Family In Focus....The Gordons

Last Updated May 1st 2004

The first members of the Gordon family to arrive on Brookside close were young Stuart Gordon and his mates, who arrived early and upset the neighbours by holding a noisy party in the empty house. Their antics attracted the attention of Steve and Tim who confronted them and demanded to know what was going on. Stuart was in more trouble when Alan arrived the next day and found the house in a real mess.

Alan and Debbie along with their children Kirsty Ali and Stuart arrived on the close, moving into No 5 Mick Johnson’s old place. Alan had just bought the garage on the parade with his redundancy money from a previous job. Debbie worked at the garage and Alan planned to join her later but for the moment he worked for a haulage company.
Kirsty 18 had just finished school and intended taking a year off to travel the world before resuming her studies at University. Ali didn't’t want to move to Brookside Close as it meant leaving most of his mates, and at 16 he was keen to leave school now that he had taken his GCSEs. The youngest son Stuart 14, was a computer whiz kid, and believed he could learn more from surfing the Net than at school. He frequently had minor squabbles with Ali and Kirsty but generally got on well with them.

Later they were joined by Ruth and grandson Luke, but Alan and Debbie were shocked to see she had a black eye. Ruth had just left her husband Sean, he had hit her after finding out she was having an affair with former boyfriend Dan Morrisey. It was not long before the family met one of their neighbours, Ron Dixon who welcomed them in his usual friendly manner, by complaining about the party.
Alan and Debbie agreed to let Ruth stay with them after hearing that her husband Sean had given her a black eye during an argument. However they were not too impressed when they returned home one day to find Dan, Ruth’s old boyfriend there. It transpired that Sean had argued with Ruth after he discovered she was seeing Dan again, and this was the reason he had lost his temper and hit her. Later when Sean called round to see Ruth, he had obviously been drinking and was intent on causing trouble. A heated argument ended when Dan silenced Sean with a well-aimed punch.

Leanne who at this time worked at the garage, tried to make friends with Debbie by telling her all the gossip about her neighbours on Brookside Close.

Ali wasn't too keen on finding a job after leaving school, preferring instead to lounge around the house. Once when Debbie succeeded in getting Ali out the house, and told him he should be looking for work he had other ideas. Deciding instead to spend time at Bar Brookie with his mate Tommo, they had a confrontation with Jacqui and ended up being told to leave. Later Ali was arrested when he tried to steal a street sign.

Ruth Gordon felt that maybe her luck was about to change for the better after getting a job in Bar Brookie. However when she returned home to collect her clothes Sean arrived and things turned nasty, as he still held a grudge against her for leaving him for her old boyfriend Dan.
Kirsty was hoping for a good send off at the family barbecue before she left to go traveling. However she was disappointed when Ali and Stuart gave her a good soaking instead.

Sean had an unexpected support from Dan over his custody battle for Luke, while Ruth regretted her decision to allow Sean access to their son Luke, when he was late bringing him back from a game of football.
It was obvious to Ruth though, how much Luke was missing Sean, so she agreed to meet him in Bar Brookie to discuss access arrangements. At first Ruth was impressed by his attitude, but then Sean spoilt the atmosphere by suggesting that they should get back together. Sean eventually persuaded Ruth to allow Luke to stay with him overnight, but he abused her trust by having a few drinks and falling asleep on the sofa. The next morning Luke had trouble waking his father and as a result was late for school. Ruth was fuming when she found out, and vowed that Sean would never see Luke again.

Ray had another run in with the Gordon family when Ali and Stuart decided to play a game of basketball. He put up with the noise of the ball thumping on the ground, but the deafening sound of their stereo was the last straw for Ray and he went outside to confront them. Alerted by their argument Alan arrived just as Ali shoved Ray to the ground, and shocked by his behaviour demanded he apologise to his elderly neighbour. When Ali refused, the row continued between them with another neighbourly feud being the most likely outcome.

Debbie received a worrying phone call from Kirsty saying she was cutting her round the world trip short and returning on the next available flight. She arrived home the next day but was very evasive when questioned about her reasons for returning after only a few weeks away. She said she hadn’t been too well and when she rushed to the bathroom the next morning, Debbie wrongly deducted there could only be one cause for her apparent illness.

The Gordon family soon had more serious matters to worry about when a dramatic police chase ended when a car came screeching to a halt in the close. An armed gang jumped from the car looking for a means of escape, and two entered the Corkhill house, where Jimmy, Lindsey, Nikki, Jerome, Tim and Emily were all held hostage. Other members of the gang terrorised the Murray family while Kirsty and Lizzy were caught unawares over at the Gordon's house. Terry the gang leader contrived a plan to escape. He contacted the rest of the gang, telling them that their best means of escape would be to use the hostages as a human shield. With Kirsty and Lizzy bound tightly to him, Terry emerged from the Gordon's house and made his way to the Corkhill's to join the others.

When they finally made a bid to escape, Terry was the only one to avoid capture by running into the woods, taking Adele Murray as a hostage. Tim O'leary managed to free Adele when Terry was distracted by a police helicopter hovering overhead. Terry shot at the helicopter, which then veered away after being hit by several bullets. Working at the garage were Debbie and Leanne, oblivious to the events taking place a short distance away. Suddenly the helicopter appeared overhead, and as they realised that it was in trouble Debbie reached for the petrol cutoff switch seconds before the helicopter crashed on top of a car outside.

