Tracy Barlow
Encyclopedia
Tracy Lynette Barlow is a fictional character
in the British television soap opera
Coronation Street
. She is currently portrayed, since 2002, by Kate Ford
, the latest in a series of actresses who have played Tracy at various ages. Christabel Finch played her from birth on 24 January 1977 to 21 November 1983, with Holly Chamarette taking over from 8 July 1985 to 23 March 1988. Dawn Acton
is best known for playing the role regularly from 12 December 1988 to 14 June 1995, and then for brief reappearances in November 1996 till December 1997 and from 17 March till her last appearance as Tracy on 10 October 1999. Kate Ford took over the role from 25 December 2002, although Dawn Acton went to an audition but failed to get the part again. Ford left the role in 2007 making her final appearance on 8 April 2007. Following a three-year break, Ford returned to the role in May 2010. She returned on 24 December 2010. Tracy has changed from a troublesome but good-hearted teenager to a completely unsympathetic, borderline sociopathic adult.
Portrayed as headstrong, flirty and manipulative, early storylines featuring Tracy concentrated on her childhood and relationship with adoptive father Ken Barlow
(William Roache
). She went on to feature in storylines about drugs, various family crises, relationships with Roy Cropper
(David Neilson
) and Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson
), a feud with Karen McDonald
(Suranne Jones
), and a short-lived marriage to Robert Preston. Her exit storyline in 2007 was the culmination of a storyline that saw the character imprisoned for Charlie Stubbs' (Bill Ward
) murder. In the on-screen events, Tracy was sentenced to life in prison. Her brief return in May 2010 saw the character talk Gail McIntyre (Helen Worth
) into confessing to murdering husband Joe McIntyre
(Reece Dinsdale
). Her return in December 2010, saw her released from prison after a false jury and getting her daughter Amy (Elle Mulvaney) back as well as being attacked by Claire Peacock
(Julia Haworth
) and attempting to steal Steve from his wife Becky McDonald
(Katherine Kelly
) resulting in them both having a feud. Tracy's most recent plot is her pregnancy with Steve's twins
and they agree to make a go of their relationship for the babies' sakes.
(Neville Buswell
) and Deirdre Langton
(Anne Kirkbride
), born in 1977. Ray leaves when Tracy is a baby and she is raised by her mother and stepfather, Ken Barlow (William Roache
), who adopts her. Ken and Deirdre separate in December 1989 when Ken has an affair with Wendy Crozier (Roberta Kerr), his secretary at the Weatherfield Recorder. Initially Tracy supports Deirdre, but above all else Tracy wants a return to the cosy Barlow family life. Once Ken sees the error of his ways and begins seeking a reconciliation, in opposition to Deirdre who wants a divorce, Tracy's allegiance shifts to Ken. Deirdre is subjected to further resentment when she takes up with joiner Dave Barton (David Beckett), who has rescued Tracy when she accidentally sets No.1's kitchen on fire. The divorce even affects Tracy's school life as Ken gets a teaching job there in 1990, as he can stay updated on Deirdre's exploits through Tracy.
Caught between two warring parents, Tracy starts to rebel by playing truant from school, going instead to the amusement arcade with Steve and Andy McDonald (Nicholas Cochrane
). The year also sees Tracy get her first boyfriend, Graham Egerton (Paul Aspden), but it doesn't last long.
Her first major storyline is in 1995, when at the age of 18 she collapses in a nightclub after taking Ecstasy. She is diagnosed with kidney damage and told that she needs dialysis three times a week for the rest of her life. Ken and Deirdre volunteer to donate a kidney but are not tissue matches. Deirdre's third husband, Samir Rachid (Al Nedjari), is also tested and is a match. On the way to the hospital, Samir is attacked and found unconscious on a canal towpath, later dying in hospital. His kidneys are donated to Tracy. The transplant is a success. However, Deirdre resents Tracy for Samir's death, so Tracy leaves.
At sixteen, Tracy leaves school with four GCSEs and starts work at Maggie's shop full-time, having made peace with Maggie over their past disagreement. Her relationship with Deirdre is also more cordial but Tracy is growing fed up with being treated like a child and in October 1993 she abruptly moves out of No.1 to live with her new boyfriend, 22-year-old Craig Lee, refusing to pass on the address to Deirdre. Unfortunately Tracy's new life doesn't last long as the lease runs out on the flat and Tracy has to turn to Deirdre, who agrees to house her and Craig on the condition that they don't get physical. Not surprisingly, Tracy takes no notice of this and a month later she and Craig move out after finding alternative accommodation.
Over the next few years, Tracy leads a more independent life, usually turning up to see Deirdre or Ken when she wants something. In 1994, she opposes Deirdre's marriage to Moroccan toyboy Samir Rachid but shows up at the wedding ceremony as a token gesture of support. The following year, Tracy is hospitalised after taking bad ecstasy in a nightclub, which results in kidney failure. Facing life on dialysis, Tracy wants to die but Samir volunteers one of his kidneys when they were found to be a match for Tracy's. When Tracy awakes after the successful operation, she is stunned to learn that Samir is dead, found unconscious outside the hospital, and that Deirdre has given permission for his kidney to be used. Tracy thinks that Deirdre will never forgive her and moves to Blackpool to stay with Mark Ramsden, brother of her Weatherfield flatmate Lorraine.
In 1996, Tracy meets carpet fitter Robert Preston (Julian Kay) and they decide to marry. They intend to tie the knot in London, where they are living, but on telling Ken and Deirdre the news, Tracy decides to marry in Weatherfield instead, on the cheap; she books the Registry Office immediately and buys a £14 wedding dress from a charity shop. The wedding is a success and the Prestons return to London.
