Don Brennan

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Villain Overview Gallery

Evil-doer
Full Name	Donald Michael "Don" Brennan
Alias	Don "Wolly" "Sir" Mr. Brennan
Origin	Coronation Street
Occupation	Taxi driver
Powers / Skills	Charisma Deception Intelligence Vehicular exceptionality
Goals	Get revenge on his arch-foe Mike Baldwin and kill him (failed).
Crimes	Assault Theft Fraud Adultery Conspiracy Harrasment Arson Stalking Kidnapping Attempted murder
Type of Villain	Vengeful Fallen Hero

“	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 Brennan's last words to his hated foe Mike Baldwin before he tries to kill him, which leads to Don himself being killed.

Don Brennan is a fictional character and major protagonist-turned-antagonist of the long-running ITV British soap opera Coronation Street.

In his characterisation, Don is a taxi driver who became the husband of established character Ivy Tilsley up until her departure in the following years. At first he started off as a pleasantly neutral man for most of his duration on the serial from 1987 to 1997. However, he slowly displayed negative traits up to the point of doing questionable things before eventually descending on a villainous path in his final year on the show upon harbouring a dangerous grudge against his sworn foe Mike Baldwin; the conflict between them got out of hand when Don ended up kidnapping Mike's wife Alma, nearly killing her in the process, before later attempting to kill Mike - which only resulted in Don's own demise after he accidentally killed himself in a car crash.

He was portrayed by the late Geoffrey Hinsliff.

Development

Don Brennan first arrived in 1987 as a taxi driver. Soon enough he got romantically involved with Ivy Tilsley and the pair later married the following year. However, their marriage broke down after Don's growing irritation with Ivy's demeanour led him to develop an antagonistic path - though not before he suffered a mental breakdown and later crashed his taxi, the latter of which resulted in him losing a leg; Ivy subsequently left in 1994 and died off-screen the following year. It was then Don had embarked on a dangerous conflict against his hated foe Mike Baldwin; the amniosity between them came when Mike sold Don a garage that had little to no value, which consequently led to Don going bankrupt and losing his sanity as a result of his dire financial straits. Don squarely blamed Mike for his losses and thereafter began targeting Mike in a campaign of revenge from 1997, which included arson; kidnapping; and two attempted murders before Don was ultimately killed off when he died in an accidental car crash.

Biography

Don Brennan first appeared in Weatherfield as a love interest to local resident Ivy Tilsley. She had been widowed a few years prior after the death of her husband Bert, and ironically enough Don had also been widowed with two daughters and a son. Eventually, Don and Ivy had a relationship and they got married in 1988; Don's children attended the ceremony but would then depart and not be seen again for the rest of the series.

In 1989, Don comforted Ivy when her son Brian is killed in a stabbing - though not before Brian's marriage with fellow neighbour Gail Porter had collapsed; Ivy had long feuded with Gail for years due to their constant bickering. Towards the end of the year, Don was one of the punters at The Rovers Return Inn public house who confronted local villain Alan Bradley when the latter was suspected to have killed his old fiancé Rita Fairclough after terrorizing her for months. On the day of Alan's death, Don learned from pub landlord Jack Duckworth that the latter's wayward son Terry had been beaten up by Alan for badmouthing him and his daughter Jenny a few years earlier.

As the 1990s emerged, Don's marriage with Ivy slowly began to collapse as her behaviour grew increasingly erratic following Brian's death. Soon enough he developed a romantic fascination with local hairdresser Denise Osbourne and began harassing her with phone calls. Don's actions resulted in Ivy breaking up with him. When he had a difficult time coping with the separation, Don attempted to commit suicide by crashing his taxi; he survived but his left leg was consequently amputated. When Ivy learned about this, she comforts Don and they reconcile; however, they split up again and Ivy soon passed away in 1995.

By 1996, Don has grown increasingly unstable after getting himself involved with financial problems. This was partly the result of Don's conflict with factory owner Mike Baldwin; the friction between them had begun after Don lost nearly all of his businesses to Mike in a poker game and owed him a lot of money despite his gambling addiction. After being constantly humiliated by Mike for losing his businesses to him and getting punched in The Rovers by him at one point, Don vowed to get revenge on Mike at all costs.

From then onwards, Don sought to achieve nothing but exact vengeance on Mike. His attempts began when Don seduced a woman named Josie Clarke and bought a garage from Mike, only to discover that it had been bought at a reduced price. He also attempted to try and forge business partnerships with both Brian and Gail's son Nick along with local mechanic Kevin Webster respectively, but they both rejected him after learning of Don's ulterior motives. Eventually Josie left Don due to his obsession for getting revenge on Mike.

