick to find out that he had a son, and with Natasha's blessing he was allowed to have Sam in his life.
Exceptionally bright with a passion for astronomy, Sam was very close to his mother. Their time together was tragically cut short in 2021 when Natasha was shot dead by gangster Harvey Gaskell. Sam now lives at 12 Victoria Court with Nick, his partner Leanne Battersby, and her stepsister Toyah Habeeb.
Biography[]
2011-2021: Mother and son[]
Sam Blakeman was born on 28th April 2011. His parents, Natasha Blakeman and Nick Tilsley, split up seven months earlier when Nick learned that Natasha had aborted their child but pretended she was still pregnant in order to hang onto him. After surviving a suicide attempt, Natasha had decided to leave the area. She later discovered she was pregnant again, but decided not to involve Nick and to raise the child by herself. Sam grew up not knowing who his father was, but Natasha told him he worked for NASA, leading him to develop a passion for science, particularly astronomy. At nine years old, Sam was an exceptionally bright and talkative child, and inseparable from Natasha.
In September 2020, Natasha attended Weatherfield General where Sam was being treated for a sprain. Nick, at the hospital due to his stepson Oliver Battersby's ongoing treatment for mitochondrial disease, bumped into Natasha and, finding out that she had a son, used her social media to piece together the fact that Sam was biologically his. Natasha made it clear to Nick that if he wanted to be a part of Sam's life, he would have to dedicate himself. Having to give all his attention to Oliver, Nick turned down the offer, but his mind was changed when he received a letter from his son. They met and Nick was instantly taken with the hyper-intelligent boy.
Sam also met his dad's family. He got on well with grandmother Gail Rodwell, and Nick's partner Leanne Battersby, though the latter couldn't help holding it against Nick that he would still have a son once Oliver died. In November, Leanne lost her legal battle against the hospital trust to keep Oliver's life support turned on, and the three-year-old passed away. Planning to go to France for a while, Leanne was drawn back to stay by Sam who charmed her when he gave her a list of reasons why she would grow to like him. When Natasha went to work in London for a few months, Sam begged Nick and Leanne to take him in at 12 Victoria Court. Unable to have Sam near Oliver's things, Leanne suggested that Nick move into Natasha's local flat instead, to which Natasha agreed.
2021-2022: Natasha's death and mutism[]
In February 2021, Leanne, in her grief, began hiding away in her flat, resulting in her stepson Simon Barlow having to keep them both by becoming a drugs courier for kingpin Harvey Gaskell. Sam became involved when he witnessed Simon and Jacob Hay assaulting a lad who owed Harvey money and fled in terror from the scene with some of their drugs. A scared Sam then told Nick what he saw. When the information was passed on to Leanne, she found a stash of cocaine in Simon's bag. He confessed the trouble he'd got himself in, and Leanne went to the police.
Two months later, after Harvey and his associates had been arrested for their illegal activities, Leanne and Simon moved into witness protection. Sam was hurt when Nick elected go with them. Sharon Bentley, Harvey's aunt, befriended Sam in order to persuade him to contact Nick and get him to emerge from hiding. Sam did so, but his father refused. All other avenues exhausted, Sharon arranged for the boy to be kidnapped by Harvey's thug Robbie, who lured him into a van to inspect a telescope before locking the door behind him. After being left overnight in an industrial estate, Sam was released unharmed, but the abduction was a warning to Nick to force Leanne and Simon to change their testimony against Harvey's illicit dealings.
A week later, Sam heard Robbie threatening Gary Windass in the Brewery Lane ginnel and saved Gary's life by hitting Robbie over the head with his telescope casing just as Robbie fired his pistol at Gary, causing him to miss. With Leanne's evidence, Harvey was found guilty of possession of class-A drugs and imprisoned, and Nick and family came out of hiding and resumed their normal lives. However, tired of the danger that Sam was being exposed to, Natasha refused to let Nick see his son anymore. Gail was allowed to remain in Sam's life, and she and Leanne were able to persuade Natasha to back down, arguing that Sam needed his dad. Nick was delighted when Natasha let Sam stay for several days though Nick panicked when he thought his son had gone missing and Sam made him realise that he had to be more relaxed with him.
In October, Natasha made plans to buy Audrey's salon, meaning that she and Sam would be around permanently. When Harvey escaped from Highfield Prison, he made his way to Victoria Court where he shot Natasha in a revenge attack, thinking she was Leanne. He was subsequently recaptured, but Natasha died. Moving in with Nick and Leanne, Sam insisted on seeing her reposed body in the undertakers, but the shock traumatised him and he became an involuntary mute.
As the weeks wore on without any change, Sam was referred to therapy, while George Shuttleworth attempted to help by reigniting his interest in astronomy; Sam's looks and gestures showed he was pleased but he still wouldn't communicate. When playing with him, Sam's cousin Lily Platt taunted him but choked on a lollipop and Sam raised the alarm to get help for her, but without managing to speak a word. He finally broke his silence over the Christmas period while talking to his friend Hope Stape through a walkie-talkie, though he remained mute with everyone else.
