Deirdre Barlow (also Hunt, Langton and Rachid) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Anne Kirkbride. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 November 1972. Her final appearance was on 8 October 2014.
Kirkbride decided to take an extended break from the soap in autumn 2014 and last appeared on-screen on 8 October 2014. She died in January 2015 before she could return to work. The character of Deirdre was killed-off and given a farewell storyline on 8 July 2015, with her funeral taking place on 13 July 2015. An official book focusing on the character's history was released as a tribute for fans of the show in October 2015.
Creation Background Deirdre was played by actress Anne Kirkbride from 1972 to 2014. Originally named Deirdre Hunt, her character's earliest screen appearances were as "a young 17 year old 'dolly bird', someone that liked a bit of fun". The character made an initial one-off appearance in episode 1236 on 20 November that year. The producers and writers were convinced that the character had more mileage and Kirkbride returned for a couple of appearances from episode 1272 on 26 March 1973 and as a contracted regular from episode 1288 on 21 May 1973.
Deirdre's trademarks included a gravelly, scratchy voice (intensified by actress Kirkbride's real-life chain smoking) and big glasses. She wore the same style of glasses for almost thirty years, before Dev Alahan crushed them with a box when she put them down for a second. Later, the frames were much smaller, and Kirkbride herself did not wear glasses away from the role, opting for contact lenses. The large glasses made a comedic reappearance when character Claire Peacock (Julia Haworth), who bore an uncanny resemblance to the young Deirdre, was also to wear the same style of spectacles.
Casting After leaving Oldham Rep at the age of 17, Anne Kirkbride featured in a Granada TV play by Jack Rosenthal titled Another Sunday and Sweet F.A. (1972). Kirkbride then auditioned for a part in a pilot for a new Granada series, gaining the attention of Coronation Streets casting director who offered her a part in the show. She was first seen doing her part when character Elsie Tanner came into a pub to find husband Alan Howard drinking with Deirdre. Kirkbride said: "That was my first scene and I was petrified at the thought of coming into something I'd been watching since the age of seven." Kirkbride remained with the show until her death on 19 January 2015, although what turned out to be her last appearance was broadcast the previous October.
Development Relationship with Ken Barlow Ken and Deirdre have been described as soap opera's version of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Their relationship has featured various affairs, break-ups and reunions over the years. The couple's first marriage eventually disintegrated in the early 1990s, this time when Ken had an affair with colleague Wendy Crozier, a dalliance which ended in divorce for the Barlows. Ken was kicked out of home on New Year's Day 1990. Their on/off relationship continued, with each having various other liaisons, until producers decided to reunite Ken and Deirdre in 1999. Ken's and Deirdre's second marriage in 2005 was watched by an estimated 13 million viewers, compared to the nine million who watched the wedding of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles the following day. Coincidentally, Ken's and Deirdre's first wedding in 1981 was screened within 48 hours of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding, and just as in 2005, the Barlow wedding attracted more viewers than the royal wedding.
"Free the Weatherfield One" campaign When the story of Deirdre Rachid being jailed for fraud was aired in 1998, a public campaign developed in the UK. A campaign led by tabloid newspapers and the occasional graffiti artist, with the slogan of "Free the Weatherfield One!". Despite Rachid being a fictional character, politicians expressed their opinions on the story as if she had been imprisoned in real life. Prime Minister Tony Blair said that he would be commanding his Home Secretary, Jack Straw, to investigate the issue. William Hague, the then leader of the Conservative Party, announced that his party was also concerned about Rachid's treatment, stating that "The whole nation is deeply concerned about Deirdre, Conservatives as much as everyone else".
The "Free Deirdre Rachid" campaign was likened to the "Free George Jackson" campaign in 1984 after Brookside character George Jackson was falsely imprisoned for a warehouse robbery. In the story for Brookside, George served his sentence.
Storylines Deirdre first came to Weatherfield in November 1972.
At the age of eighteen, Deirdre goes on a date with Jimmy Frazer (John Barrie) for a while until she is introduced to his business partner Alan Howard (Alan Browning); she quickly loses interest in Jimmy and flirts with Alan instead. Local neighbour Elsie Howard (Pat Phoenix) finds them in the pub where they are drinking, and announces herself as Alan's wife. Deirdre then sets her sights on Billy Walker (Kenneth Farrington) and, despite the fact that he is nearly twenty years older than her, the pair grow close to the point of having a few dates together at The Rovers Return public house. Eventually they become engaged in 1974, much to the horror of Billy's domineering mother Annie (Doris Speed), who disapproves of Deirdre and sees her as a harlot. The wedding is meant to be a low-key matter paid for by Billy and scheduled for May the following year, but weeks away from the wedding, Deirdre begins to have doubts, wondering whether she is prepared to be tied down to Billy. She asks Billy for more time and he agrees, but a little while later he calls the engagement off and leaves to run a wine bar in Jersey.