Tracy visits Weatherfield three times over the next few years: she turns up at Deirdre and Jon Lindsay
(Owen Aaronovitch
)'s engagement party in 1997 and gives her approval of airline pilot Jon (who is really a con man), and then two years later seeks refuge in Weatherfield after falling out with Robert, who accused Tracy of having an affair with her friend Dan after seeing them kissing. Robert follows Tracy to Weatherfield and they reconcile when he accepts her story that she and Dan are just friends. Tracy also visits the Street in November 1999 for Ken's 60th birthday party.
(Jimmi Harkishin
) but when she discovers Dev thinks she is not 'marriage material' she ends the relationship, cutting up his suits and stealing his credit card.
Tracy places a bet of 1p that she can have sex with married Roy Cropper. She gets him drunk and claims to have had sex with him. Roy is racked with guilt, and his wife Hayley
(Julie Hesmondhalgh
) is heartbroken. Tracy then reveals that she is pregnant and threatens to abort unless the Croppers buy the baby for £15,000. With Hayley being a transsexual, unable to have children, they agree, much to the disgust of Tracy's family. The Croppers worry Tracy will flee with their money and baby so Roy marries Tracy to gain legal rights. After the birth of her daughter, Amy (Holly Bowyer), Tracy confesses that Roy is not the father and she had lied about them having sex. The real father, Steve McDonald, is about to marry, until a jealous Tracy ruins the wedding in February 2004 by exposing Amy's true paternity, sparking a feud with Steve's wife Karen.
Tracy taunts Karen when her initial efforts to conceive a child with Steve are unsuccessful, referring to her as "Barren" Karen. By December 2004, Karen is pregnant, but soon miscarries. She steals and later torches Tracy's car. Tracy is devastated, as she and Steve believe Amy had been in the back of the car. She tears back to the Street in her taxi, lightly hitting Karen with her car and finally chasing her inside Underworld with a large tree branch with the intention of killing her. Only Steve's insistence that Amy is unharmed and staying with Roy and Hayley, cause Tracy to back down. Steve tells Karen that their marriage is over, and Tracy watches triumphantly as Karen packs her bags and walks out of the Street on Boxing Day 2004. Steve attempts a reunion with Tracy, but she quickly realises this is just for Amy's sake, not hers. They fall into a bitter custody battle, with Tracy making it look like Steve tried to leave the country with Amy, and finally even accusing him of abusing Amy. While Tracy wins primary custody, the judge does not believe her accusations and allows Steve visits with his daughter.
Short-lived flings with Ciaran McCarthy
(Keith Duffy
) and Nathan Harding (Ray Fearon
) follow, until Tracy begins dating builder Charlie Stubbs in late 2005. However, Charlie sleeps with his ex-girlfriend Shelley Unwin
(Sally Lindsay
), resulting in a pregnancy. Though Tracy forgives Charlie, he strays again with Street resident Maria Sutherland
(Samia Smith
). Tracy concocts a plan for revenge, spreading lies that Charlie is abusing her, then suggesting to Charlie that she is having an affair. When Charlie decides to throw Tracy out she announces her intention to kill him, which he does not believe. On 12 January 2007 she seduces him, then hits him twice on the head with a metal ornament, taunting him as she does; she attempts to fool the police into thinking it is done in self-defence.
Charlie dies, and Tracy is remanded in custody but is released on bail. David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd
) threatens to ruin her story by claiming that he witnessed the murder; he blackmails Tracy, saying he will only vindicate her if she sleeps with him. He lies during Tracy's trial, but his evidence is quickly dismissed by the court and, following Tracy's confession to her mother that the murder had been planned, Deirdre is unable to be convincing as a witness. Consequently, Tracy is found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, with the judge recommending that she serves a minimum of 15 years before parole. In financial ruin, Ken and Deirdre refuse to pay for an appeal, leaving Tracy to serve her sentence.
(Maggie Jones
) has died, and is allowed to attend her funeral. She argues with Steve's new wife Becky
(Katherine Kelly
) and a fight breaks out after Steve is wanting to change Amy's surname to McDonald. Tracy is taken back to prison and vows to her cellmate that she will get herself out. She discovers that her former neighbour Gail McIntyre (Helen Worth
) is on remand, accused of murdering her husband, Joe
(Reece Dinsdale
). Tracy plans to collaborate with the police, attempting to extract a confession from Gail, on the promise that she will be granted a transfer to an open prison but it fails. Tracy is also overjoyed to discover that Blanche left her £14,000 in her will.
On Christmas Eve 2010, during the remembrance carol service on the street for the victims of the tram crash, Tracy steps out of a taxi, shocking everyone. She tells the Barlows that the expert who handled the forensic evidence for her trial falsified his qualifications so she has appealed against her conviction and been released on bail, pending a retrial. She immediately goes to the Rovers, demanding to see Amy but is angry when Steve and Becky refuse to wake her. Amy comes down stairs and recognizes her mother and they hug. Later on, she tells Steve and Becky that she wants to have Amy for Christmas Day. They reluctantly agree and Gail then confronts Tracy. Tracy lies about why she tried to have Gail imprisoned, but Gail is not convinced and attacks Tracy in the pub.
On Christmas Day 2010, she arrives at the Rovers to pick up Amy. Amy later tells Tracy that Steve has bought Becky's nephew Max (Harry McDermott) from Becky's sister Kylie
(Paula Lane). When Joshua Peacock (Benjamin Beresford
) accidentally spills a drink over Amy's fairy dress, Becky helps her, but Tracy gets in the way and is angry as she believes Becky is trying to take her place. Tracy insults Becky and she loses her temper and attacks Tracy, upsetting Amy even more. Tracy decides that she wants Amy to live with her permanently. When Steve and Becky stop Tracy from leaving with Amy, Tracy threatens to inform Social Services about them giving Kylie money for Max and then takes Amy with her.
