Coronation Street killers reunited.
Just when it looked as though Tracy Barlow (above left) was settling into a comfortable relationship with her ex-husband Robert Preston (above right) on Coronation Street, along comes her former fiance Rob Donovan to rekindle sparks with Tracy. So will sh
Toxic Tracy Barlow has good reason to hate prisons. She served time behind bars for killing Charlie Stubbs on
Coronation Street and her former fiance, Rob Donovan, is now in jail for the murder of Rovers Return barmaid Tina McIntyre.
But an unexpected request from Rob to visit him in prison is likely to turn Tracy’s entire world on its head. And it seems as though Tracy may be left torn between two men.
When Tracy visits Rob in prison, he reveals he may get off on a technicality, which would leave him free to be with her again.
However, Tracy is now hooked up again with her first husband Robert Preston. So if it did come down to a choice between Rob and Robert, who would Tracy choose?
“If she’s honest with herself I think she’d prefer to be with Rob,”
says Kate Ford, who plays Tracy. “There was something special with Rob that she’s not had with anyone else. She felt it about Steve (McDonald) but part of that was because she couldn’t have him. It became a bit of an obsession, whereas with Rob it was the real thing. He was the love of her life.”
Tracy is over the moon when Rob invites her to prison and tells her he wants her to be in his life again.
“Tracy can’t believe it because she thought it was over between them,” says Kate.
“After she called the police on him and he refused to forgive her for that, she thought it would always be hanging over them, that it would always be there.
“So she feels like a weight has been lifted ... Although she does like Robert a lot, her true love was always Rob.”
But Rob’s intentions may not be as honourable as they seem. He has been in prison for a year and has had a lot of time to reflect on his life.
Actor Marc Baylis, who plays Rob, says in his mind Tracy and Carla Connor are largely to blame for his present life behind bars.
“He (Rob) has obviously had a lot of time to think things over in the last year and ponder why he ended up where he is,” says Marc.
“He’s got a sternness to him. He’s a bit colder than he was before and there’s a slightly nasty side to him. He’s less caring, which I guess is one of the side-effects of what’s gone on in his life.”
Rob admits he is playing games with people’s lives and he is intent on payback. He wants to ensure that Tracy and Carla suffer.
“There’s definitely an essence of revenge,” admits Marc. “I’m not sure if he’ll ever forgive Tracy and Carla for handing him over (to the police), especially on his wedding day – the day that was supposed to be the happiest day of his life.
“It definitely was the genuine article with Rob and Tracy. He did really love her, so it’s not just the fact that he ended up in prison, it’s the fact that his life is now the opposite of what he’d expected it to be.
“He was thinking that it was going to be the start of a new happy chapter for him and it looks to him that Tracy has moved on quite quickly from that. Also the fact that she’d gone back to an ex, Robert, is a kick in the ribs for Rob and he thinks, ‘Well, I’ll mess that one up for you’.”
It is clear that Rob and Tracy have chemistry and Rob plans to use this to his full advantage.
“The thing with Rob and Tracy is they’re both each other’s crutch,” says Marc. “As soon as they’re in each other’s presence for a certain amount of time it’s almost as if nothing has ever changed and he still has that power over her.”
It has been a year since Marc last appeared on Coro as Rob and in that time he worked on two films, including a sci-fi thriller called Arcadia, in which he starred and produced, and another entitled Zombie Apocalypse. He also helped run a London drama school.
But when the offer came to return to Coro, Marc did not hesitate.
“It was a joy to bring Rob back to life,” says Marc. “I always felt that it would happen. As to when and how I didn’t know, but he’s a character that I love playing so it was quite easy to get back into it.”