Don prepares to kill Mike in the latter's vehicle.

By 1997, Don and Mike became hated foes rather than mere business competitors given the extent of their quarrel with each other. At one point Gail's estranged half-brother Stephen Reid took notice of their conflict when he planned to go into business partnership with Mike and learned about Don's grudge against him. This in turn led to Mike confronting Don and warning him not to slander him, but Don instead denounced Mike as the latter departed. Soon enough Don's fixation with Mike began to complicate his own friendship with housemate Ashley Peacock on several occasions.

At one point Don's campaign of revenge led to him vandalizing a car that seemingly belonged to Mike, only for Don to later discover that the vehicle belonged to somebody else. It was then Don decided to set fire to Mike's factory. At first it seemed as though Don was successful as his actions caused problems for Mike when the latter began to face potential bankruptcy and even police investigation; however, Don's actions ended up causing Mike to claim the insurance money and he was eventually in the clear from police investigation - which only infuriated Don even further.

Taking drastic measures, Don decided to target Mike's beloved wife Alma as she found herself caught in the crossfire of the escalating conflict between the two men. Don soon made his move by tricking Alma into getting into a taxi when she called for one, thus kidnapping her in the process. Don attempted to make her believe that Mike was responsible for all his problems. When she attempted to escape, however, Don tried to kill her and himself by driving the taxi into a river; however, she escaped and rescued Don before both were later taken to hospital. Alma recuperated from her ordeal whilst Don was held in police custody for kidnap and attempted murder; when Mike found out what happened, he tried to attack Don on his bedside but was restrained by Martin and a policeman guarding the door. When Ashley refused to help him again, Don attempted to frame him for setting fire to the factory; however, Ashley's father Fred Elliot helped prove his son's innocence with Mike's help and consequently Don was charged by the police.

Don gets killed when Mike's car explodes with him inside it, witnessed by Mike and some of the residents as well.

Because of his unstable behaviour, Don was sectioned before his trial would take place. Months later, however, he escaped and resorted to kill Mike once and for all. In October 1997, Don ambushed Mike in his factory and tied him up before preparing to beat him to death. Don nearly succeeded until he was interrupted by Mike's employee, Angie Freeman, and was forced to flee when she helped untie Mike at that moment. Don then stole Mike's car and, seeing his hated foe coming onto the road, began to drive straight at him in a last-ditch attempt to kill him. But Mike quickly jumped out of the way in time, which caused Don to end up driving into the viaduct wall. Thereupon Mike was helped up by his archenemy Ken Barlow, who along with Rita heard the commotion outside; it was then the car caught fire with Don still inside the vehicle, killing him.

The following day, Mike celebrated Don's death as the other residents coped with the loss of a longstanding neighbour who underwent a troubling path to the end.

Quotes

“	If you're thinking I have any regrets, you couldn't have been more wrong I'm only sorry the whole place didn't go up.... with you in it! How many years have I known you Baldwin, eh? Nine? Ten? And all that time you've been strutting up and down the street.... smaring you're way around everybody, using you're money to get what you want. Buying friends, buying women, and then treating the rest of us like dirt! Well you're not gonna walk all over me Baldwin, because I know you for what you are - a flash, loudmouth, cockney wild boy!	„
	~ Don proudly confesses to Mike that he burnt down the latter's factory just to get revenge on him.

“	Liar! You Liar! YOU LIAR! YOU LIAR! LLLIIIIAAARRRR!	„
	~ Don's psychotic breakdown as he terrorizes Mike's wife Alma Baldwin in their taxi ride before driving them into a canal.

Trivia

• Another Coronation Street baddie, Karl Munro, is similar to Don Brennan (he debuted in the show from 2011, just 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, whereas and Karl targeted Jason Grimshaw (although the motivations were different).
  • Both kidnapped someone in their taxi. Don kidnapped Mike's wife Alma Baldwin, whereas Karl kidnapped ex-girlfriend Stella.
    • The reasons were different however; as Don tried to kill Alma in his taxi, whereas Karl tried to beg Stella to get back with him by holding her hostage in his taxi.
  • Both committed arson. Don burnt down Underworld and Karl burnt down the Rovers Return.
• Don Brennan is the longest time a regular character has been neutral before turning into an antagonist. Aside from some troubles such as a suicide attempt, he remained an ordinary character for around his first nine years on the show before becoming the show's main antagonist in the tenth and final year of his stint on the show.

External Links

• Don Brennan on the Heroes Wiki
• Don Brennan on the Coronation Street Wiki