Anna Windass

Anna Windass is a fictional character and recurring protagonist of the ITV British soap opera; Coronation Street.

History
Anna Windass was born in 1967, and later met Eddie. In 1986, she gave birth to their son: Gary. Anna and Eddie never married, but they remained together and presented themselves to the world as a married couple. Eddie had proposed several times but she always turned him down. Eddie was involved in scams with his brother Len and had also gone as far as to fake having a disability, which trouble enough to influence Gary so much that he'd ended up in prison on most occasions.

In 2008, the family began a conflict with Joe McIntyre and his girlfriend Gail Platt along with her family upon refusing to pay for a kitchen he fitted in their house: at one point, Gail's son David came round and ripped out the kitchen. Despite their hostility towards one another, the Windasses moved next door to the Platt family in Weatherfield after renting the house from Jerry Morton; this gradually lead to Anna becoming friends with Gail after the duo made amends with each other, whereas Gary and David embarked on a feud that led to the pair getting in a fight over Joe's daughter: Tina.

Anna got herself a job in Roy's Rolls, but Eddie wanted some free booze; he posed as Anna's boss, Roy Cropper. and went on a shopping trip at the cash and carry, all oblivious to Anna. He wasn't found out until Roy's wife Hayley discovered that "Roy" had won a prize for being the millionth customer, and won a holiday. Anna felt embarrassed but the Croppers decided not to press charges and let Anna keep her job. She then told Eddie to stop his scheming and to stop faking his disability.

In 2011, Anna started fostering a troubled young girl named Faye Butler. This caused difficulties between Anna and Eddie as he didn't want to adopt but he nevertheless wanted to make Anna happy so he let it go through. However, when he couldn't cope, he split with Anna and moved to Germany.

In 2012, Anna formed a relationship with local builder and Gary's boss: Owen Armstrong, whose daughter Izzy was coincidentally dating Gary himself. Following the departures of both Eddie and Jerry from Weatherfield, Owen became Weatherfield's new landlord and moved in with Anna and they continue to enjoy each other's company. This nearly changed, however, when Owen was requested at one point to look after Faye for the night - which didn't end well after Owen struck Faye for fatally harming a fish. However, despite Faye causing problems between the two, Anna and Owen retained their love for each other.

In 2013, Anna and Owen were happy when Tina helped Gary and Izzy provide a child of their own: Jake. However, when Tina at first decided to raise it as her own with her boyfriend Tommy Duckworth, an infuriated Anna stormed round to the Rivers and slapped Tina. However, Tina didn't press charges and let Gary and Izzy keep Jake on their own. Elsewhere, problems occurred once more between Anna and Faye over the latter's biological father: Tim Metcalfe. This caused Anna to get stressed up to the point where she asked Owen to have Tim leave Weatherfield when he unknowingly left Faye on her own to do a job in Newcastle., but soon allowed Tim to see Faye when she became involved in antics caused by her classmate: Grace Piper, who got Faye in trouble after forcing her to help torment local residents Mary Taylor and young Simon Barlow. At her parents urging, Faye told the police about what Grace had done and the Windasses managed to enjoy the rest of the year.

In 2014, Anna supports the Croppers after learning that Hayley has been diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer and frequently comforts Roy as her condition deteriorates. She is soon visited by Hayley's boss Carla Connor at one night, and the pair go over to Roy's bedroom upon growing concerned over him and Hayley; however, they are devastated to find Hayley has died after seeing her lifeless body lying next to Roy - who is left thoroughly silent at his wife's passing. After helping Roy and Carla wash up Hayley's glass that implies she died from an overdose, Anna goes over to the Rivers to inform the locals about Hayley's passing. She later reveals to her friend Fiz Stape that Hayley committed suicide because she was dying of cancer, after Fiz confronted Roy over his suspected involvement; the two joined Carla and several others in supporting Roy at Hayley's funeral.

