Grandma Connolly

Grandma Connolly was Rita Connolly's mother. She lived with Rita, her husband, Eddie, and their son, Tommy in a home that she owned.

In June 1953, she was excited at the prospect of seeing Queen Elizabeth II's coronation on television, and was present when the TV set was delivered from Magpie Electricals. However, the Wire appeared and stole her face. (WC: Tardisode 7)

The family hid Grandma away in her room upstairs. Eddie, unbeknownst to his family, reported Grandma to the police, who took her faceless body away and stored it in a lock-up with all the other locals who had suffered a similar fate.

When the Wire was defeated, Grandma's face returned and she went home to celebrate the coronation with her family and neighbours. Rita kicked Eddie out of the Connolly home, which was still in Grandma's name. (TV: The Idiot's Lantern)

Behind the scenes

 * This character is never referred to as a "Connolly" in the dialogue of the episode, but it is how she was credited at the end of the episode. Nevertheless, she is positively identified as Rita Connolly's mother at least three times within the episode. How she could be a Connolly — when logic and common practice would dictate her surname to be Rita's unspoken maiden name — is not explored by the script. It is possible that Eddie and Rita shared the same surname before they were married. However, the production team's allowance of the name "Connolly" on her Character Options figure does suggest that the credits were correct and that they intended her name to be "Connolly".