Family In Focus....The Murrays

Last Updated February 22nd 2004

The Murray family moved into No 9 Brookside Close in March 2000, after Lindsey had to sell the house to repay her debts. The new family Marty his daughter Adele, sons Steven and Anthony and his second wife Diane soon settled into life on Brookside Close.

Marty worked as caretaker at Brookside Comprehensive school, while Diane soon found work as managers at the hair salon on Brookside Parade.

It was not long before the eldest son Steven met Nikki Shadwick, but when he realised she already had a boyfriend he turned his attention to Katrina who had started her own business on Brookside Parade. At first Steven had competition for Katrina's affections as Max was also keen on getting to know her better. But when Max discovered Katrina wasn't interested in a relationship with him, he encouraged her to see Steven. Although their friendship got off to a slow start they later became very committed to each other, even though Steven wasn't too keen on Katrina trying to further her career as a model.

Adele who attended Brookside Comprehensive school seemed to make few friends in Brookside but did try to become pals with Emily Shadwick even though her efforts seemed to go unnoticed.

Anthony who was the youngest member of the family and also went to Brookside Comprehensive took his Catholic religion very seriously and also seemed to make few friends.

Diane got on well with all her step children but really wanted her and Marty to have a child of their own. At first Diane seemed unable to conceive but after consulting Dr Darren Roebuck and using fertility charts etc., she had her pregnancy confirmed in November 2000.

Both Marty and Diane were delighted with the news and word soon spread around the family, with her mother Brigid being one of the last to know. Although Steven and Adele were happy at the prospect of a new brother or sister, Anthony felt left out as he would no longer be the youngest in the family.

Their happiness was short lived as on New Years Eve Diane had a miscarriage and lost the baby. Diane was devastated while Marty although sharing her grief seemed eager to get on with life. Anthony was also deeply affected as unbeknown to the others he had secretly prayed the baby would die

After Diane had recovered from her loss she decided to try again for a baby, but because of her age, decided that I.V.F. treatment was her best option and going private would be the best way to achieve this. The course of treatment was very expensive, but Marty was determined that they should go ahead and so took out a bank loan. Later when they discovered it would be even more costly, Diane managed to persuade Brigid to lend her the money.

Meanwhile Adele had taken an interest in Leo, but the attraction was one sided as Leo just wasn't interested in 15 year old Adele. Later Diane offered to help Adele buy some new clothes and give her a complete makeover, which much improved her appearance. During a surprise party for Diane, Adele saw her chance to get Leo on his own. He had arrived having been out drinking earlier, and she had no trouble seducing him and enticing him to her bedroom and into bed. Afterwards Leo realised he had made a big mistake by having unprotected sex with Adele, and left the close shortly afterwards to pursue his career in the police force.

Steve's relationship with Katrina was going well, and he got on with her father, who even offered him a job as mechanic at his garage. Anthony wasn't so lucky with girls though, as two from his school were bullying him, forcing him to steal and give them the money. Anthony was ashamed, that he was being intimated by two girls and tried to keep it a secret from Diane and Marty. However when he was forced to steal from the garage, Anthony was caught by Jackie Corkhill, who took him home to confront his parents.

When Marty and and Diane called at Anthony's school to see his head teacher in an effort to sort out the bullying problem they were shocked by her attitude. She told them that unless an independent witness saw Anthony being bullied there was nothing she could do.

Meanwhile Adele was about to learn the error of her ways when she took a pregnancy test. This confirmed her suspicions that Leo had made her pregnant the night of Diane's party. She was frightened to tell Diane about her condition, but when she eventually plucked up courage to tell her, Diane was furious and slapped Adele across her face. Marty was also shocked but vowed to support Adele when she opted to have an abortion.

Diane though was devastated by Adele's decision and tried to influence her into keeping the baby, and for a while almost succeeded. Diane hoped that Adele would allow her to bring up the baby as her own, but when Adele revealed the baby would be of mixed race, she had to concede this wasn't possible. Marty soon realised that Leo was responsible and confronted Mick with the news.

