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Samir Rachid was a waiter who Deirdre Barlow met on holiday in Morocco.
Storylines
One night, he called at her home and asked to come over to England to see her. His first experience of British hospitality was being detained at customs at Manchester Airport. He was shocked, as visitors weren't treated that way in Morocco.
Samir was always very courteous and couldn't understand why people were stand-offish to him and Deirdre. He was very much in love with her and was always doing things to please her. But he wouldn't agree to stay at home while she was working. His values dictated that he get a job and bring some money in, so he went to work in a restaurant.
He tried to make friends with Tracy, but she could only make comments about how awful it was that her mother had a young lover. She didn't want to know him at all.
The couple became more and more isolated from everyone, and once they were married, decided to live in Morocco. Everything was going well; Samir got another waitering job and they were going to buy a bar. Then Deirdre was called back to Weatherfield when Tracy was in a drug-induced coma. Samir couldn't bear to be without Deirdre and wanted to help her during this difficult time. He flew over to be with her. He found it very difficult when he found that he couldn't really help. He'd make candle-lit dinners for Deirdre when she got back from the hospital, only to find that she'd come to get something and was going straight back there. He could see that she was making herself ill, but couldn't persuade her to look after herself. Things got very strained between them. It didn't help that Ken had offered them his flat, and was often with Deirdre, being as concerned as she was over Tracy. Samir started to feel cut off from his wife.
Then Tracy was offered a kidney transplant. Both Deirdre and Ken were tested but found to be incompatible. Samir saw that this was something he could do to help. His test was OK and he agreed to go ahead with the operation.
During this time, he'd spend a lot of time walking around, and one day he was attacked by a group of youths, when down by the canal. He was severely beaten with a lead pipe and sent to hospital. Deirdre was called to his bedside and told that he wouldn't recover. She had to give her permission to go ahead with Tracy's kidney operation.
An inquest was held, and a verdict of accidental death was recorded.
Background information
Samir was originally referred to as "Shamir" by Deirdre and other characters.
First and last lines
"Hello Deirdre." (First line)
"Sorry, okay?" (Last line, to the group of thugs who killed him)