In February 2011, Tracy's retrial is a success and her conviction is overturned due to the unreliability of forensic evidence. When she tells Steve that she is going to move away from Weatherfield, taking Amy with her, he offers her a job behind the bar at the Rovers in an effort to make her stay. Tracy accepts and Becky is furious when she discovers the news. Tracy's first day as barmaid does not go well when she starts bunking off and insults Tina McIntyre
(Michelle Keegan
) in the process. Tracy arranges a date with businessman Frank Foster (Andrew Lancel
) but he cancels the date as he has business to deal with. The following day her former love rival, Maria Connor, hears Sean talking about Tracy getting stood up, and warns Tracy that Frank had tried to sexually assault her, but Tracy refuses to listen. She later tells Frank what Maria alleged and as a result so Frank cancels a deal with Carla Connor
(Alison King
) and Underworld.
May 2011 sees Tracy going to Blackpool with Steve and Amy behind Becky's back. They end up losing Amy while having an argument but she is later found and they discover that their car has been towed and end up having to stay in a B&B
. Tracy attempts to get Steve into bed with her but fails; they return home the next day. After going through Amy's bag, Becky finds a picture of Tracy, Steve and Amy in Blackpool; she is furious and demands to know the truth from Steve. A few days later Tracy decides to quit her job at the bar. While on a date with Frank, Tracy speaks excessively about Steve, in a deliberate attempt to wind Frank up. He notices this happens quite a lot and decides to end the relationship after he realises she is in love with Steve. Later on Tracy tells Steve and Becky that she is moving to London with Amy and won't be coming back.
With Steve so desperate to keep his daughter, he tries to appease Tracy as much as he can. Knowing that she will always try to manipulate any situation to her advantage, he plans to trick her. After he splits up with Becky, he gets Tracy to agree to a custody settlement over Amy. Tracy misinterprets what is going on and has illusions of being manageress at the Rovers and living there with both Steve and Amy. After she signs the custody agreement, he sacks her from the Rovers and introduces her to the newly-appointed Stella Price
(Michelle Collins
). In July 2011, Tracy attempts to start a relationship with Steve and invites him to dinner, where she makes a pass at him. He rejects her and leaves but following an argument with Becky, Steve returns to the Barlow house and sleeps with Tracy. After Steve rejects her again and refuses to start a relationship with her, Tracy realises that there is nothing left for her in Weatherfield, and leaves with Amy for London
.
Tracy returns and tells Deirdre and Ken that she is pregnant with Steve's baby. Intitially, Ken believes that Tracy is lying as she done it previously with Roy Cropper. However, Tracy does a pregnancy test and shows them the result. She informs them that she does not want Steve to know, and plans to have an abortion
without him knowing. Deirdre thinks Steve has a right to know and reveals to a stunned Steve that Tracy is pregnant, and he is the father of her unborn child. Steve tells Tracy that he will help her financially, but can't offer anything else. Tracy begins to use the pregnancy to her advantage by winding Becky up, knowing that Becky can't hit a pregnant woman. A few weeks later, Tracy begins to treat Steve better and acts concerned for his welfare plus his stress levels. He begins to soften towards her. She asks him for her job back at the Rovers, to which he is initially reluctant for the safety of the baby but she persuades him. Soon afterwards, however, Tracy collapses and is rushed to hospital, where an emergency scan reveals that she is actually expecting twins
. Tracy and Steve are stunned by the news, as is everyone in the street. She tells Steve that she worries she won't be able to handle twins alone so he tells her that he will do his best to make a relationship work for the sake of Amy and their unborn babies, much to Tracy's secret delight.
The first actress to play Tracy was Christabel Finch in 1977, who first appeared in the role when she was 15 days old. According to Finch in 2007, "It was a case of being the right baby, in the right place, at the right time. The casting director came to the baby unit and picked me at random, then asked my parents if I could be in the show." In 2001 Finch reflected on her time in the soap, remembering that she used to share a dressing room with Anne Kirkbride who plays Tracy's mother Deirdre and one of her most prominent storyline memories is her involvement in Deirdre's affair with Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs
): "Because I was a kid, everyone was really friendly to me. Julie Goodyear
, who played Bet Gilroy, was really lovely and a very down-to-earth person. The biggest plot I was involved in was when Deirdre had an affair with Mike Baldwin. There was a lot of shouting going on and Ken was screaming at her, 'Get out of the house!' I just thought, 'what's going on, why are they shouting?'" Finch left the role when she was seven as her parents had opted to move to Guernsey.
It was two years till the producers recast Tracy. On screen during that time, Tracy's parents Ken and Deirdre would say that Tracy was either in her room upstairs or at school. 8-year-old Holly Chamarette was given the role in 1985. At the time she reportedly commented, "I'm thrilled. I've been watching Coronation Street for ages." She was chosen from more than 60 children, but left the role when she was 11 in 1988, quitting the acting profession to become a doctor.