At the same time, Anna becomes concerned for Owen when he embarks on a business partnership with his client: Pat Phelan, particularly as she and Gary suspect that Phelan is a conman. Despite their reservations, Owen goes ahead with Phelan's project and later invites Gary to help them out. When Anna goes to apologize to Phelan after Owen misinterpreted his belief that he had conned them, he tries to flirt with her, which worries Anna, who confides in Izzy. The following week, Anna texts Phelan and meets with him at her house. She tells him to leave her alone, but Phelan forces himself on Anna before she manages to throw him out of the house. When Phelan and his wife Valerie organize another meeting with the Windasses and Armstrongs in the Bistro, Anna feigns illness and runs back to the house. Izzy returns to see how Anna is, where she tells her that Phelan tried to rape her. Izzy later tells Gary, who confronts Phelan about this; the pair end up having a brawl, after Gary punches Phelan for calling his mother a "tart", that results in Gary hitting Phelan across the head with a large plank of wood, knocking him unconscious. Phelan survives, and reveals to Gary and Owen that his attack was caught on CCTV. He subsequently blackmails them by threatening to report Gary to the police unless he and Owen complete the job with a minimum wage — gleaning no profit. At work, Phelan repetitively overworks Gary and Owen by having them bury a grave for a dead pigeon and taking out perfectly fitted windows. This eventually gets too much for Owen and Gary, particularly when Phelan decides to keep Owen's £80,000 investment in retribution for Gary's failed attempt to retaliate against him. Upon taking notice of this, being present with Owen having a breakdown and Gary suffering a panic attack, Anna calls Valerie and tells her how Phelan tried to rape her; however, she takes no notice — prompting Anna to berate Valerie before throwing her out of the house. She later tries to speak to Phelan, who gives Anna an indecent ultimatum: he will release Gary and Owen from the contract if Anna has sex with him. Anna reluctantly agrees and meets up with Phelan at a hotel, where they proceed to have sex. She then furiously leaves after Phelan teases her, and does not tell Owen or Valerie about her ordeal.

Following her betrayal with Phelan, Anna cannot bring herself to be close or have sex with Owen, which devastates him. He confronts her, asking her whether she has fallen out of love with him or not. Anna replies with explaining that everything she has ever done is purely for their families, and that she still loves him. Owen later confides in Katy, and breaking down in her arms. The guilt begins to get too much for Anna, who confides in Roy and tells him she has done something terrible. He urges her to tell Owen, and she organizes a quiet night in so she can tell him about her night with Phelan. However, Izzy enters in floods of tears, so she does not tell Owen. In the week where Tina is murdered, a devastated Anna reveals to a stunned Owen about her night with Phelan. He is distraught, but Anna tries to make him see that she only did it for their relationship. Owen then tells Anna that nothing will ever be the same for their relationship again. Owen then leaves Weatherfield for a short time for work, so Anna decides to tell Izzy and Katy about her night with Phelan. Izzy understands why Anna did what she did, but Katy is less forgiving, and implies that Anna is a "whore". When Owen returns a few weeks later, Faye organizes a meal for him and Anna, and reveals that it is going to get them back together. When Owen does not show up, Faye is livid, and Anna decides it is time to tell her about her and Phelan. She later disposes of the idea, and tells Owen to act like they are still a couple for their family's sake. When Faye goes out with her friends and gets drunk, Anna confronts Gary for giving her the money before he argues with Owen — who ends up punching Gary for pressing the issue. Anna shouts at Owen for hitting Gary, who is ordered to go home with Izzy before Anna tends to a drunken Faye — though not before Owen leaves for the Rovers after being told to sleep on the sofa for the night.

Anna and Owen eventually manage to repair their relationship and become a proper couple, just as Gary and Izzy end their long-standing relationship. Anna and Owen are upset by Gary and Izzy's split, but are later faced with another dilemma when Owen receives letters from people who he has borrowed money from. The following week, bailiffs arrive at the Windass and Armstrong household and begin taking their belongings, leaving Anna and Faye traumatized. When the bailiffs leave with most of their things, Owen tells Anna and her family that he will get them out of the mess he has got them into.

In 2015, Anna becomes concerned for her daughter as it transpires that Faye maybe gaining weight — the source behind her continual bullying in school. It soon turns out, however, that Faye recently found out she was pregnant and Anna is beside Faye as she gives birth to a baby girl, who is named Miley. Rather than be mad at Faye for not telling her, Anna is determined to encourage Faye to be responsible for her daughter — despite the fact it could mean her not being in school until she learns to take maternal responsibility of the baby. Anna invites the baby's father, Jackson Hodge, and his family over to discuss Miley's future. When Jackson denies taking any responsibility for getting Faye pregnant and his mother Josie makes cruel remarks about Faye, Anna kicks out the family.

