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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Olivia Williams

Joanne Froggatt's forgotten role in Coronation Street

Downton Abbey and Angela Black's Joanne Froggatt once had a surprising role in Coronation Street.

Before she became one of ITV's biggest stars, she played teen tearaway Zoe Tattersall in the soap.

Joanne's big break came when she was cast in the role of teenage mum Zoe in Coronation Street in 1997.

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Her character had been in and out of the care system before she decided to run away and live on the streets with her boyfriend Liam Shepherd.

Zoe showed up at the amusement arcade where Judy Mallett (Gaynor Faye) worked, however it wasn't long until Liam started to cause trouble for Judy at the arcade.

Judy's husband Gary (Ian Mercer) decided to help his wife and kicked Liam out.

However, Liam's bad behaviour did not end there and he tried blackmailing the couple, threatening to go to police unless the couple gave them money.

Zoe Tattersall played by Joanne Froggatt and Shannon Tattersall (Granada Television)

But the couple found out the reason Liam wanted money was due to Zoe being pregnant.

Judy and Gary decided to offer £2,000 in exchange for the baby, as they had been struggling to conceive and later named her Katie.

However, not long after Zoe began living with the Mallets, the teen started a relationship with Ashley Peacock (Phil Collinson).

Living opposite to her daughter, Zoe was heartbroken and couldn't cope with the lack of contact.

She decided to get her daughter back and rename her Shannon.

But in April 1998, baby Shannon died from meningitis and as a result Zoe suffered a mental breakdown and she was sectioned for a while.

When she left hospital, Zoe made friends with a couple called Ben and Ruth who she met in a nightclub, however Ashley was suspicious of the couple.

The couple turned out to be cult leaders who introduced Zoe to the Etheric Foundation, a cult, and soon became brainwashed.

Ashley tried to save Zoe and steer her away from the cult, however he soon realised she was indoctrinated when she revealed she was going to have a baby for them.

Zoe left the cobbles in December 1998 with the cult and started a new life in America with them.

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