The third actress to play the part was Dawn Acton, appearing between 1988 and 1999. Acton was 11 when she took on the role and played the character through her teenage years, in what Acton has described as Tracy's tarty phase. Acton has said that Tracy's appearances became rare in the mid 1990s, until the casting director James Bain informed her that her contract was not being renewed as "the storylines involving Tracy had dried up". Acton adds, "I was 17 but I wasn't devastated. There were no tantrums, like the ones Tracy was famous for. James said I should try other things in the acting world. I did - but it didn't work out." Kate Ford was the fourth actress cast as Tracy in 2002. Dawn Acton reauditioned for the role but was unsuccessful. A spokeswoman for the soap said: "[Kate] is very excited to have got the part. The character has changed substantially in the past four years and really hits the ground running. Kate is thrilled." Discussing why Acton was not brought back, a spokesperson said, "We [looked] at other actresses because the character has changed so much—she's going to be explosive." Ford was a fan of the show as a child, and revealed that when she was 12, she wrote around ten letters to the casting director requesting a part.
Tracy spends weeks staging arguments, locking herself in the house, and even burning herself with an iron, in order to convince neighbour Claire Peacock that Charlie is abusing her. Ken and Deirdre are also concerned for Tracy's well-being, but she will not leave Charlie.
In January 2007, Ken and Deirdre ask Ken's son Peter
(Chris Gascoyne) to stay with Tracy. Charlie's best friend Jason Grimshaw
(Ryan Thomas
) sees Peter with his arm around Tracy but does not see his face and therefore does not recognise him. When Charlie badgers Tracy about her mystery man, she lets him believe the man is her secret lover to provoke him. Charlie attacks Peter, not knowing he is her stepbrother, and gives him a severe beating. Charlie is arrested for GBH
, and Tracy's claims of abuse gain traction.
Charlie pleads guilty to the assault charge, and returns home, packing a bag for Tracy. Tracy tells him of her plan to murder him, and refuses to leave. She gives him a lap dance and begins to tell him they will be together forever. While he is distracted, she hits him over the head with a heavy metal sculpture. She taunts him and then hits him again, with a fatal blow. As a crowd begin to gather outside Tracy ransacks the house and puts a knife in Charlie's hand in order to appear that she had acted in self-defence.
as Sunita Alahan
, and her desire to work with Gulati again. Ford believes that the time she has spent in prison has made Tracy's attitude worse, characterising her as "a bit cagey and a bit bitter". She stated that Tracy still loves Steve, but that his new wife Becky would beat her in a fight. Her first scenes were shown in May, when she returned for her grandmother Blanche's funeral. Ford found the scenes difficult to film, following the then recent death of Maggie Jones
who played Blanche. She described Tracy as a more ruthless and extreme version of her grandmother.
Tracy returned to Weatherfield on a permanent basis later in 2010. The storyline depicting her initial return involved her being offered an early release in exchange for extracting a murder confession from Gail. She falsely accused Gail of her husband Joe's
murder, by telling the police that she hit him with a rolling pin
, after Gail told her that she hid a rolling pin on top of a bedroom wardrobe in order to stop poor cook Joe from baking potato pie. The police subsequently found the rolling pin hidden in the house, making Tracy's lie appear true. Tracy decided to testify in court, alleging that Gail was guilty of murdering Joe; Gail was found not guilty of murder and Tracy was furious that she might not be let out early, thus throwing a chair across the room at two police officers who were involved in Gail's case. Later that day, Tracy was attacked by Gail's inmates after they threw water at her and locked her in a cell and beat her up for being a grass. Tracy was hospitalized.
Executive producer Phil Collinson
has revealed that Tracy's return will bring a few years' worth of storylines for her and many other characters in the soap, and that there is a possibility of Becky McDonald and Tracy appearing in a special two-hander
episode. It was revealed on 4 October, that Tracy would return on Christmas Eve 2010, following her shock release from prison.
Tracy returns just as the tram crash memorial service is taking place. By the end of Christmas Eve she has managed to alienate most of the community, particularly Gail McIntyre and the recently-widowed Claire Peacock. On 30 December 2010, after Tracy has complained to Deirdre, Ken and Peter about being deprived of sex, David Platt confronts her at home about her conduct towards his mother. After a bitter argument, Tracy seduces David. Shortly afterward, Tracy sleeps with Nick Tilsley
(Ben Price
); they are discovered by Leanne Battersby
(Jane Danson
). On New Year's Eve, Deirdre and Ken find Tracy unconscious with a head injury. Suspicion falls on Steve, who is standing nearby with blood on his hands.
commented: "It's very incredibly wrong, and yet they're both so vile that it goes right around the loop and goes back to being a thoroughly great idea." Fellow Lowculture contributor Nick Linsdell praised Tracy as "one of the all-time great, completely horrific, self-absorbed soap monsters." He deemed her trial testament to the show's writers, as, even with a character who has been part of Coronation Street since birth: "they've come up with an exit storyline that outdoes all her previous exploits and dragged in half the cast to enjoy the fun." Perkins also praised the trial storyline, commenting: "It makes for quite a nice change to have sat through a soap trial, knowing for once that The Accused was (a) guilty as sin, (b) acting in a deliberate, calculated and premeditated fashion and (c) not trying to frame someone else." Alongside this unusual premise, he noted: "there are probably quite a few people who secretly want to see That Bitch Tracy Barlow finally get hers."
Radio Times
included Tracy in their feature profiling 'bunny boiler
s' of soap opera. Discussing her they stated: "Qualifying as much as a soap villain as a bunny-boiler, grown-up Tracy in her final incarnation displayed enough deranged behaviour to have Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail bounding for the hills." Opining on her temper they added: "Tracy was capable of a rage so hot that, by comparison, the fires of hell were chilly." They also offered their opinion on what could have made her this way, blaming Ken and Dierdre's behaviour.
In February 2011, Ford was nominated for Best Comeback in the Soap Bubble Awards for her portrayal of Tracy. Tracy was nominated in the category of "Villain of the Year" at the 2011 Inside Soap Awards
.