A heated argument followed which resulted in Marty and Mick fighting, although later Mick tried to make amends by agreeing Leo would help Adele bring up the baby. Despite this offer of assistance Adele felt that having a baby could ruin the rest of her life and reluctantly went ahead with the abortion. Diane was upset by her decision, particularly as the day of the abortion coincided with the anniversary of the day she lost her baby.

Meanwhile Steve's romance with Katrina was flourishing, with Katrina wanting to take their relationship a stage further by getting married. Steve was surprised when he received a bonus cheque from Jeff, but suspecting it was a bribe to marry Katrina soon handed it back. Marty was impressed by Steve's decision even though Jeff later managed to convince him their was no ulterior motive.

As a result Marty supporting Adele with her decision to have an abortion, Diane felt she couldn't forgive him, and this caused a great deal of tension between them. Later when Marty tried to make amends Diane rejected his efforts causing yet another row with Marty storming off in a fury. Meanwhile Jeff and Katrina arrived for dinner, so Diane was left to entertain them on her own. Jeff saw that Diane was upset and offered her a shoulder to cry on, but as she confided in him about her marriage problems, Jeff misinterpreted the situation and made a pass at her.
Diane was horrified and told him to leave, but before he left Jeff pleaded with Diane not to tell Marty.
Marty became suspicious when Diane was reluctant to go to a launch party hosted by Steve and Jeff, leaving Diane with no option but to tell him about Jeff. Despite his anger Marty promised not to cause trouble, but when he next saw Jeff, Marty's temper got the better of him and he attacked him. Steve was shocked by his fathers behavior and was not sure whether to believe Diane's story about Jeff.

Steve and Katrina each had different ideas about what happened between Jeff and Diane. Steve believed Diane's version of events but Katrina was adamant that Jeff wouldn't behave that way. Feeling that he could no longer work for Jeff, Steve quit his job and split up with Katrina.

Steve's chances of a new romance almost dashed thanks to Adele. Christy was trying to chat up Nisha in the bar, but when Leanne spotted him, he tried to cover his tracks by encouraging Nisha and Steve to get together. The couple were soon enjoying each others company and Steve was delighted when Nisha asked him to join her for a night out. Meanwhile Adele has deceived Marty and Diane by telling them she was spending the night at Michelle's house, but instead had gone to a club in Wigan. Later when she called home and confessed she was stranded outside the club, Steve was asked to collect her, which meant he had to abandon his plans to accompany Nisha.

Despite this setback Steve and Nisha did have a relationship for a while, but while Steve was willing to commit himself to Nisha, she wanted to remain free to date other men. Steve wasn't able to accept this situation, so he and Nisha split up.

Meanwhile Adele caused more problems for Diane and Marty when she invited two of Tim's ex jail mates to her party. Marty and Diane were horrified when they returned to find Adele and her friend upstairs with the two boys. Worse was to follow though, for while they were lecturing Adele upstairs the two ex jailbirds were helping themselves to the TV and video downstairs.

Marty and Diane were devastated when the Insurance company refused to pay out on their claim, as the thieves were let in the house by Adele.

Christy had a plan to help Marty recoup his losses and arranged for Tim to stage a fake robbery by breaking into the Murray house, ensuring that Marty could claim on his house insurance. Although reluctant at first Marty eventually agreed to allow Tim to break in. However Steve wasn't told about the scam, so when he returned home early on the night of the burglary and saw a theft in progress, he knocked Tim out before realising who he was.

At first Steve believed Tim was trying to burgle the house, but Jimmy managed to convince him that Marty knew all about the break in and that Tim was only trying to make it look like a burglary so that Marty could claim on his insurance. Steve was furious with Marty but later realised that maybe the money made on a false insurance claim might help ease the financial burden for Marty. Although convinced that they were in desperate need of the money, Steve was unhappy that it would all be used to pay for the IVF treatment, and blamed Diane for causing their predicament by her obsession in becoming pregnant.

After applying for a job in a garage, Steve's optimism that he was successful was shattered after being turned down. Suspecting a bad reference from Jeff was behind the rejection Steve planned to confront him.

Steve didn't need much persuading when Tim convinced him to pay a visit to Jeff's garage to get revenge for the bad job reference. They arrived to find Jeff was away, but this didn't stop Tim from taking a car on a test drive before reversing it through the showroom window. Although shocked by Tim's antics Steve was grateful for his help and found himself tempted to join Tim in a life of crime.

