Johnny runs off with baby Susie!
AS HE PREPARES TO TAKE HIS GRANDDAUGHTER TO SPAIN, WILL LIZ TALK HIM DOWN – OR JOIN HIM?
Johnny is a desperate man this week, after mediation talks concerning custody of his granddaughter Susie descend into chaos. Convinced that he’s lost all hope of bringing up Aidan’s little girl, Johnny hits rock bottom – and concocts a reckless plan…
Kidnapping Susie from the Rovers, he hides out with her in a hotel room while all hell breaks loose back home. Knowing he can’t take care of Susie alone, Johnny calls on close friend Liz, who rushes to be by his side. But as he reveals that he plans on fleeing to Spain with his granddaughter and wants Liz to join them, will she go with him – or force him to see sense?
“Johnny’s not thinking straight at all,” admits Beverley Callard, who plays Liz. “He’s stolen the pub keys from Liz’s handbag so he can get into the Rovers and take Susie, and Liz is really worried about him. She’s glad that he gets in touch with her, but she’s shocked when he suggests running away to Spain so they can bring up Susie together!”
The week kicks off with a mediation session between Johnny, Jenny and Eva that gets nasty – when the fella pulls out the fake birth certificate that Adam created. The document would have scuppered Johnny’s plans for custody by implying that Aidan wasn’t Susie’s dad, but Eva shut down the scheme. Outraged that Johnny has betrayed her, Eva accuses Jenny of being an unfit parent after her own son’s tragic drowning, and storms out…
Back in Weatherfield, deeply despondent Johnny confides in Liz that Jenny is wrecking his chances of custody and that he plans to leave her. Despite her feelings for Johnny – whom she slept with in the aftermath of Aidan’s death –
Liz has to insist that Susie belongs with her mother, and Johnny belongs with his wife…
“Liz has fallen for Johnny, so she’s very conflicted,” sighs Beverley. “She understands what he’s going through with Susie, but she does think the child should be with Eva. She tries to be careful about what she says, because when she told Johnny about Susie rolling off the sofa, that went terribly wrong for her. It’s tricky, as Liz really wants to support Johnny!” It soon transpires that Johnny has taken no notice of Liz’s wise words in any case, when Eva wakes the following morning to realise with horror that Susie is missing from her crib. Suspicion moves to Johnny after upset Jenny reveals that he didn’t return home the previous evening – and the cops are called. “Once Liz notices her pub keys have gone, she tells Johnny’s daughter Kate,” reveals Beverley. “Kate and Jenny search Johnny’s flat
– and that’s when they realise that he’s not taken his MS medication with him, so everyone is really worried. The police are looking for him and Eva is all over the media with her police appeal. So after Johnny gets in touch with Liz, she knows she has to go to him – she thinks that she’s the best person to persuade him to come back.”
However, Johnny has other ideas – and by the time Liz reaches him and Susie at the hideout hotel, he’s already struggling to feed the little girl, and it becomes clear what a terrible state he’s in.
“When Liz gets there, Johnny just breaks down,” shares Beverley. “He really can’t bear the thought of losing his granddaughter.
Liz tries to convince him that he has to give himself up, but he won’t listen to her!”
Liz is caught between a rock and a hard place as she pleads with Johnny to see sense. Meanwhile, once word reaches Eva that Johnny’s been spotted buying baby items minus Susie, the police suspect he’s working with an accomplice – and Liz is soon very firmly in the frame.
Liz thinks that she’s the best person to get Johnny to come back”
Later, Johnny kisses Liz and invites her to join him in his new life with Susie abroad – but will she waver in her determination to convince him to do the right thing?
“Liz wants to help Johnny, yet she knows he’s in a lot of trouble,” explains Beverley. “Now that she’s also disappeared from the Street, though, she realises it’s only a matter of time before people put two and two together, and believe that she was in on Johnny’s plan all along!
“So while Liz knows in her heart of hearts that what Johnny’s asking her is just not going to be possible, she’s left in a really difficult position…”