On 19 May 2011, Kate Ford revealed that the main thing driving her Coronation Street alter ego Tracy Barlow is the desire to have a family with daughter Amy and ex Steve McDonald. Speaking to TV Times, Ford said that Tracy is feeling as if her meddling is starting to pay off. "She thinks she can see a shift in Steve, and she knows that his and Becky's relationship is not on firm ground. She's excited because she thinks an opportunity might be presenting itself," Ford explained. "All Tracy wants is for her, Amy and Steve to be a family. She sees that as the key to her fulfilment and happiness. She does love Amy and she's really worried about her mystery illness. When it comes down to it, she will put Amy above anything."
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...
in 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...
. She is currently portrayed, since 2002, by Kate Ford
Kate Ford
Kate Connerty is a British actress best known for playing the role of Tracy Barlow in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street from 2002 to 2007. Kate returned to Coronation Street on Christmas Eve 2010....
, the latest in a series of actresses who have played Tracy at various ages. Christabel Finch played her from birth on 24 January 1977 to 21 November 1983, with Holly Chamarette taking over from 8 July 1985 to 23 March 1988. Dawn Acton
Dawn Acton
Dawn Jean Acton is an English actress and DJ, most notable for playing Tracy Barlow in the long-running British soap Coronation Street for periods between 1988 and 1999....
is best known for playing the role regularly from 12 December 1988 to 14 June 1995, and then for brief reappearances in November 1996 till December 1997 and from 17 March till her last appearance as Tracy on 10 October 1999. Kate Ford took over the role from 25 December 2002, although Dawn Acton went to an audition but failed to get the part again. Ford left the role in 2007 making her final appearance on 8 April 2007. Following a three-year break, Ford returned to the role in May 2010. She returned on 24 December 2010. Tracy has changed from a troublesome but good-hearted teenager to a completely unsympathetic, borderline sociopathic adult.
Portrayed as headstrong, flirty and manipulative, early storylines featuring Tracy concentrated on her childhood and relationship with adoptive father Ken Barlow
Ken Barlow
Kenneth "Ken" Barlow is a long-standing fictional character from the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by William Roache, and created by Tony Warren. He is currently the world's longest-serving soap opera character, having appeared continuously from the programme's inception in December...
(William Roache
William Roache
William Patrick Harry Roache MBE is a British actor, best known for his role as Ken Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street...
). She went on to feature in storylines about drugs, various family crises, relationships with Roy Cropper
Roy Cropper
Royston "Roy" Cropper, is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actor David Neilson, the character was introduced during the episode airing on 19 July 1995. Originally a secondary character, he was given a more prominent role in 1997, by the...
(David Neilson
David Neilson
David Neilson is an English actor best known for portraying Roy Cropper in Coronation Street from 1995 onwards....
) and Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson
Simon Gregson
Simon Gregson is an English actor. He is known for being a cast member of the British soap opera Coronation Street in which he has played Steve McDonald since 1989....
), a feud with Karen McDonald
Karen McDonald
Karen McDonald is a fictional character on the long-running British soap opera, Coronation Street from June 2000 to December 2004...
(Suranne Jones
Suranne Jones
Suranne Jones is an English actress. She first rose to prominence playing the role of Karen McDonald in ITV1's soap opera Coronation Street over a period of four years...
), and a short-lived marriage to Robert Preston. Her exit storyline in 2007 was the culmination of a storyline that saw the character imprisoned for Charlie Stubbs' (Bill Ward
Bill Ward (actor)
Bill Ward is an English actor who played Charlie Stubbs in Coronation Street.-Biography:He completed a degree in History at Bristol University. He is a former advertising executive. After Coronation Street, he had a role in the ITV series Cold Blood with Pauline Quirke...
) murder. In the on-screen events, Tracy was sentenced to life in prison. Her brief return in May 2010 saw the character talk Gail McIntyre (Helen Worth
Helen Worth
Helen Worth is an English actress, best known for her portrayal of the Coronation Street character Gail McIntyre- Early life :...
) into confessing to murdering husband Joe McIntyre
Joe McIntyre (Coronation Street)
Joseph "Joe" McIntyre was a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. The character was portrayed by actor Reece Dinsdale. Joe was introduced as the father of Tina McIntyre, and made his first appearing onscreen during the episode that aired in the UK on May 26, 2008...
(Reece Dinsdale
Reece Dinsdale
Reece Dinsdale is an English actor of stage, screen and television.-Acting career:He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1977 until 1980...
). Her return in December 2010, saw her released from prison after a false jury and getting her daughter Amy (Elle Mulvaney) back as well as being attacked by Claire Peacock
Claire Peacock
Claire Peacock , is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Julia Haworth, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 9 April 2003, as the new nanny of established character Ashley Peacock's son Joshua...
(Julia Haworth
Julia Haworth
Julia Louise Haworth is an English actress best known as Claire Peacock on ITV's Coronation Street, a role she has played since 2003...
) and attempting to steal Steve from his wife Becky McDonald
Becky McDonald
Rebecca "Becky" McDonald is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, a long-running serial drama about working class life in the fictional town of Weatherfield. She is played by actress Katherine Kelly. Becky was created by producer Steve Frost as a recurring...
(Katherine Kelly
Katherine Kelly (actress)
Katherine Kelly, is a British actress and recording artist who is most well known for playing Becky McDonald in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She has also starred in the film Mischief Night.-Early life and career:...
) resulting in them both having a feud. Tracy's most recent plot is her pregnancy with Steve's twins
TWINS
Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers are a pair of NASA instruments aboard two United States National Reconnaissance Office satellites in Molniya orbits. TWINS was designed to provide stereo images of the Earth's ring current. The first instrument, TWINS-1, was launched aboard USA-184...
and they agree to make a go of their relationship for the babies' sakes.