Meanwhile Anthony's delight over gaining a star role in the Christmas play was marred when he discovered Imelda and Paige were at his new school.
The Murray family faced further problems, when first they heard from the insurance assessor that his company would not be paying out on their insurance claim, then later when Marty and Diane visited the hospital they were told their latest attempt at IVF treatment was unsuccessful. Diane was devastated that she was still not pregnant and vowed to continue with the IVF despite the fact they had no more money to pay for it. Tension mounted between Marty and Diane as he tried to make her realise they had no way of raising more money.

Anthony was also having a bad time as he tried to defend himself against school bullies Paige and Imelda. Luckily Adele saw what was happening and chased the girls off. Marty was shocked when he discovered what had happened as he was unaware Anthony was still being bullied, and decided to take positive action. His shock turned to disbelief when he realised Anthony was being bullied by two girls and tried to encourage him to stand up to them and fight back. Meanwhile Diane still refused to give up on her plan to continue with the IVF treatment and suggested selling the house to pay for it. However Marty refused to go along with her idea and when he told her about Anthony, Diane realised she has been neglecting the family, and reluctantly agreed to give up the IVF treatment for a while.

Marty was fast approaching breaking point when Diane, after taking advice from Jimmy wanted to continue her IVF treatment. It was this tension that caused him to act out of character and do something that might cost him his job at the school. When Marty saw Imelda and Paige humiliating Anthony outside the school he pulled the girls away, but in doing so he knocked Imelda into a wall injuring her face. This made Diane finally realise how much her quest to have a baby had effected the family and so she made the decision to give up IVF after all.

Meanwhile Imelda had returned to school and was soon terrorising Anthony again, but with the school play to think about he managed to forget about her threats for a while. However on the opening night of the play both Imelda and Paige were watching from the wings, and as Anthony took to the stage their taunts and jibes made him forget his lines. Feeling humiliated Anthony rushed off the stage in a panic, but only succeeded in causing more chaos when he collided with the set. Even after causing all this disruption, the school head refused to take action against the girls until someone else witnessed them bullying Anthony.

After he was humiliated again by Imelda and Paige, when they forced him to return home from school without his trousers, Anthony decided he had enough of living in fear of Imelda and Paige. After listening to advice from Steve he armed himself with an iron bar to tackle his tormentors. Although he only intended the bar to act as a deterrent, Imelda pushed him too far and Anthony struck out and hit her with it.

Horrified by his actions Anthony was worried about the consequences, but he didn't have long to wait. The arrival of Imelda's brothers on the close spelt trouble for the Murray's. They were out for revenge and it was not long before a fight broke out between Imelda's brothers, the Murrays and several of their neighbours. Anthony was shocked by how much trouble he had caused, and when he heard that Imelda's family may press charges he resolved never to return to school.

After the troubles between the Clough and Murray families Diane was determined to prevent any further confrontations, and so decided to keep Anthony home from school until the school did more to protect him from bullying. Diane realised Anthony would need to be taught at home to prevent him falling behind in his school work and asked Brigid to be his tutor.
Brigid readily agreed, but when she found herself struggling with algebra equations Brigid wanted to teach him religion instead. Marty wasn't impressed when he overheard her talking to Anthony about the church, as in his opinion it was Anthony's obsession with religion that made him an easy target for Imelda and Paige. Brigid was furious with Marty over his attitude to the church but when Diane took his side, Brigid stormed out, leaving them to manage on their own.

Both Diane and Marty had to go out to work the next day and had no choice other than to leave Anthony home alone. Unfortunately the educational welfare officer called round to check he was receiving adequate tuition and soon discovered this was not the case. He later warned Marty and Diane they could face prosecution if they failed to send Anthony to school.

Marty then bought Anthony a football kit and a pair of boxing gloves to toughen up his image, but despite reassurances that he wouldn't be bullied , Anthony once again became a victim at Brookside Comp.

Adele was in a rebellious mood when she was refused permission to go on holiday with her friends to Ayia Napa.

Continued..........