Graeme Proctor was a character in Coronation Street appearing from 2008 to 2011. He was the former cellmate turned best friend of David Platt, and also dated Tina McIntyre. He worked for Ashley Peacock as an apprentice butcher and also had his own window cleaning business. He left Weatherfield in June 2011 with wife Xin Chiang, who he married in a sham marriage so she could remain in the UK but ended up falling in love with her for real.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Graeme was sent to a young offenders institute in early 2008 for committing arson, after setting fire to his grandmother's kitchen.
2008-2011[]
When David Platt was sent to the young offenders institute in April 2008 for smashing up his street and assaulting a police officer, Graeme became his cellmate. He was shown to be friendly despite being locked up, although David found him to be weird. David was released from the young offenders in June.
Later in the year Graeme was released and turned up at David's home on Coronation Street for a place to stay, as he was thrown out of his home after an argument with his mother. David allowed him to sleep on the sofa, although this didn't please David's girlfriend Tina McIntyre. Graeme got employed at Elliot & Sons the butchers on Victoria Street and worked under the watchful eye of Ashley Peacock. David's mother Gail asked Graeme to move out of the house, although he remained in Weatherfield and moved into a bedsit.
Graeme acted as support to David when his family got into a feud with the Windass family. When the family refused to pay for a kitchen Gail's boyfriend Joe McIntyre fitted, Graeme, David and Tina broke into the house and tore out the kitchen and set fire to it. However two family members Len and his nephew Gary arrived on Coronation Street and tore out the Platts kitchen in revenge. The Windass family would end up becoming residents of Coronation Street when they moved next to the flats, as former resident Jerry Morton rented out the property to them.
In June 2009 Graeme went along with David's scheme to stitch up Gary for robbery. David sent Gary to rob a house, not telling him it belonged to David's grandmother Audrey Roberts. Graeme spied from across the street but was concerned when he spotted David's grandfather Ted Page entering into the property as Gary was inside. Gary rushed out in panic and Ted attempted to chase him, but was unable to due to his old age. Gary was later arrested and Ted suffered a heart attack due to the stress, although recovered. Gary received a two month sentence for the burglary, which wasn't extended due to Ted telling the police Gary never laid a finger on him. Despite David being exposed as stitching up Gary he received no prison sentence, although the act caused Tina to not wish to reconcile with him.
Graeme started a consequent for love and during Tina and Jason Grimshaw's flat warming party attempted to flirt with local hairdresser Natasha Blakeman, although Graeme's chat up lines came across more insulting and ridiculous. At the end of the night Natasha made clear they weren't getting together.
In 2010 Graeme started to support a grieving Tina following the death of her father Joe McIntyre, who died in a boating accident. Tina had locked herself in her flat for weeks and fell into depression, having little communication with anyone and refusing to eat. She also kicked out Jason and didn't want his support. Graeme gained entrance to the property after Tina had collapsed and managed to help her back to full health when making her a bowl of soup and convincing her to eat again. After Gail was found not guilty for Joe's death Tina was back on the rebound and started to move on with her life.
Graeme and Tina fell in love with each other and began dating. The revelation angered both Jason and David, causing the former to change the locks on the flat and keeping Tina out. Later in the year Graeme was run over by David, and an angry Graeme hoped to have David charged for the crime due to "trying" to kill him. But it later turned out that David suffered epilepsy and passed out at the wheel of the car. Following David's diagnosis, Graeme forgave him, and they became friends again.
In 2011 Tina brought Graeme to meet her friend Xin Chiang, who worked with Tina at a shop a few years before. They went to see Xin at a Chinese restaraunt they worked at, but they found out Xin was facing being deported back to her home country. Tina came up with a plan for Graeme to marry Xin so she could remain in the country. Graeme went along with the plan, but this meant that him and Tina would have to pretend to split up as to make their story authentic. They created a false row in the Rovers Return and separated in front of witnesses, and Graeme went with Xin. They had a shared wedding with David and Kylie Turner. In April 2011 the couple were investigated, and they began to fake an entire backstory to make it look like they were together for a long time, and even had a fake Chinese Christmas with Norris Cole and Emily Bishop in order to take photos and give the illusion that this had been taken the year before. Graeme and Xin were cleared of any wrong doing and she was unable to remain in the country as a British citizen.
But Graeme ended up falling in love with Xin during his time with her, and they ended up pursuing a proper relationship. This broke Tina's heart, and in June 2011 she threatened to report them for their sham marriage. This panicked Graeme and Xin, and they made plans to leave Weatherfield and move to London for a new life. Although Tina chose to forgive the couple when she calmed down, they decided to leave the street regardless. Graeme parted ways with David, and had a heart to heart with Tina who thanked Graeme for saving her life the previous year during her depression. Graeme and Xin then got into a taxi and departed the street for good.