At Miley's christening, Faye ran out of St. Mary's Church and she confided in Tim that she was not ready to be a mother yet. Jackson's father Greig offers to have baby Miley go live with them. At first Anna and Tim were against the idea, but soon realized that this is the only option to prevent baby Miley from being adopted; the Windasses later said a tearful goodbye to Miley as Jackson and his parents take the baby for a new life in Canada, pretending to be on vacation. When Anna and Tim discovered this over a phone call, they tell Faye and she confines this to her best male friend: Craig Tinker.

By then, Anna's relationship with Owen has become strained following the situation with Phelan before Owen later receives a visit from his ex-wife: Linda Hancock, the mother of Izzy and Kate. Eventually, Linda leaves for Portugal — though not before Kate and her daughter, Joseph, go along. The last straw ultimately comes when Owen mistakenly believes that Craig got Faye pregnant, and he ends up confronting him about it; when Craig's mother Beth and her husband Kirk Sutherland jump in to Craig's defense, Owen punches Kirk just as Anna and Faye turn up — which results in Owen getting arrested for assaulting Kirk. A disagreement later erupts between Anna and Owen when he confronts her about wanting Faye to keep the baby so that she could be a grandmother, but Anna explains how she wanted Faye to be a good mother and that she didn't want her to regret giving Miley up: this is later told by a social worker who visits Anna and Owen about the Miley situation. When it becomes clear that their relationship can't work anymore, Anna splits up with Owen and he leaves Weatherfield to see Katy in Portugal before he would proceed to embark on a new life for himself in Aberdeen.

Following Owen's departure in Weatherfield, Anna finds solace with Kevin Webster — the ex-husband of Tim's wife and Anna's neighbour rival: Sally. At one point, however, Anna witnessed Kevin and Sally kissing and drunkenly told Tim on the night local residents Lloyd Mullaney and Andrea Beckett were due to leave amid their leaving party at the Rovers. This briefly ruined the chance of Sally and Tim getting married, but they eventually made up and went on to marry with Anna and Faye present. Towards the end of the year, Anna and Kevin have romantically bonded and they soon form a relationship.

In 2016, Anna and Kevin joined Faye and the Metcalfes in defending Craig's graffiti poster in memory of Maddie Heath — the deceased friend of Kevin and Sally's daughter, Sophie. Later on that night, she witnessed Kevin saving a man's life from nearly being run-over by Jamie Bowman — who had moments ago robbed the Bistro and left Carla unconsciously injured. Anna rushed over to Kevin and is relieved to see him alright, but is horrified when she sees that the man who he saved was Phelan — who had earlier reappeared on Weatherfield after his divorce fro Valerie, implying that she had learned about what he did to the Windasses back in 2014. After informing Izzy about Phelan's return, Anna becomes startled when Phelan later visits her personally and sarcastically apologizes for ruining her relationship with Owen. He eventually leaves the house, but not before warning Anna not to cause him trouble.

At first it looked like that Phelan wasn't staying long when Kevin assured Anna that it's only a brief contract, even though she hasn't told him about her past with Phelan; however, as the pressure went on for her, Anna grew so outraged that she stormed round to the yard and smashed his van before lashing out at him. Phelan later went round to demand that she apologize to him in public at the Rovers. When Anna refused and tried standing up to him, Phelan pinned her against the wall and started to issue further threats when Kevin walked in at that moment — thus realizing how Anna was right about Phelan. After seeing Phelan bond a relationship with Eileen Grimshaw, Anna attempted to warn her about him — only to be dismissed as Phelan has already swayed Eileen into believing otherwise. Shortly afterwards, Anna clashed with Phelan again when he told her that he'll be staying for as long as he pleases.

Three months before the end of 2016, in October, Anna was horrified when Gary was nearly killed during an attempt to rescue David's daughter: Lily, who was involved in a car accident caused by her father. Although she and the residents helped Gary rescue Lily before the car exploded, Anna was caught up in a second explosion that badly burned her legs. Despite the extend of her injuries, Anna gradually recovered for the rest of the year.