1977–99
Tracy is the daughter of RayRay Langton
Raymond Anthony "Ray" Langton was a major character in the British television soap opera Coronation Street. He was played by Neville Buswell. An ex-borstal boy, Ray built up a reputation as a troublemaker. He first appeared in the Street in 1966 but was forced out by Len after he threatened Lucille...
(Neville Buswell
Neville Buswell
Neville Buswell is a British actor, best known for his role as Ray Langton in Coronation Street.Neville Buswell attended Belmont Abbey School near Hereford from 1955-1960...
) and Deirdre Langton
Deirdre Barlow
Deirdre Anne Barlow is a long-standing fictional character in the UK television ITV Granada soap opera, Coronation Street...
(Anne Kirkbride
Anne Kirkbride
Anne Kirkbride is an English actress, best known for her long-running role as Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street which she has played for thirty-nine years.-Coronation Street:...
), born in 1977. Ray leaves when Tracy is a baby and she is raised by her mother and stepfather, Ken Barlow (William Roache
William Roache
William Patrick Harry Roache MBE is a British actor, best known for his role as Ken Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street...
), who adopts her. Ken and Deirdre separate in December 1989 when Ken has an affair with Wendy Crozier (Roberta Kerr), his secretary at the Weatherfield Recorder. Initially Tracy supports Deirdre, but above all else Tracy wants a return to the cosy Barlow family life. Once Ken sees the error of his ways and begins seeking a reconciliation, in opposition to Deirdre who wants a divorce, Tracy's allegiance shifts to Ken. Deirdre is subjected to further resentment when she takes up with joiner Dave Barton (David Beckett), who has rescued Tracy when she accidentally sets No.1's kitchen on fire. The divorce even affects Tracy's school life as Ken gets a teaching job there in 1990, as he can stay updated on Deirdre's exploits through Tracy.
Caught between two warring parents, Tracy starts to rebel by playing truant from school, going instead to the amusement arcade with Steve and Andy McDonald (Nicholas Cochrane
Nicholas Cochrane
Nicholas Cochrane is an English actor, best known for his role as Andy McDonald in long-running soap opera Coronation Street....
). The year also sees Tracy get her first boyfriend, Graham Egerton (Paul Aspden), but it doesn't last long.
Her first major storyline is in 1995, when at the age of 18 she collapses in a nightclub after taking Ecstasy. She is diagnosed with kidney damage and told that she needs dialysis three times a week for the rest of her life. Ken and Deirdre volunteer to donate a kidney but are not tissue matches. Deirdre's third husband, Samir Rachid (Al Nedjari), is also tested and is a match. On the way to the hospital, Samir is attacked and found unconscious on a canal towpath, later dying in hospital. His kidneys are donated to Tracy. The transplant is a success. However, Deirdre resents Tracy for Samir's death, so Tracy leaves.
At sixteen, Tracy leaves school with four GCSEs and starts work at Maggie's shop full-time, having made peace with Maggie over their past disagreement. Her relationship with Deirdre is also more cordial but Tracy is growing fed up with being treated like a child and in October 1993 she abruptly moves out of No.1 to live with her new boyfriend, 22-year-old Craig Lee, refusing to pass on the address to Deirdre. Unfortunately Tracy's new life doesn't last long as the lease runs out on the flat and Tracy has to turn to Deirdre, who agrees to house her and Craig on the condition that they don't get physical. Not surprisingly, Tracy takes no notice of this and a month later she and Craig move out after finding alternative accommodation.
Over the next few years, Tracy leads a more independent life, usually turning up to see Deirdre or Ken when she wants something. In 1994, she opposes Deirdre's marriage to Moroccan toyboy Samir Rachid but shows up at the wedding ceremony as a token gesture of support. The following year, Tracy is hospitalised after taking bad ecstasy in a nightclub, which results in kidney failure. Facing life on dialysis, Tracy wants to die but Samir volunteers one of his kidneys when they were found to be a match for Tracy's. When Tracy awakes after the successful operation, she is stunned to learn that Samir is dead, found unconscious outside the hospital, and that Deirdre has given permission for his kidney to be used. Tracy thinks that Deirdre will never forgive her and moves to Blackpool to stay with Mark Ramsden, brother of her Weatherfield flatmate Lorraine.
In 1996, Tracy meets carpet fitter Robert Preston (Julian Kay) and they decide to marry. They intend to tie the knot in London, where they are living, but on telling Ken and Deirdre the news, Tracy decides to marry in Weatherfield instead, on the cheap; she books the Registry Office immediately and buys a £14 wedding dress from a charity shop. The wedding is a success and the Prestons return to London.
Tracy visits Weatherfield three times over the next few years: she turns up at Deirdre and Jon Lindsay
Jon Lindsay
Jon Stephen Lindsay is a former Republican member of the Texas Senate, having represented the 7th District from 1997 to 2007.He was succeeded in 2007 by fellow Republian Dan Patrick.-2002:-2000:-1996:...
(Owen Aaronovitch
Owen Aaronovitch
Owen Aaronovitch is an English actor, known for portraying Jon Lindsay in Coronation Street.-Background:Aaronovitch was born in Parliament Hill Fields, London. He is the son of the late economist and Communist Sam Aaronovitch, brother of the journalist David Aaronovitch and writer Ben Aaronovitch...
