Leo Johnson is a character in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television soap opera ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Broo ...

''. He was played by Leeon Sawyer when the character arrived on the Close in March 1990 until September 1996. Then,

Steven Cole Steven Cole (born 18 March 1982, in Liverpool) is a British actor best known for his portrayal of Leo Johnson in the Channel 4 Soap opera ''Brookside'' from 1996 to 2001. He joined HBO's ''Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an Amer ...

took over the role from December 1996 where his character stayed until his departure in April 2001.

Storylines

The Johnsons

The Johnsons are first introduced in 1989 when Terry Sullivan ( Brian Regan) asks

Mick Johnson Michael "Mick" Johnson is a fictional character from the British soap opera '' Brookside'', played by Louis Emerick. The character made his first appearance during the episode airing on 12 April 1989. He made his final appearance on 22 August 20 ...

(

Louis Emerick Louis Emerick Grant (born 10 June 1960) is a British television actor. Biography He was born in the Toxteth area of Liverpool to a Liberian father and British mother. He is the youngest of ten children. He is best known for his portrayal of ...

) to go into partnership with him in his taxi business. Mick moves in to the Close with son Leo and daughter Gemma (Naomi Kamanga) in 1990, lodging with Harry Cross (

Bill Dean Bill Dean (born Patrick Anthony Connolly, 3 September 1921 – 20 April 2000) was a British actor who was born in Everton, Liverpool, Lancashire. He took his stage name in honour of Everton football legend William 'Dixie' Dean. Biography ...

) and later renting their house from Harry when he moves to St Helens. For many years the stories revolved around Mick, his brother Ellis (Francis Johnson) and cousin Jerome (

Leon Lopez Leon Lopez (born 30 August 1979, in Liverpool) is a British actor, television and film director, singer-songwriter and occasional model, best known for playing the role of Jerome Johnson in the Channel 4 soap opera '' Brookside'' from 1998 to ...

), while Leo and Gemma only played incidental roles.

Joining the police

In 2000 at the age of 18, Leo decided he wanted to join the police force, as

Rod Corkhill This is a comprehensive list of characters from the Channel 4 soap opera '' Brookside'' in alphabetical order by the character's surnames. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y {{Brookside ...

(Jason Hope) had done at that age in 1987. His father Mick was proud of his sons career choice and Leo was accepted and got a place in police college in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Adele Murray

Before leaving for police college, Leo attended a party held at the Murray's. Fifteen-year-old Adele (Katy Lamont) had fancied Leo for some time. After he witnessed his girlfriend flirting with his neighbour

Jimmy Corkhill Jimmy Corkhill is a fictional character from '' Brookside'', played by Dean Sullivan, who joined the series in 1986. Jimmy originally appeared on a recurring basis appearing alongside his brother, Billy (John McArdle), before becoming a regular ...

(

Dean Sullivan Dean Sullivan (born 7 June 1955) is an English actor and director, best known for playing Jimmy Corkhill in the Channel 4 soap opera '' Brookside'' (19862003). Early life Sullivan was born in Liverpool on 7 June 1955. He graduated from Lancas ...

), Leo started to drink heavily and then was seduced by Adele and the two had unprotected sex. Leo regretted having done so immediately and worried that if anyone were to find out it could compromise his career in the police. Leo started dating Adele for a while then shortly afterwards, he finished with her. When Mick found a letter to Leo from Adele, he questioned his son and discovered that Leo and Adele had sex. Mick was furious and afterwards, told Leo that he should face up to his responsibilities. After realising however that this could end his career in the police he decided the best thing was for Leo to move to London as soon as possible. Shortly afterwards Leo left.

Adele's pregnancy and termination

Adele decided that she did not wish to continue with the pregnancy and decided to have an

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. Her

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

stepmother Diane (

Bernie Nolan Bernadette Therese Nolan (17 October 1960 – 4 July 2013) was an Irish actress, singer and television personality, formerly lead vocalist of the girl group the Nolans. She was the second youngest of sisters Anne, Denise, Maureen, Linda and ...

) was opposed to this but her father, Marty (Neil Caple), supported thweidea. Mick and Marty ended up fighting in the Close over the issue. When Mick told Leo, however, Leo was supportive and said he would bring-up the child and support Adele. Despite Leo's promise Adele was determined to go ahead with the abortion and had a termination, later leaving the Close to attend the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. Shortly afterwards Mick also left the close for London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Leo Brookside characters Fictional British police officers Fictional Black British people Television characters introduced in 1990 British male characters in television Fictional English people