Whilst making her recovery, Anna unwittingly discovered that Phelan and his cohort Vinny Ashford had been conning the residents out of £15,000 — including Gary's girlfriend Sarah Platt, as well as fellow residents Rita Turner and Yasmeen Nazir. Teaming up with Eileen's ex-boyfriend Michael Rodwell, who shared Anna's mutual hatred of Phelan given their feud earlier on, the pair sought to bring down Phelan: while Michael broke into Vinny's site office to extract evidence against them, Anna attempted to stall Phelan by inviting him over and then offering £2,000 for him to leave Weatherfield for good. However, Phelan learned of their conspiracy when he catches Anna with his phone and left to confront Michael in a showdown — which tragically ended when Michael died of a heart attack, and Phelan watched him die to stop him from exposing his Calcutta Street scam. Anna was guilt-ridden over Michael's death and tried unsuccessfully in vain to expose Phelan's role in it, even failing to expose his involvement in the scam by the time the residents learned the truth after Vinny did a runner with all the money.

In 2017, problems occurred between Anna and his daughter when Faye formed a relationship with Phelan's apprentice: Seb Franklin, particularly as he got arrested for assaulting Jackson — who had briefly came back with Miley for Faye to spend time with. Over time, however, Anna gradually accepted Seb being together with Faye when she learned the truth about his poverty.

In October 2017, Anna and Seb's bonding strained when social services took his young siblings away from the custody of Seb's mother Abi - which led Seb to accuse Anna of calling social services. The next day, when Seb again confronted Anna and started calling her names, she slapped him in front of some witnesses — including Phelan. Towards the end of her shift in that evening, Anna witnessed Seb fall off a ladder and phoned an ambulance. At Weatherfield General, while awaiting news of his recovery, Anna formed a conversation with Seb's social worker: Nicola Rubinstein, who she had recently learned was Phelan's long-lost daughter. Following an earlier altercation with Phelan over her incident with Seb at the café, Anna confided in Nicola about what her father had done to her as well as Gary and Owen. This triggered a conversation between Nicola and her father, though not before she used Anna's warning to learn that Phelan had raped her own mother Annabel just nine months before her birth; this revelation caused Nicola to realize that Anna was telling about her father, and she disowned Phelan when he proclaims his innocence.

Though Anna was never told about what Phelan did to Annabel, she nevertheless advised Nicola to leave Weatherfield in order to avoid him. Nicola agrees and leaves when her father attempts to assert her suspicions once more. Phelan, seeking revenge on Anna for turning his daughter against him, hatches a plot to frame her for Seb's ladder accident; following an altercation between then, prior to the accident, Phelan sized Anna's earning and later planted inside the Barlow Legal Services — the building from where Seb fell. She quickly learned about his scheme after getting arrested and later released. When confronting Phelan about this, Anna was shocked when he tells her that that Nicola had a one-night stand with Gary; at first she disbelieves Phelan, until he reveals that Nicola is pregnant and expecting a baby — with Gary as the father of her impending child.

Phelan soon convinced Anna that he was a changed man when he refunded everyone from the "Calcutta Street" scam, which prompted her to invite him over for a drink at her place. Before this, Anna put her phone on record in an attempt to extract Phelan's confession to framing her. The two appeared to put their differences aside before Anna eventually questioned his intention; however, Phelan cunningly deduced her plan and pretend to have no clue about what she was talking about — which prompted her to throw him out. Later that night, Phelan manipulated Seb into believing that Anna pushed him off the ladder. As a result, Anna was arrested and subsequently charged with GBH before being remanded in custody.

In December 2017, Anna fainted in prison upon becoming ill and was rushed to hospital. She was eventually scheduled to return to prison, but ended up escaping and became a fugitive. She secretly hires in Roy's Rolls and was spotted by David, though Anna convinced him to keep quiet and — using his role in last year's incident between them — requested that he fetch Gary and Faye. At this point, Faye has finally learned about her mother's past with Phelan when Gary told her about what he did to her back in 2014. Anna soon requested Gary to distract Phelan in order to find evidence at the Builders Yard about his scheme to frame her. This initially goes to plan until Eileen approaches the Builders Yard and Anna, mistakenly her as Phelan, unintentionally knocked her out with a wrench. She later checked on her after managing to acquire a getaway car, but Phelan caught Anna out and called the police on her as well as an ambulance on Eileen. She thereupon attempted to leave Weatherfield with Faye, but was unable to avoid the police and was consequently rearrested. The next day, Phelan confronted Anna over Eileen's accident and — promising further revenge because of it — proceed to threaten her family. This caused Anna to lash out, slapping Phelan and causing him to press further charges on her for assault.

