Ashley Sibelius Peacock is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street.
Ashley is the son of Fred Elliott (John Savident) and Kathleen Gutteridge (Elizabeth Rider).
Fred sends Ashley to Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) with a parcel of rump steak.
Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) sees Ashley leaving No.1 in the morning and realises that he spent the night with Kelly.
When teenage runaway Zoe Tattersall (Joanne Froggatt) comes to Coronation Street, Ashley feels sorry for her and allows her to move in but Maxine is uncomfortable with the arrangement and leaves.
Eventually Ashley falls in love with Zoe and sets out to be a provider for her and her baby daughter, Shannon.
In January 2003, Maxine is murdered by Richard Hillman (Brian Capron), leaving Ashley devastated.
Ashley is further devastated when a blood test confirms that Matt[clarification needed] is indeed Joshua's biological father.
Ashley realizes that he needs help looking after Joshua and hires a nanny, Claire Casey (Julia Haworth).
He wishes Peter well and tells him never to turn his back on his fiancée Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson).
Ashley is trapped in the office with Peter and bar manager Nick Tilsley (Ben Price).
Ashley and Nick then manage to carry Peter to a hole in the wall after hearing firefighters call out to them.
The roof starts to collapse and Ashley is trapped but holds the ceiling up long enough for Nick to pass Peter out to safety.
The anniversary episode was broadcast live on 9 December 2010, with Ashley being killed-off in an explosion, taking place at The Joinery, which caused a tram to derail onto the street.
[3] The character made his final ever appearance on the programme on 10 December 2010, ending his fifteen-year association on the soap.
[3] For his portrayal of Ashley, Arnold was nominated in the category of "Most Popular Actor" at the 1999 National Television Awards.
[5] Lucy Lather from Inside Soap included Ashley and Claire's relationship in a feature profiling negatively received storylines.
Lather believed Ashley needed to romance another "firecracker" type character like Maxine and stated "could their be a duller couple?".