Steve Mc Donald (Coronation Street) - Storylines

Storylines

Steve McDonald arrived in Coronation Street at the age of 15 in December 1989, with twin brother Andy (Nicholas Cochrane) and parents Jim McDonald (Charles Lawson) and Liz McDonald (Beverly Callard). From the start, the lads were high-energy tearaways initially causing aggravation for Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley). Steve and Andy got up to a lot of mischief, including a joyride in an industrial earth mover, breaking Alf's shop window. The lads were brought up mainly by their mother because their father Jim was in the army and away more than he was home. When he was home, the hot tempered Jim, whose tirades were often fuelled by whiskey and beer, had boys fearing and resenting him. Steve grew up with little respect for his father but a great deal for his mother. It didn't stop him from getting into scrapes, no matter how much it worried his mother. Schoolboy pranks turned into illegal activities when Steve was sure he could pull off a scam or two only to find out that the long arm of the law was only a few steps away. Steve was caught selling stolen car radios, and falling into a bad lot which got his brother, Andy, beaten up. Steve ran away with a teenage love to the Lake District and had to be retrieved and defended against Jim by his mother. The McDonalds didn't have a lot of money and this seemed to fuel Steve's ambitions, always looking for a way to make money. Steve started working with Jim in a building business but Jim was drinking a lot and during an argument and scuffle on scaffolding, Jim fell into a skip and was paralyzed for a time. After Jim's recovery, things started to improve between father and son. They seemed to come to an acceptance of each other.

Steve was married to Karen McDonald (Suranne Jones) twice. During his separation from Karen in 2003, he had a one-night stand with Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford), consequently making her pregnant. Tracy gave birth to their daughter Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney), though she initially was named Patience by Roy Cropper (David Neilson) when he was deceived into believing Amy was his daughter. Tracy later decided she wanted to bring up her daughter herself, and revealed that Steve was the baby's father on Steve and Karen's second wedding day. Karen was horrified but later forgave him. Tracy was persistent in causing disruption for Steve and Karen which lasted from February 2004 to December 2004, until Steve finished his relationship with Karen on Christmas Day, admitting it was getting too much for him. In March 2005 he began dating single mum Louise Hazel but the dalliance soon fizzled out partly due to Tracy's presence on the Street. For a brief period shortly after, he dated Tracy, but his intentions were to try and secure his name as the father on Amy's birth certificate, not because he had feelings for Tracy. Tracy became aware of Steve's scheme, and attempted to prevent Steve access to Amy. The case was taken to court, where Steve was granted legal rights to see his daughter.