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Brookside Report
21/27 August 1993
The Secret I Must Share
Romance is in the air for Brookside’s Peter and Beth. But how long will it be before the skeletons come crawling out of the closet?
They seem to be an ideal couple – attractive, ambitious and intelligent – but a dark secret threatens to wreck the blossoming romance between Peter Harrison and Beth Jordache (played by Robert Beck and Anna Friel).
Under that clean-cut exterior, management trainee Peter still bears the ugly stigma of being branded a rapist. Only seven months ago, he was in the dock accused of raping former neighbour Diana Corkhill. And although the jury found him not guilty, as far as Diana’s family is concerned, Peter Harrison should not have been allowed to walk free.
“Beth and her family are about the only people on the Close who don’t know what happened”, explains Robert 24. “Peter is faced with a tough dilemma. Should he tell Beth and risk losing her, or keep quiet and hope she never finds out?”
But, if Peter doesn’t tell her, there are others who might. Mike Dixon, for instance, may be happy to share Peter’s house, but he wants Beth for himself. And though she may not admit it, Peter’s friend and lodger, Anna Wolska, isn’t happy about the idea of another woman in his life
“He’s taking a risk”, admits Robert, who’s single and lives in Liverpool. “And to be fair, he does try to tell her. But when push comes to shove, he just can’t bring himself to do it.”
He may not be behind bars, but Robert believes Peter is serving a life sentence for what he did.
“After the rape case, everyone’s sympathies were with Diana. No one stopped to think that Peter might be emotionally scarred by it as well. For a long time, he’s avoided getting involved with women because he’s so scared. Now he’s found someone he can get close to, but ghosts from the past still haunt him.”
Beth has problems of her own to come to terms with. After suffering years of unhappiness with her bullying father, Trevor, she watched her mother, Mandy, stab him to death after yet more abuse, and then helped her dispose of the body.
“Beth puts her trust in Peter because she believes he could never be anything like her father”, says Anna Friel. “He seems kind, sensitive and sympathetic. But if she found out what he’s hiding, it could confirm her worst fears – that deep down all men are as bad as her father.”
Beth’s tragic past has struck a chord with many viewers. “I was amazed at how many women have written to say they’ve been abused”, says 17-year-old Anna, who studied real-life child abuse cases before she took on the role.
“Like them, I think Beth has had to grow up before her time. She’s had to be strong for her mother and sister – now it’s time for her to start having some fun”.
But how long will the fun last, once Peter’s past is out in the open ?