No 20 Deirdre Barlow Poor Deirdre. She’s stuck with Ken, living in a tiny house with mother Blanche and has more worries than she knows what to do with about her wayward daughter Tracy. She’s also grandmother to little Amy. To cope with it all, she nips out to the back yard and has a sly smoke every now and then. And who can blame her? Deirdre’s low point, we reckon, was marrying Samir.
Most famous for: Free the Weatherfield One! Her string of ex-husbands and also for being involved in the love triangle with Mike and Ken. Should Deirdre be in our Top 50 list at No 20 – what do you think? Check out our Top 50 so far.
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Ah, Deirdre.
What a character she is. For me, her best time was her first decade in the programme; the 1970s. She was the Coronation Street 'dolly bird' and quickly got Elsie Tanner's back-up. She had a lively on-off relationship with Ray Langton which lasted 8 years. She also got heavily involved with Billy Walker - much to the chagrin of his mother, Annie!
In spite of her 'dolly bird' image, Deirdre in the pre-Ken years was bordering on being a feminist. She embodied the 1970s woman - she showed herself as an asset as the secretary at the yard, making decisions and being independent. Deirdre & Ray worked so well together because in one sense, they were equals; there was real passion to outdo the other. I always see the two as a pair of children pushing to be the first in the queue.
Ray's sudden departure in 1979 was tough for Deirdre (and Anne Kirkbride). The decision was made by the writers to watch the struggle of Deirdre as a single mother, but that did not last long. By 1981 she was married to Ken - which, in my eyes, was always a marriage of convenience on behalf of the writers.
She has had some fantastic storylines since she got with Ken, but I do wish that we could have kept the tough, 1970s Deirdre!
I think it is marvellous, as well as making me feel very, very old, that the writers can take a character from being an upstart young thing, through marriage(s) and motherhood, to being a grandmother and still manage to be believable. I wonder who will be the future Deirdre - Sarah, maybe, or Rosie? Yes, we need Deirdre in the top twenty!
She'd be higher in my list.
I love deidre rasheed! x x x