In January 2018, prior to her trial starting, Anna is stunned when Gary informs her that Seb has started to doubt his trust in Phelan following the recent murder of Luke Britton — which he believes that Phelan perpetuated. Anna quickly discovers the case when she is requested a visit from Eileen, who herself has begun to grow suspicious about her husband. The pair discussed about Phelan's recent activities, with Anna persisting his involvement in Michael's death and even hinting that Vinny could be dead after pointing out how the Calcutta Street victims merely took Phelan's word about it's conclusion. Despite Eileen proclaiming otherwise, she accidentally spills out Seb's growing suspicions that Phelan killed Luke — thus confirming Anna's theory. The trial soon begins, and Phelan comes up first to testify against Anna by recalling how she slapped Seb before fabricating a story over his accident — stating that Anna pushed Seb off the ladder, and Seb told Phelan that he clearly remembers seeing Anna committing the deed. Seb then comes up next, supposedly to repeat his statement about what Phelan told him. To everyone's shock, however, Seb ignores his statement and proclaims that Phelan fabricated this theory due to his prolonged grudge with Anna — who is relieved with the change of events at her trial. Eileen, who was present when Seb changed his statement, is equally shocked and goes to visit Anna once more — admitting how she is now beginning to doubt Phelan as well.

The following day, Anna is put on the stand to explain her knowledge of the events in Seb's ladder accident. She first describes her gradual bonding with Seb, as well as describing their relationships with Faye and how it changed her theory about him — as she previously didn't approve of Seb and Faye's relationship at first. When being questioned over Phelan's statement, Anna persists that he is framing her and begins to describe Phelan as the monster he is — desperately ranting how he blackmailed her into sleeping with him, implying that Phelan has been obsessed with their feud since "the minute he laid his eyes on me", as well as recounting what he did to Owen and Michael during his reign of terror. Despite proclaiming these facts, Anna is silenced and she begins to grow anxious once more when her prosecutor reveals that new evidence has come into light against her; it turns out that Eileen has uncovered CCTV footage of Gary and Tim forcing Seb into the taxi, thus causing her to believe they the pair have coerced him into believing her over Phelan. Because of this and despite both Roy and Tim testifying on her behalf, Anna's case begins to quickly crumble and it isn't long until the jury have reached a unanimous verdict — Anna is found guilty. The announcing verdict shocks her family, and Anna becomes hysterical as he cries out that Phelan is "pure evil"; however, she is dismissed and dragged out of court — though not before she tearfully apologies to an upset Faye, all the while Phelan tauntingly gloats victory in their longstanding feud. Anna is later sentenced to five years in Norcross Prison.

Following Anna's off-screen imprisonment, Faye begins to grow despondent until she reunites with Seb — who briefly went into hiding upon fearing that Phelan would hunt him down. Elsewhere, Gary and Tim separately work to bring Phelan down; with Gary teaming up with Nicola, who had learned from Seb about what her father did to Anna and Luke, to find evidence against Phelan while Tim campaigns to expose his true colors to Eileen. At first they are unsuccessful, as Phelan quickly learns of Gary and Nicola's conspiracy in February 2018. A month later, however, Tim eventually manages to entrap Eileen into discovering her husband's involvement in the Calcutta Street scam by secretly recording Phelan confess to masterminding the project.

Towards the end of March 2018, the truth about Michael and Luke was finally revealed after Gary and Seb had unknowingly unearthed two other bodies that Phelan buried at his site management; one of which turned out to be Vinny, who — as Anna previously hinted to Eileen — was indeed killed by Phelan after the latter orchestrated his murder at the hands of Michael's surrogate son: Andy Carver, whom Phelan had secretly kept captive in a cellar throughout most of 2017 until he killed Andy shortly after forcing him to execute Vinny. When Eileen confronted Phelan — who was on the verge of escaping Weatherfield with her to prevent Tim from reporting his involvement in the Calcutta Street scam on time — upon discovering her husband's murderous activates, she concluded that Anna was right about Phelan all along; she came to realize how Phelan had indeed raped Anna before he went on to frame her for Seb's ladder accident. In the ensuing confrontation between them, Eileen kicked Phelan into the sea to his presumed death.