)'s engagement party in 1997 and gives her approval of airline pilot Jon (who is really a con man), and then two years later seeks refuge in Weatherfield after falling out with Robert, who accused Tracy of having an affair with her friend Dan after seeing them kissing. Robert follows Tracy to Weatherfield and they reconcile when he accepts her story that she and Dan are just friends. Tracy also visits the Street in November 1999 for Ken's 60th birthday party.
2002–07
Tracy returns on Christmas Day 2002, announcing that Robert has been cheating on her, but it turns out that she was having the affair with Robert's best friend. The marriage ends in divorce. Tracy starts a relationship with Dev AlahanDev Alahan
Devendra 'Dev' Alahan is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actor Jimmi Harkishin, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 10 November 1999.-Character development:...
(Jimmi Harkishin
Jimmi Harkishin
James "Jimmi" Harkishin is an actor best known for his role as shop owner Dev Alahan in Coronation Street. He also featured in the film East is East and also Bhaji on the Beach....
) but when she discovers Dev thinks she is not 'marriage material' she ends the relationship, cutting up his suits and stealing his credit card.
Tracy places a bet of 1p that she can have sex with married Roy Cropper. She gets him drunk and claims to have had sex with him. Roy is racked with guilt, and his wife Hayley
Hayley Cropper
Hayley Anne Cropper is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street...
(Julie Hesmondhalgh
Julie Hesmondhalgh
Julie Hesmondhalgh is an English actress.Hesmondhalgh was born in Accrington, Lancashire. As a teenager, she was moderately interested in acting, but wished to become a social worker. She applied to drama school to be with her friends, and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art...
) is heartbroken. Tracy then reveals that she is pregnant and threatens to abort unless the Croppers buy the baby for £15,000. With Hayley being a transsexual, unable to have children, they agree, much to the disgust of Tracy's family. The Croppers worry Tracy will flee with their money and baby so Roy marries Tracy to gain legal rights. After the birth of her daughter, Amy (Holly Bowyer), Tracy confesses that Roy is not the father and she had lied about them having sex. The real father, Steve McDonald, is about to marry, until a jealous Tracy ruins the wedding in February 2004 by exposing Amy's true paternity, sparking a feud with Steve's wife Karen.
Short-lived flings with Ciaran McCarthy
Ciaran McCarthy
Ciaran McCarthy is a fictional character from the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street portrayed by Keith Duffy. He made his first on-screen appearance on 7 August 2002, before departing in 2005. He returned in 2010 until Duffy temporary departed in January 2011 to go on Boyzone Tour,...
(Keith Duffy
Keith Duffy
Keith Peter Thomas Francis John Duffy is an Irish singer-songwriter, actor, drummer, dancer and television presenter. He began his career as part of Boyzone in the 1990s. In the 2000s, he achieved critical acclaim for his acting roles, particularly in soap operas such as Coronation Street and Fair...
) and Nathan Harding (Ray Fearon
Ray Fearon
Fitzroy Raymond "Ray" Fearon is a British actor who has worked extensively in theatre, and is known for playing garage mechanic Nathan Harding on ITV's long-running soap opera Coronation Street.-Early life:...
) follow, until Tracy begins dating builder Charlie Stubbs in late 2005. However, Charlie sleeps with his ex-girlfriend Shelley Unwin
Shelley Unwin
Shelley Victoria Unwin is a fictional character who appeared in ITV's British soap opera Coronation Street. She is the daughter of Bev Unwin and the late Charlie Unwin...
(Sally Lindsay
Sally Lindsay
Sally Lindsay is an English actress best known for playing the role of Shelley Unwin in the long-running ITV1 Soap opera Coronation Street...
), resulting in a pregnancy. Though Tracy forgives Charlie, he strays again with Street resident Maria Sutherland
Maria Sutherland
Maria Jane Connor , is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, portrayed by actress Samia Smith. The character first appeared on-screen on 19 May 2000...
(Samia Smith
Samia Smith
Samia Maxine Ghadie , is an English actress best known for playing Maria Connor in the ITV Soap Coronation Street.-Early life:...
). Tracy concocts a plan for revenge, spreading lies that Charlie is abusing her, then suggesting to Charlie that she is having an affair. When Charlie decides to throw Tracy out she announces her intention to kill him, which he does not believe. On 12 January 2007 she seduces him, then hits him twice on the head with a metal ornament, taunting him as she does; she attempts to fool the police into thinking it is done in self-defence.
Charlie dies, and Tracy is remanded in custody but is released on bail. David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd
Jack P. Shepherd
Jack Peter Shepherd is an English actor. He plays David Platt in the ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street. He joined the show in April 2000, taking over the role from Thomas Ormson.Shepherd was born in Pudsey, Leeds, West Yorkshire....
) threatens to ruin her story by claiming that he witnessed the murder; he blackmails Tracy, saying he will only vindicate her if she sleeps with him. He lies during Tracy's trial, but his evidence is quickly dismissed by the court and, following Tracy's confession to her mother that the murder had been planned, Deirdre is unable to be convincing as a witness. Consequently, Tracy is found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, with the judge recommending that she serves a minimum of 15 years before parole. In financial ruin, Ken and Deirdre refuse to pay for an appeal, leaving Tracy to serve her sentence.
2010—
In May 2010, Tracy returns after learning that her grandmother Blanche HuntBlanche Hunt
Blanche Hunt is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was originally played by Patricia Cutts; however, the actress committed suicide after appearing in just two episodes in 1974. Maggie Jones took over the role, playing Blanche in over 830 episodes between 1974 and...
(Maggie Jones
Maggie Jones (actress)
Margaret "Maggie" Jones was an English actress, best known for playing Blanche Hunt in the British soap opera Coronation Street, a role which she first portrayed in 1974 and played regularly from the late 1990s until shortly before her death.-Career:Jones graduated from the drama school RADA and...
