Dr Matt Ramsden in Coronation Street was the friendly GP who was desperate for a baby with his wife, Charlie.
But his longing for a family ended up being his downfall when he got too close to his next-door-neighbours, Ashley and Maxine Peacock.
Here’s his story.
Coronation Street: Dr Matt Ramsden and Charlie
The Ramsdens moved to Coronation Street when Matt got a job at the medical centre.
Teacher Charlie worked at Weatherfield High, though she wasn’t overly fond of living so close to her pupils!
Matt wanted a baby but Charlie had some family issues of her own and she wasn’t keen.
Charlie, in fact, was a bit of a snob. Dr Matt was helping Maxine and Ashley with their fertility problems and they became friends. But Charlie didn’t want to spend much time with their neighbours.
Is Matt the father of Maxine’s son?
Things got messy when Ashley went into hospital to have a procedure to help him and Maxine conceive.
With worried Maxine drowning her sorrows, she and Matt got drunk together and ended up having a one-night stand.
And then things got even more complicated when Maxine discovered she was expecting Matt’s baby.
Maxine insisted the baby was Ashley’s, but Matt was convinced it was his.
When Ashley found out about the one-night stand, their furious row led Maxine to go into labour.
But when baby Joshua was born, Ashley decided he would bring the little lad up as his own without ever knowing his true paternity.
After Maxine’s death, Ashley found out that Matt was indeed Joshua’s dad.
Return to Coronation Street
Matt and Charlie managed to reconcile too. But Charlie only agreed to make a go of their marriage if Matt moved away from Coronation Street with her.
So the pair left.
But in 2006, Matt returned. By then, things were very different. Maxine had been murdered by Richard Hillman and Ashley had remarried.
Matt had divorced Charlie and had also remarried.
Ashley and his new wife Claire were making a new family, but Dr Matt wanted custody of little Joshua.
Eventually, though, he decided Joshua was better off where he was.
Who played Dr Matt Ramsden in Coronation Street?
Matt was played by actor Stephen Beckett. He was already familiar to telly fans because he’d played PC Mike Jarvis in The Bill.
Since then he’s had roles in all sorts of television programmes and on stage, including Holby City, Heartbeat, Roman Mysteries and House of Anubis.
And he’s also voiced many video games including the Assassin’s Creed series.
Currently he is playing Bill Austin in Mamma Mia at the Novello Theatre in London.
Will he return?
Though Stephen has always said he’d be up for coming back to Corrie, there’s no real reason for Dr Matt to come back.
After Ashley died in 2010, Claire got into a tussle with Tracy Barlow, who vowed to put her behind bars for the attack.
Claire fled Coronation Street with sons Joshua and Freddie, and hasn’t been seen since, so there’s no real reason for Dr Matt to return.
But we’d still love him to return – after all, poor Dr Gaddas has a very heavy workload!
Read more: Who is in the cast of Coronation Street 2022? Meet the full line-up
Coronation Street usually airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.
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