In April 2018, Daniel Osbourne — who previously investigated Phelan's involvement in the Calcutta Street scam — formed a campaign to free Anna and invited her family and Eileen along with several others to help free Anna; naming the campaign "FAWN", also known as "Free Anna Windass Now". Anna was eventually released towards the end of May 2018, albeit secretly. At the same time, Gary learned that Phelan survived the fall and was determined to settle the score for all the grief and pain he inflicted onto his mother. Gary, accompanied by his friend Joe Haslam, ambushed Phelan from his hiding place: a caravan park in Abergele, Wales. Phelan overpowered Gary, but was knocked unconscious by Joe and they secretly brought him him back to Weatherfield — locking him up inside the Builder's Yard where he once worked. However, Gary's girlfriend Sarah Platt ended up discovering Phelan's captivity and a subsequent argument between the couple over getting the police involved gave Phelan the opportunity to escape; he locked Gary and Sarah in his captivity before retrieving his pistol, which was previously hidden in the yard months after the police raided the premises once his crimes became public knowledge. By the time Phelan had left to confront Nicola and Eileen upon learning that his grandson, Zack, was born, Gary and Sarah escaped their captivity — though they were still locked into the room until someone opened the door. To Gary's relief and Sarah's surprise, the person was Anna herself; it soon turned out that Gary had informed her of Phelan's return, and she went back into Weatherfield to bring down her tormenter once and for all.

They rushed back to Eileen's house, intending to stop Phelan's rampage, but stopped when a gunshot was heard — signalling that Phelan has shot someone. Breaking into the house, the trio discovered that he shot Nicola upon noticing a trail of blood that followed outside of the house; Phelan had fled the house with Nicola after the struggle, in which he knocked Eileen and Seb unconscious when they too attempted to disarm him. As Gary and Sarah checked on Eileen and Seb to see if they were ok, with Gary also comforting Zac in his arms, Anna followed the blood trail in pursuit of Phelan — who in the meantime had taken Nicola for medical treatment at the Bistro, thus triggering a siege; with the hostages including Roy and soon-to-be-married couple, Robert Preston and Michelle Connor. As the police and ambulance turned out moments later, Phelan took Michelle hostage upon ordering her son Ali Neelson and Robert to save Nicola's life. Just as he drags Michelle into the kitchen, however, Phelan runs into Anna and the pair stared right at each other in hatred once more. In that moment, Michelle managed to escape Phelan's clutches — prompting him to shoot her. Anna, in retaliation and self-defense, promptly charges at Phelan and stabs him in the chest before he could shoot her as well; this caused Phelan, critically injured, to drop his gun and drop on the floor just as Robert and Ali rush to Michelle's aid. In a last-ditch effort to triumph over his nemesis, Phelan painfully took the knife out of his chest — bleeding profusely in the process — to ensure Anna returns to prison for his murder, Unfortunately for him, pointing out that Michelle witnessed the incident proved to be his ultimate mistake; as Michelle, in retaliation for getting shot and wanting to honour both Andy and Luke respectively, promised to say that the attack was self-defense. As a horrified Phelan realized that he was going to die in vain, Anna approached him one last time and stated that people like him don't get to win in the end. After making it clear that Zac will forget his existence throughout his life, Anna triumphantly tells Phelan that she won the feud between them — laconically telling Phelan to his face "I win." — and watches as Phelan dies in front of her after drawing his last breath.

Shortly after Phelan's death, with Michelle and Nicola both rushed to hospital, Anna reunites with her family and goes over to check up on Eileen once more; they make amends and decide to move on from Phelan. Afterwards, Anna declares that she is moving to Durham to move on from her past in Weatherfield; with Faye choosing to come with her mum. In her final scene, Anna and Eileen hold hands as they watch Phelan's dead body being taken away in a private ambulance — thus ending Anna's nightmare and Phelan's reign of terror for good. Following the events of Phelan's siege and subsequent death, Anna is reported to be enjoying her new life in Durham when Faye returns back to Weatherfield for unknown reasons; living with Sally and Tim as well as resuming her relationship with Seb.

Trivia

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