Dennis Tanner

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Evil-doer
Full Name	Dennis Tanner
Alias	None
Origin	Coronation Street
Occupation	Salesman (retired)
Powers / Skills	Charisma Deception Intelligence Social seduction
Goals	Become rich and successful. Try and win Rita back after cheating on her.
Crimes	Fraud Theft Assault Adultery
Type of Villain	Charismatic Rival

“	Oh I've waited a long time to do this!	„
	~ Dennis to his rival Norris Cole before he punches him for constantly meddling in his relationship with Rita Turner.

Dennis Tanner was a fictional character and major protagonist of the British soap opera Coronation Street.

He is portrayed by the late Philip Lowrie.

Development

Philip Lowrie was Dennis Tanner in the 1960s.

In his characterisation Dennis is the son of Elsie Tanner and her estranged husband Arnold Tanner, and the younger brother of Linda Cheveski, and debuted alongside Elsie and Linda in the first episode in December 1960. He was originally conceived by the show's creator and writer to be a shady and villainous character, potentially setting him up as a major villain in the show. But early on this was significantly toned down due to Philip Lowrie's comedic talents, with Dennis instead being depicted as a lovable rogue. This led to popularity with the character with viewers as well as the production team.

Dennis originally left the show in 1962 when Lowrie attempted to start a music career, but he returned in 1963. Lowrie quit the show again in 1968, having grown dissatisfied with Dennis' lack of character development. Dennis played an off-screen role in 1973 when he was locked up for conning old age pensioners, seemingly bringing Dennis back to his villainous roots. Lowrie would rule out returning to the show around this time and wished Dennis had been killed off, although as he got older he would speak more fondly about his time working on the show.

Dennis was reintroduced to the show in 2011 after a 43 year absence, which was a record breaker for a television actor at the time. Dennis remained somewhat still a rogue with self-serving traits. The return reunited him with Rita Sullivan; the pair hadn't interacted since Rita's debut episode as Rita Littlewood in 1964. Dennis' return also marked the first time since 1984 that another original character (aside from Ken Barlow) appeared on the show. Dennis and Rita were married in 2012, although Dennis was axed by producer Stuart Blackburn in late 2013. Dennis' roguish traits were brought back in which he ran off with Gloria Price in February 2014, having lost interest in committing to his marriage. He returned again in April 2014, and departed for good in July that year. Dennis was killed off-screen in February 2020 in order to tie in with the show's 10,000th episode.

Another different aspect to Dennis in the first episode was his apparent feud with neighbour Ken Barlow, who was an antithesis to Dennis. Whilst Ken was polite, well educated, driven and approved by Elsie, Dennis was rude, an ex-convict, workshy and let down Elsie. Ironically though Ken didn't have approval from his own father due to him looking down on his working class roots. Like Dennis' villainy, this was quickly fizzled out and Dennis and Ken were on friendly terms, and they resumed their friendship upon Dennis' return in 2011 and Ken became Dennis' best man at his wedding the following year.

Biography

Dennis Tanner is the son of Elsie Tanner and Arnold Tanner. In his youth, he was a trouble maker who would commit crimes such as stealing and breaking into shops of houses, which would drive his mother mad - who was raising her family alone after Dennis's father abandoned the household following World War II. In early 1960 (just prior to the events of the show starting), Dennis was arrested along with his partner in crime Jed Stone for robbing a shop, and were sentenced to a young offenders for several months. Several weeks before the first episode, Dennis was released from prison, but had no interest in honest work and would laze about the house and give his mother cheek.

In the first episode, Dennis was accused by his mother for stealing money out of her purse, although he denied it. Dennis was cleared of all wrong doing when it turned out his sister Linda had borrowed the money to buy shopping, much to Elsie's guilt. In the first several episodes Dennis made attempts to better himself, and got a proper job at a nightclub, where he met his troublesome father for the first time in 15 years.

Dennis remained clean throughout most of his original stint in the show, apart from pulling off quick rich schemes which would normally land himself in trouble with the residents and annoy Elsie. When he decided to leave in 1968 for a sales job in Bristol, he got married to a woman named Jenny and departed on good terms with his family.

But life wasn't looking up for Dennis, as in 1973 he used his position to con old age pensioners out of all their savings. He was caught for the act and got locked up for three years. An embarrassed Elsie visited him in prison off-screen, but chose not to disclose to her neighbours what her son had done. The act also caused Dennis's wife to leave him, and the pair eventually divorced.

An elderly Dennis returned back to the show in 2011, in which he was homeless after falling hard on his luck. He reunited with old flame Rita Sullivan (formerly Littlewood), who had been living on the street for 40 years. Dennis moved in with her and cleaned himself up, and although they shared romantic feelings (which they would take further with a proper relationship and then a marriage), Dennis would normally let Rita keep him and not put any money into the household. It also turned out that he had done this with another woman a couple of years prior, he moved in with her for her money before then abandoning her at the wedding. Despite this previous action, he remained with Rita.

In late 2013 Dennis got bored and wanted to have an adventure. He fell for neighbour Gloria Price - the mother of pub landlady Stella - and chose to run off with her for a new life abroad, leaving Rita devastated and betrayed. But realizing Gloria was quite controlling, Dennis returned back to the United Kingdom with his tail between his legs, and ended back on the streets. After being beaten up, he was visited by Rita in hospital, he took pity on Dennis and allowed him to move in temporarily.

Dennis planned to win Rita back, but realizing his attempts may be futile, he chose to finally leave the street. He went to the Kabin newsagents hoping to say goodbye to Rita, only to be confronted by his enemy Norris Cole, who called out Dennis for leeching off Rita for these past few years, and that she was better off without him. Angry, Dennis punched Norris to the ground, and attempted to rob the till. He was caught by Rita, who ordered Dennis to put the money back, before then throwing him out of the shop.

Before leaving the street, Dennis said goodbye to his niece Julie Carp, before then departing for good. He later sent Rita divorce papers, marking the permanent end to their marriage.

A few years later, Dennis began to battle dementia. After passing away, his ashes were sent to a stunned Rita, with a request to scatter them in Blackpool.

Personality

In his teenage years, Dennis was a petty criminal who would commit minor crimes in order to earn a quick buck. Following a stint in Borstal, he attempted to turn his life around and went legit, although still lived by his own rules and would act dishonest if it suited his interests. He was charismatic and also camp, and would use his charm to get through his problems although this would rarely go his own way. These attributes would follow into his elderly years as he would choose to run away from his problems rather than face them head on. Having lost the energy and drive from his youth, an elderly Dennis instead would try and seek out someone with money in order to live a comfortable life without contribution. His impulses and briefly running away with Gloria Price for "adventure" led to the end of his marriage to Rita.

Trivia

• Dennis was reintroduced in 2011 after a 43 year absence from the program, with Philip Lowrie being brought back to reprise the role. He earned a world record for this large gap.
• Dennis was axed in late 2013 by producer Stuart Blackburn, who felt Dennis should get some sort of comeuppance for his bad behavior in the past. This decision was unpopular with the viewers, but regardless Dennis left in mid-2014. He was later killed off-screen in February 2020 as part of the 10,000th episode of the show.