| “ | "It's no good talking to you is it Baldwin? You've got no conscience, you've got no shame. You're vermin, Baldwin. You're nowt but a nasty little bit of crawling vermin. There's only one way to deal with you, and that's just crush you, to smash you till there's nowt but a smear left" | „ |
| ~ Don's last words to Mike before he tries to kill him, which leads to Don himself being killed. |
Don Brennan was a regular character in Coronation Street. Although a neutral character for almost his entire duration on the show from 1987 to 1997, Don became the main antagonist in his final year in the series in 1997 in which he developed a feud with Mike Baldwin, leading to him kidnapping Mike's wife Alma, trying to kill her and later trying to kill Mike only to lead to his own demise.
Don arrived in 1987 as a taxi driver, who got romantically involved with Ivy Tilsley and the pair married the following year. However, Don was unable to put up with Ivy, which led to him having a breakdown and crashing his taxi, in which he lost a leg. Ivy later left in 1994 and died off-screen the following year. Don developed money problems in 1997 and blamed Mike Baldwin who gave him a useless business which led to Don targeting Mike in a campaign of revenge, which included arson, kidnapping, and two attempted murders before Don accidentally killed himself.
He was portrayed by Geoffrey Hinsliff.
Biography
Don first appeared as a love interest to Ivy Tilsley in 1987. Ivy was widowed a few years prior after the death of her husband Bert, and Don himself was previously married with two daughters and a son from that marriage. His children appeared at his wedding to Ivy the following year, however, weren't seen again for his remaining time in the series.
Don left Ivy after her erratic behavior to preserve the memory of her son Brian (who was stabbed to death) and looked elsewhere for romance and developed a fascination with local hairdresser Denise Osbourne and began harassing her with phone calls. Don and Ivy separated after he had an affair, however they reconciled after a suicidal Don crashed his taxi and was forced to have his left leg amputated. They eventually split up, and Ivy passed away in 1995.
Don began to develop a villainous side when he got into gambling problems, most of it to Mike Baldwin. He got together with a woman named Josie Clarke and bought a garage from Mike, however, discovered it was useless. Josie left Don due to his obsession for getting revenge on Mike. He set fire to Mike's factory Underworld, however, this only caused Mike to claim the insurance money, infuriating him further.
Taking drastic measures, Don kidnapped Mike's wife Alma and bundled her into his taxi. He later drove it into a river but she managed to escape, and Don was later saved and arrested, getting charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. He was released on bail and attacked Mike in the Rovers Return Inn, nearly strangling him before being forced out by landlord Jack Duckworth.
In October 1997, Don kidnapped Mike and tied him up in his flat and threatened to kill him. Mike escaped and phoned the police and Don was again arrested. Don managed to escape custody and stole Alma's car and returned to Coronation Street once again to kill Mike. When Mike crossed the road, Don drove straight at him but Mike managed to jump out of the way in time, causing Don to drive into the viaduct wall. The car caught fire and Don was killed.
Gallery
Trivia
- Another Coronation Street villain Karl Munro is similar to Don Brennan (he debuted in the show in 2011, 14-years after Brennan's death).
- Both are taxi drivers.
- Both started out normal and neutral but began to develop into villainy.
- Both had an obsession with getting "revenge" on someone. Don targeted Mike Baldwin, and Karl targeted Jason Grimshaw (although the motivations were different).
- Both kidnapped someone in their taxi. Don kidnapped Alma Baldwin, and Karl kidnapped ex-girlfriend Stella. However, Don tried to kill Alma in his taxi, whereas Karl tried to beg Stella to get back with him.
- Both committed arson. Don burnt down Underworld and Karl burnt down the Rovers Return.