Mentions[]
Graeme's life following the street was never mentioned and it is unknown if him and David kept in any sort of contact.
Graeme was mentioned in 2013 when it was revealed that the street was left without a window cleaner following his departure. Tim Metcalfe succeeded as the street's new window cleaner replacing Graeme.
It is unknown if he was aware of Tina's murder at the hands of Rob Donovan in 2014 as Graeme or Xin didn't return for the funeral.
Relationships[]
David Platt[]
Graeme was originally David Platt's cellmate in early 2008. They ended up sharing a close friendship, and Graeme turned to David for help when released later in the year. Their friendship grew stronger following Graeme's return, with him being a loyal friend to David and helping out in anyway he can. He backed up David in his feud against the Windass family, especially against Gary Windass.
In June 2009 Graeme was willing to help David stitch up Gary Windass for robbery, although it went wrong thanks to David's grandfather Ted Page coming across Gary robbing Audrey Roberts' house.
The friendship went through a sour patch in 2010 when Graeme began dating David's ex-girlfriend Tina McIntyre, having initially supported her following the death of her father Joe. David took it personally as he hoped to reconcile with Tina at a later point. Things turned uglier when David apparently tried to kill Graeme in a hit and run and a vengeful Graeme was prepared to make David suffer the consequences. But it turned out that David blacked out at the wheel and was diagnosed with epilepsy, which caused Graeme to drop the charges and reconcile things with David.
Before Graeme left for London with his wife Xin in 2011, he left on good terms with his friend.
Tina McIntyre[]
Being the girlfriend of his former cellmate turned friend David, Graeme was on friendly terms with Tina and they became mates, with Tina finding amusement in Graeme's antics and wit. When Tina permanently ended her relationship with David in early 2009 when he tried to force her to commit perjury in order to send down Gary Windass, she had little to do with Graeme around this period and led her own life with Jason Grimshaw.
After Tina lost her father Joe in February 2010, she sunk into a deep depression, which broke down her relationship with Jason and she pushed away those closest to her. Graeme became concerned for Tina and found her unconscious in her flat, as she had rarely eaten or drank and started letting herself go. Graeme made Tina soup and convinced her to start eating and looking after herself. Following her stepmother Gail being found not guilty of killing Joe, Tina began to come to terms with her dad's death and credited Graeme for helping her. They grew close and secretly formed a relationship, although this put the pair at odds with David and Jason who both felt betrayed. Tina and Graeme were evicted from the flat (which was owned by Jason), so moved in with Tina's surrogate mother Rita Sullivan.
Their relationship was a steady one, at least until Tina wanted Graeme to marry her friend Xin so she could remain in the United Kingdom. Graeme was reluctant, but went ahead for their sakes. But things backfired for Tina when Graeme and Xin grew close (due to having to start living together as a couple), which broke down their relationship. A betrayed Tina threatened to report the pair to the authorities out of vengeance, which forced Graeme and Xin to decide to flee to London for a new life. But after a talk with Rita, Tina let go of her bitterness and saw Graeme before he left the street with Xin, and thanked him again for saving her life. The pair then left on better terms.
Ashley Peacock[]
Following his release from prison, Graeme went to Elliot & Sons to get a job, and that is where he met the owner Ashley Peacock. Despite Graeme's dodgy past, Ashley gave the young man an opportunity and took him on as an apprentice butcher. They had a solid working relationship and became friends, although Ashley wasn't impressed when Graeme played a prank on him in early 2009 pretending to be possessed by Ashley's later father Fred Elliott, the former owner of the butchers.
Ashley was later killed in the tram crash in 2010, which resulted in Elliot and Sons having to close. Despite his loss of employment, Graeme deeply mourned his friend, who apart from David was willing to give him a chance when he turned up on the street.
Background information[]
- The character was originally introduced on a short-term basis and appeared for two months from April to June 2008. Due to his popularity Craig Gazey returned in the role full-time in November that year.
Appendices[]
List of addresses[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| Larchfield Young Offenders Institute | early 2008 to 10th November 2008 |
| 8 Coronation Street | 10th November 2008 to 28th November 2008 |
| Unknown address, Weatherfield | November 2008 to July 2010 |
| 15a Coronation Street | July 2010 to 9th December 2010 |
| 9 Victoria Court | 13th December 2010 to March 2011 |
| 15a Coronation Street | March 2011 to 13th June 2011 |
| London | 13th June 2011 onwards |
Employment history[]
| Role | Institution | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Butcher | Elliot & Son | 24th November 2008 to 9th December 2010 |
| Window cleaner | Self-employed | 2009 to June 2011 |
| Gardener | Graeme Proctor, Garden Doctor | 21st August 2009 to unknown |
Memorable Info[]
Appearances: 18 April–6 June 2008, 10 November 2008–13 June 2011
Parents: Mrs. Proctor
Grandparents: Unnamed grandmother