Later there was concern in the Gordon family for the whereabouts of Alan, who also hadn't been seen since the helicopter crash, and the mystery deepened when the police told them that his bank cards had been used in Manchester. Debbie was in denial about the possibility that Alan had either left her or had been killed by Terry, while Stuart did his best to reassure the family that Alan was safe.
The Gordon family may have believed that Alan would return, but it seemed his employers had reached a different conclusion, when they advertised his job. Debbie was distressed when she found what appeared to be a call girls card amongst Alan's things, that had been returned from his employers. Later Dan discovered that the card was in fact for a hypnotherapist, who Alan had been visiting to cure his smoking habit.

Sean and Ruth faced a difficult time as their battle for custody of Luke began in court. Debbie was also concerned about Luke's welfare, particularly when she discovers he had some bruises. In Ruth's opinion Sean was prime suspect, for Luke's injuries, but maybe someone else was to blame. Sean bore the brunt of Debbie's anger when she attacked him, because she believed he had been hitting Luke. Ruth was furious when she found out about the confrontation, as it could jepardise her chances of winning custody of Luke. Ruth and Debbie argued about the cause of the bruising to Lukes arm and only ended when Ruth stormed out the house in a temper. Later Sean called round and he and Debbie had a heart to heart conversation, when Sean admitted that he may have hurt Luke when he threw him on the sofa. He explained that Luke had been playing up that evening, but he hadn't meant to hurt him, and promised he would never hurt Luke again. After listening to what Sean had to say, Debbie realised that Sean really did regret his actions, and understood that any parent might lose there temper with an unruly child.

Ruth was busy at the Gordons house preparing for a visit from from a child welfare officer, and wasn't too impressed when she discovered Ali and Stuart were keeping Ray's coffin in their bedroom. After making sure they got rid of it Ruth hoped the visit would be a success. However when he arrived, Debbie began acting very strangely and when Ruth showed him the garage which was being converted to a bedroom, she was horrified to find Luke asleep in the coffin.

One day, Debbie arrived back from the police station in fairly high spirits, saying police had found Alan's car in Hull. She announced she was going there to look for a husband, as she was hopeful he could still be in the area. Ruth and Dan tried to make Debbie understand that just because they had found Alan has car didn't mean he would still be in Hull. Debbie was adamant she was still going, and so in a last-ditch attempt to make her face facts, Dan said that Alan could even be dead. Debbie refused to accept this and was even more determined to go.

Meanwhile Dan and Ruth were looking round the bungalow, and both were looking forward to living in their own home. Dan suggested they could celebrate their new new surroundings with a bit of passion, but before they got a chance, Luke knocked the door demanding attention. Ruth understood that Luke needed her, but Dan wasn't at all pleased by the untimely interruption.
When Ruth had to go to work, leaving Dan to look after Luke, he seemed to resent it. When Luke disobeyed an instruction to put away his toys, Dan grabbed him by the arm, before locking him in one of the empty bedrooms.

Dan became even more annoyed with Luke for wetting the bed, and was further agitated when Luke refused to eat his breakfast. After trying unsuccessfully to get him to eat, Dan reluctantly allowed Luke to leave the table.
When it was time for Luke to have his dinner, he was just about to tuck in when Dan took his plate away, replacing it with the cold breakfast he had refused earlier. Dan told Luke it was wrong to waste food, and he could only have his dinner after he has eaten his breakfast. Luke stubbornly refused to obey Dan, despite his insistence that he should eat the cold food. When Ruth arrived home she was surprised to find that Luke hadn't been eating, and agreed to make him a jam sandwich. Dan intervened, and insisted that Luke should eat the food he refused earlier, but when Ruth asks him to eat, Luke did so without too much persuasion.

Ali and Stuart soon got bored after being given the job of tidying the garden at the bungalow, and decided to have a water fight instead. They both ended up getting soaked while Luke, who was standing nearby got covered in mud. Dan was furious, and said they wouldn't get paid. When he saw the state of Luke, he made him take a shower. Dan was still angry, so when Luke complained the water was cold, he turned the temperature up too high and scolded Lukes arm. He told Luke that it was his own fault he was scolded, and that Ruth wouldn't be very pleased
Dan tried to make out that all was well between him and Luke when Ruth came home, but it was not long before she noticed that Lukes arm was badly burnt. Dan managed to convince her that it was an accident caused by a faulty shower, and although she believed him, Ruth was annoyed that he didn't tell her earlier.

When Luke next went to stay with Sean he noticed his burnt arm, and was soon on the phone to Ruth demanding to know what had happened. Not satisfied with Ruth's explanation, Sean called to see them at the bungalow. Sean arrived with Luke and demanded a full explanation from Ruth about Luke's injury, When they begin to argue, Dan intervened by telling Dan it wasn't Ruth's fault and admitted he gave Luke the shower. This confession only infuriated Sean who demanded Dan should stay away from his son.

Eventually Sean calmed down, but as he drove off in his van, Luke ran out of the bungalow into the road after him. Dan grabbed Luke by the arm and pulled him back towards the bungalow, but Sean was even more annoyed by this rough handling of his son and argued with Dan before punching him to the ground. As they struggled on the ground Ali arrived and pulled Sean off. While Sean explained to Ali the reason for them fighting, Dan took Luke back inside the bungalow, where he made him stand behind the curtain as punishment, despite Luke pleading that he needed to use the toilet.

Ali later called round to see Luke, and was shocked to see how scared he seemed of Dan, and that he had wet himself. Ali wasn't too happy about Dan's explanation, that Luke wet himself because he was upset after seeing him and Dan fighting. When Ruth arrived home from work Dan gave his version of what happened between him and Sean, and wasn't too pleased when Ruth decided to ring Sean for his side of the story. Ruth then asked Luke about what happened instead, but when he told her that Dan made him stand behind the curtain, Ruth and Dan ended up arguing about him disciplining her son.

Continued.........