Betsy Swain (Sydney Martin) is set to turn 18 in Coronation Street next week, but her birthday is far from the joyous occasion she’d hoped for.
Of course, in true 18th birthday fashion, Betsy returns home for her party after being out all night.
When the drinks are poured, she raises a glass to a photo of Becky. Viewers will know that Becky was Betsy’s late mum, who died in suspicious circumstances after being mowed down by a car while on duty as a police officer.
‘It obviously brings up a lot of emotions,’ actress Sydney Martin explained. ‘She doesn’t have her other mum with her to celebrate and because of that she’s had to do a lot of growing up quite quickly.
‘Part of her feels like, I’ve gone out, I’ve drunk, I’ve dated boys, I’ve done this whole thing already. So as much as it’s exciting and she does want that freedom I think it’s probably a bit of a shock that this big birthday is here.
‘She’s officially an adult but she feels like she’s missing what should be quite a big part of her life in her other mum and Mason, and I don’t think she really knows how to handle that.’
Wanting to keep the celebration going, Betsy announces that she is going into town with some mates.
Always in detective mode, Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) quizzes her on her social life, and is taken aback when Betsy reveals that she slept with Dylan Wilson (Liam McCheyne) the previous night.
‘I think she’s been seeing people and maybe not telling her mum about it because she doesn’t want to be treated like a kid,’ Sydney explained.
‘It’s a really interesting dynamic with her mum, in that they’re so bad at communicating with each other, because Lisa just wants to protect her baby. But at the same time, because of her job, she’s very controlling in the way she does it and I think Betsy finds that quite intrusive.
‘For Lisa, it’s coming from a place of caring, but for Betsy it feels quite overbearing. It feels more like a detective asking questions rather than a concerned mum.
‘So I think Betsy’s first response is to shut off and obviously Lisa finds that heartbreaking because she feels as though she’s losing a little girl after already losing such a big part of her life in who she thought was her lifelong partner.’
On her way to meet her friends, Betsy records a voice note for Dylan at the precinct, and another for Lisa, but before she can finish, she is startled by a loud crash as a stolen car smashes into something, and begins to scream.
‘She goes out, she’s had a bit of a mard, she’s got herself a bit drunk, she’s just upset, and then all of a sudden, in the same place that she lost Mason, there’s a car hurtling towards her,’ Sydney teased.
‘I think it’s the wake up call that she needs her mum, she needs Carla, she needs Ryan, and she needs this family unit. Although grief is such a horrible emotion, you can rely on the people around you, it doesn’t make you weak, it doesn’t make you a child. She needs to see they’re not trying to treat her like a child, they’re just trying to understand her.
‘Just before the crash it was her mum that she was reaching for, it was her mum that she was leaving a voicemail for. She is grateful to her mum and for Carla for stepping into this motherly role now. This is a wake up call that life can be taken away in a split second.’
