Furious Coronation Street fans have demanded that police officer Craig Tinker be fired after 12 years on the soap.
Taking to Twitter, viewers labeled the character, played by Colson Smith, as “useless,” saying he had “past his sell-by date,” despite once being a fan favorite.
Craig first appeared in Weatherfield as a cute 12-year-old in 2011 and has since grown up on screen becoming a cop and had relationships with both Bethany Platt (Lucy Fallon) and Faye Windass (Ellie Leach).
But dissatisfied viewers believe that the character has become “exhausted” and has remained welcome.
With one writing, “He was OK when he was a clumsy kid with a rat, but he’s completely useless as an adult character.”
End of an era? Furious Coronation Street fans have demanded that police officer Craig Tinker (played by actor Colson Smith) be fired after 12 years on the soap
Throwback: Craig (L) first appeared in Weatherfield as an adorable 12-year-old in 2011 and has since grown up on screen becoming a cop and had relationships with both Bethany Platt and Faye Windass (pictured in 2013 with co-star John Michie , R)
Adding: “He gets encased in every police plot (of which there are many) and usually stands around with a stupid look.”
With a second writing, ‘Another character past his sell by date…there will be many, I think’.
And a third agrees: ‘Yes. Terrible character. I can’t understand why they didn’t write him out along with the equally boring Faye (played by Ellie Leach).
“I think it’s useful to have a regular police figure with so many crime-related stories. Although it is almost unbelievable that he interferes in every case.
Someone else added: ‘One of an alarming number of Corrie characters who grew stale years ago, but just clung on, and through and through’.
It comes after viewers of Coronation Street feared for Eliza Woodrow after she took a phone call from a mysterious elderly man during Friday’s episode.
Eliza (Savannah Kunyo) has had a rough time lately after being taken in by Stu Carpenter (Bill Fellows) after her mother Bridget (Beth Vyse) was sent to prison for murder, the same murder Stu had timed out for despite being not involved in the crime.
Get rid of it: Viewers taking to Twitter labeled the character “useless” and said he was “past his sell by date” despite once being a viewer favorite
Fuming: One fan wrote, “He was OK when he was a clumsy kid with a rat, but he’s completely useless as an adult character.”
It turned out that Bridget was the real culprit and that her mother Lucy Woodrow (Lynda Rooke) had helped cover her daughter’s tracks.
Eliza was devastated when she recently learned that her mother was being transferred to a prison in another part of the country, meaning she would be seeing less of her.
In an attempt to cheer Eliza up, Stu bought her a new tablet, unaware that it could endanger her, and Eliza used it to contact the older man.
Upon returning home, Eliza walks in on Stu and Yasmeen Metcalfe’s (Shelley King) drawing session. After receiving a call, Eliza steps out into the garden and tells the pair it was her friend Harriet.
Outside, she was seen taking the video call, with the much older man being saved as Dom in her contacts.
Fears: It comes after Coronation Street viewers feared for Eliza Woodrow (Savannah Kunyo) after she took a call from a mysterious elderly man during Friday’s episode
Call: She was seen taking the video call, with the much older man being saved as Dom in her contacts
Eliza told him he sounded different than she imagined and Dom encouraged her to repeat her promise to meet her in person soon.
The moment left many viewers concerned for the character, though some thought they might know who he is.
One person wrote on Twitter: ‘Who in the whatsit what is Dom? And why is that little girl so eager to meet him? Would she let her father be saved in the phone as Dom? That totally threw me off my feet.’
Someone else posted, “I wonder who that Dom was talking to Eliza? He’s either her father or he’s a pedophile.’
Another person wrote, “This Harriet looks and sounds like a man, what did Eliza get into.”
Another person asked: #Corrie is Eliza being taken care of?’. while someone else wondered, “Who the hell is this FaceTiming Eliza?”
Someone else posted, “Who is little Eliza talking to? This seems unreliable.’
While another person exclaimed, “OMG Eliza is being taken care of.”
Someone else asked, “Um, who’s that stranger talking to Eliza???”