2022: Sam overcomes his mutism through chess
After the New Year, Sam agreed to let Roy Cropper teach him chess, but was humiliated when he was easily beaten by the cafe owner and retreated into his shell again. Mary Taylor taught him some winning moves and Nick was delighted when his son talked to him when they played a game. However, Roy continued to beat him. Seeing his son's disappointment, Nick got Roy - who refused out of principle to throw a match in Sam's favour - to arrange a game between Sam and Brian Packham, which Sam won.
The boy began to fall behind on his schoolwork as he concentrated on chess too much, so Nick reluctantly had to ban him, though Roy made him see that he was being over-protective, and he arranged for his son to take part in a children's chess tournament. Sam reached the final, but was beaten by a seemingly arrogant girl named Jalena. Sam retreated into himself once more but emerged when Jalena's father Terry admitted that his daughter hadn't any friends, and he agreed to be pals with his fellow player. Sam got shy when he played with Jalena and lost badly, but their friendship grew. Meanwhile, Sam transitioned to Weatherfield High, along with Hope. His enthusiasm was dampened when he gave a presentation about chess, earning derision from his classmates. Things got worse when he pretended to enjoy computer games to be able to play with Liam Connor and Jake Windass, but he proved hopeless at them. In an attempt to look cooler, he wore a football kit to Jalena's birthday party, but it just made her think he'd lost interest in chess, and she dumped him.
In September 2022, Sam started to post letters to Harvey in prison, as he wanted to know why his mum died. Leanne and Nick received visiting orders from Harvey and, unable to fathom why he wanted to see them, Leanne went the prison. There she found out about Sam's letters. Harvey told her to stop the lad as the correspondence could make him a laughing stock. Sam agreed to stop writing to the gangster when his great gran Audrey Roberts asked him to, but continued to do so behind everyone's back and began reading about restorative justice. Nick and Leanne agreed to go through with the process hoping that both an appointed facilitator would say it was the wrong thing, or that Harvey would refuse a meeting. Both hopes were dashed, and the visit took place. Harvey's arrogant demeanour was thoroughly rattled by Sam's direct intelligent questioning, and the gangster reluctantly opened up about his own difficult childhood. Once back in his cell, Harvey was enraged at being bested by a child and asked to see him again, this time apologising for murdering Natasha.
2022 to present: Relationship with Hope and family dramas[]
In December, Sam was thrilled when Audrey took him on a Norwegian cruise to see the Northern Lights.
Sam's best friends at school were Hope Dobbs and Eliza Woodrow. At that time, Hope was dealing with the gory details of her late serial killer father John Stape's crimes being published in a book. When she was bullied over it, Sam took her out of school, causing Fiz Stape to loudly remonstrate with him, and Nick in turn to ban Sam from seeing Hope. Nick and Tyrone Dobbs soon came to an understanding and let them be friends again. Sam subsequently kept secret the fact that Hope had found a study aid tape of John's and was listening avidly to her father's voice. When Fiz and Tyrone learned the truth from Sam, he persuaded them that it was a good thing as it helped Hope feel close to her dad.
In March 2023, Hope and Sam agreed that they were now boyfriend and girlfriend. Sam wore a suit to their 'first date' at the cinema, but with Tyrone playing gooseberry, Hope was too embarrassed to enjoy herself. Later, Sam formed a bond with Eliza over being bullied, leading a jealous Hope to sabotage Eliza's birthday trip by getting invited guests from school to decline. Roy was suspicious of her intervention and he and Sam organised an alternative party at Speed Daal. There, Hope sabotaged a science display put on by Roy and Sam which set off the fire alarm. Finding out what she had done, Sam finished with her. They restarted their relationship in October that year.
Meanwhile, Damon Hay became Nick and Leanne's business partner at the Viaduct Bistro when he lent the desperate pair £20,000 - via his half-brother Harvey - to deal with dry rot at the restaurant. Damon used his position to force Nick to handle drug deliveries at the bistro. When two masked men, rivals of Damon's, tried to steal drugs at gunpoint from Ryan Connor, Sam was present and Nick was furious that his son had been put at risk. He reported Damon to the police who arrested him. Learning Damon's true identity, and that Nick had known for some time, Sam asked his father to move out of the flat and blanked his attempts at reconciliation. It was months before Sam would forgive Nick and allow him back into his life.
The following February, a badly hungover Simon drove Sam to a chess competition he crashed Leanne's car on the way, though neither of them were seemingly hurt. Leanne covered for Simon's misdemeanour with Nick, but she was forced to tell him the truth when Sam suddenly collapsed and was briefly hospitalised. Simon was charged with drink driving but avoided prison thanks in part to a character reference from a forgiving Sam.
Personality[]
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Background information[]
Jude Riordan's father Paul has directed multiple episodes of Coronation Street since September 2021.
Reception[]
In September 2021, Jude Riordan won the Best Newcomer Award at the National Television Awards for his role as Sam Blakeman. He is the youngest actor to achieve this award in the annual ceremony's history. He followed this up by scooping the Inside Soap Award in the same category that November and Favourite Young Performer in the TV Times Awards in December.
First and last lines[]
"You know it's much healthier for your cardiovascular system if you take stairs." (First line, to mother Natasha)
Appendices[]
List of addresses[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| 12 Victoria Court | 27th October 2021 to present |
See also[]