Derek Bernard Wilton was a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 on the British television soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Coronation Street

Coronation Street

Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

. He was portrayed by Peter Baldwin. He appeared between 1976 and 1997.

Development

Derek Wilton was axed by producer Brian Park

Brian Park

Brian Park is a Scottish television producer and executive. He was born in Fife but lived in Aberdeen’s Bucksburn between the ages of nine and 17. He acted as a child and when he was 13 he joined the Aberdeen Children’s Theatre and appeared in an episode of Dr Finlay’s Casebook.Park joined Granada...

 in a high profile cull in 1997. His axing was said to have caused his co-worker Thelma Barlow

Thelma Barlow

Thelma Barlow is an English television actress and writer, most famous for her roles as Mavis Wilton in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street and as Dolly Bellfield in the sitcom Dinnerladies....

 (who played his on-screen wife Mavis) to quit her role in the show. While appearing on ITVs This Morning

This Morning

This Morning may refer to:* This Morning , a British daytime television show* This Morning , a Canadian radio show* CBS This Morning and This Morning, former names of the American morning show The Early Show...

in October 2010, Barlow denied it was the reason she left the show, stating she had decided to quit before Baldwin was axed.

Storylines

Derek was often dominated by women; he remained a bachelor until after his mother Amy's death in 1981 as he always bowed to her wishes. He first met Mavis Riley in 1976 but remained non-committal until 1984 when they agreed to marry - but on their wedding day, the indecisive couple jilted each other. Forever letting Mavis down, Derek was usually too proud to admit he was at fault but still went to her with his problems. His biggest mistake was marrying his boss's daughter Angela Hawthorne in 1985, even though it was Mavis he really wanted. After divorcing Angela, Derek finally married Mavis in 1988 and in 1990 they moved into 4 Coronation Street.

On the career front, Derek never had much luck; he usually worked as a salesman but his jobs never tended to last long, and in desperation for employment he usually had to turn to people who had caused problems in his and Mavis's lives, including Angela and Mavis's ex-partner Victor Pendlebury. Eccentric and pompous, Derek was the perfect match for dithering Mavis, as they were both very much alike, although their old-fashioned mannerisms and tendency to over-dramaticize everything sometimes made them the butt of the neighbours' jokes, especially their immediate neighbour Des Barnes.

Derek died from a heart attack during a road rage incident on Mavis's birthday in 1997.