Soon enough, Deirdre's typist skills are noticed by troublesome Ray Langton (Neville Buswell), and he hires her as a secretary in the builder's yard, but due to Ray's constant needling she resigns in June 1975 after they have a blazing row. However, the hate turns to feelings for him, and they marry in July. They later move into No. 5 Coronation Street in March 1976, shortly after their daughter Tracy (Christabel Finch) is born on 24 January 1977. After Deirdre is attacked by a rapist while walking home, she contemplates suicide, standing on the parapet of a motorway bridge and only snaps back to reality when a lorry driver asks her for directions. Her marriage to Ray fails, and by September 1978, he is having an affair with waitress Janice Stubbs (Angela Bruce). When Deirdre finds out, they decide to start afresh and emigrate to the Netherlands, where Ray has been offered a job, but at their farewell party two months later, Deirdre decides not to go and Ray leaves alone; they subsequently divorce. From then onwards Deirdre attempted to pursue other relationships and she even attempted to reconcile with Billy at one point, but none of them worked out in the end.
In 1979, Deirdre is touched when Sally Norton (Yvonne Nicholson) – who had been in the bed next to her when Deirdre was giving birth – brings Tracy a doll, but she makes excuses to stop Sally taking Tracy out. Later, Deirdre leaves Tracy outside the Rovers whilst she visits Annie for knitting patterns but they are disturbed by the sound of a crash and Deirdre finds a lorry outside has spilt a load of timber into the front of the Rovers, crushing the front of the pub. Deirdre hysterically claws at the timber screaming for Tracy, who she believed was underneath. Sally had been unstable since she had been persuaded by a social worker to put her daughter up for adoption shortly after the birth, and Deirdre later discovers she has taken Tracy, moments before the lorry crashed.
It was at this point Deirdre had started dating Ken Barlow (William Roache) and the two realized they are perfectely suited to each other. In January 1980, she strongly hints to Ken that if he proposed to her then she would not say no. This scares Ken away as he feels he is too old for her and he has been married twice already. A year later, she and Ken sought a reconciliation; this came under threat when Deirdre has a brief fling with Ray's colleague Dirk van der Stek (Lex van Delden) until she decides to end this liaison. After Dirk leaves, she goes out for a meal with Ken and they agree to see more of each other without getting tied down. In 1981, more than 24 million viewers watched Deirdre's wedding to Ken Barlow (which generated higher ratings for ITV than the wedding of Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer). Ken adopts Ray and Deirdre's daughter, Tracy, and they live with Ken's uncle-in-law Albert Tatlock (Jack Howarth) at Number 1.
In February 1982, Deirdre suggests they have a baby but Ken firmly dismisses the idea. A few months later in May that year, there are a number of muggings in the area. Deirdre's suspicions centre on local boy Raymond Attwood (Joe Searby), a member of the youth club where Ken helps out, but Ken refuses to call the police, not wanting to betray Raymond's confidence until he has evidence. After The Rovers Return barmaid Betty Turpin (Betty Driver) is mugged, Deirdre goes against Ken's wishes – and Raymond turns out to be the mugger. Ken feels Deirdre has turned against him, but nevertheless agrees they should try for a baby.
In late-1982, however, the marriage gets into a trouble when Deirdre cheats on Ken and has an affair with his rival Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs); she previously dated Mike a few years ago and they had a mutual passion for each other before Deirdre decided that Ken suited her better. The story runs on into 1983 and ends up becoming a ratings winner, with the UK's newspapers giving the story much coverage. The episode in 1983 when she ends her affair with Mike and reconciles with Ken was the highest-rated episode and the news was so big it ended up being announced on the scoreboard during a Manchester United v Arsenal match at Old Trafford, with the words "Ken and Deirdre reunited. Ken 1 – Mike 0" leading to cheers from the spectators.
Years later, Deirdre is encouraged by Ken to contest THE local council elections as an independent candidate. Her candidacy is intended, by Ken at least, to split the vote in favour of the Labour candidate. However, Deirdre is unexpectedly elected; thus deposing her former employer Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley), also the sitting Councillor, in the process. Early in her term, Deirdre's workload as a councillor causes tensions with Ken, and their marital woes are compounded by the professional conflicts that arise between them. As a local newspaper editor, Ken causes Deirdre political embarrassment by publishing damaging stories about Weatherfield Council, making use of council secretary Wendy Crozier (Roberta Kerr) as his mole, but Deirdre's reputation is tarnished. Wendy is sacked and Ken, feeling responsible, employs her as his secretary and begins an affair with her; which leads to Deirdre starting divorce proceedings in 1990. Deirdre dates plumber Dave Barton (David Beckett) and later conman Phil Jennings (Tommy Boyle), who tricks her into investing in his nightclub. After a series of gaffes and minor scandals, Deirdre loses her seat on Weatherfield Council to Alf in 1991. This ends her short but tumultuous career in local politics.
In 1994, Deirdre leaves to look after her ailing mother Blanche Hunt (Maggie Jones), foiling a potential reunion with Ken. This was a plot devised by the then-writers of the show, to allow actress Anne Kirkbride to go on medical leave for several months. She had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and needed time to recuperate.