) has died, and is allowed to attend her funeral. She argues with Steve's new wife Becky
Becky McDonald
Rebecca "Becky" McDonald is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, a long-running serial drama about working class life in the fictional town of Weatherfield. She is played by actress Katherine Kelly. Becky was created by producer Steve Frost as a recurring...
(Katherine Kelly
Katherine Kelly (actress)
Katherine Kelly, is a British actress and recording artist who is most well known for playing Becky McDonald in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She has also starred in the film Mischief Night.-Early life and career:...
) and a fight breaks out after Steve is wanting to change Amy's surname to McDonald. Tracy is taken back to prison and vows to her cellmate that she will get herself out. She discovers that her former neighbour Gail McIntyre (Helen Worth
Helen Worth
Helen Worth is an English actress, best known for her portrayal of the Coronation Street character Gail McIntyre- Early life :...
) is on remand, accused of murdering her husband, Joe
Joe McIntyre (Coronation Street)
Joseph "Joe" McIntyre was a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. The character was portrayed by actor Reece Dinsdale. Joe was introduced as the father of Tina McIntyre, and made his first appearing onscreen during the episode that aired in the UK on May 26, 2008...
(Reece Dinsdale
Reece Dinsdale
Reece Dinsdale is an English actor of stage, screen and television.-Acting career:He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1977 until 1980...
). Tracy plans to collaborate with the police, attempting to extract a confession from Gail, on the promise that she will be granted a transfer to an open prison but it fails. Tracy is also overjoyed to discover that Blanche left her £14,000 in her will.
On Christmas Eve 2010, during the remembrance carol service on the street for the victims of the tram crash, Tracy steps out of a taxi, shocking everyone. She tells the Barlows that the expert who handled the forensic evidence for her trial falsified his qualifications so she has appealed against her conviction and been released on bail, pending a retrial. She immediately goes to the Rovers, demanding to see Amy but is angry when Steve and Becky refuse to wake her. Amy comes down stairs and recognizes her mother and they hug. Later on, she tells Steve and Becky that she wants to have Amy for Christmas Day. They reluctantly agree and Gail then confronts Tracy. Tracy lies about why she tried to have Gail imprisoned, but Gail is not convinced and attacks Tracy in the pub.
On Christmas Day 2010, she arrives at the Rovers to pick up Amy. Amy later tells Tracy that Steve has bought Becky's nephew Max (Harry McDermott) from Becky's sister Kylie
Kylie Turner
Kylie was initially described as having a "full on" personality, similar to Becky. She was also labelled a "firecracker". Lane described her as a "messed up girl, dragged up by an alcoholic mother". In her life she had to "fight for survival". Lane has also expressed her admiration of Kylie's...
(Paula Lane). When Joshua Peacock (Benjamin Beresford
Benjamin Beresford
Benjamin Beresford is a British actor known for his role as Joshua Peacock on ITV's Coronation Street. Ben has played the role since 2004, taking over from Brandon Jackson and Stephen Collins.-References:...
) accidentally spills a drink over Amy's fairy dress, Becky helps her, but Tracy gets in the way and is angry as she believes Becky is trying to take her place. Tracy insults Becky and she loses her temper and attacks Tracy, upsetting Amy even more. Tracy decides that she wants Amy to live with her permanently. When Steve and Becky stop Tracy from leaving with Amy, Tracy threatens to inform Social Services about them giving Kylie money for Max and then takes Amy with her.
In February 2011, Tracy's retrial is a success and her conviction is overturned due to the unreliability of forensic evidence. When she tells Steve that she is going to move away from Weatherfield, taking Amy with her, he offers her a job behind the bar at the Rovers in an effort to make her stay. Tracy accepts and Becky is furious when she discovers the news. Tracy's first day as barmaid does not go well when she starts bunking off and insults Tina McIntyre
Tina McIntyre
Tina McIntyre is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Michelle Keegan, the character first appeared on screen during the episode airing on 7 January 2008...
(Michelle Keegan
Michelle Keegan
Michelle Elizabeth Keegan is an English actress who currently plays Tina McIntyre in the soap opera Coronation Street.-Biography:...
) in the process. Tracy arranges a date with businessman Frank Foster (Andrew Lancel
Andrew Lancel
Andrew Lancel is an English actor. He is best known for his current role as Frank Foster in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street, and formerly in his role as DI Neil Manson in The Bill.-Biography:...
) but he cancels the date as he has business to deal with. The following day her former love rival, Maria Connor, hears Sean talking about Tracy getting stood up, and warns Tracy that Frank had tried to sexually assault her, but Tracy refuses to listen. She later tells Frank what Maria alleged and as a result so Frank cancels a deal with Carla Connor
Carla Connor
Carla Connor is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, a long-running serial drama about working class life in the fictional town of Weatherfield. She is portrayed by actress Alison King. Carla was created by producer Steve Frost as part of the new Connor family....
(Alison King
Alison King
Alison King is an English actress. She has had major television roles as Lynda Block in the Sky One television series Dream Team, and as Carla Connor in Coronation Street since 2006.- Early life and education :...
) and Underworld.
May 2011 sees Tracy going to Blackpool with Steve and Amy behind Becky's back. They end up losing Amy while having an argument but she is later found and they discover that their car has been towed and end up having to stay in a B&B
Bed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...
. Tracy attempts to get Steve into bed with her but fails; they return home the next day. After going through Amy's bag, Becky finds a picture of Tracy, Steve and Amy in Blackpool; she is furious and demands to know the truth from Steve. A few days later Tracy decides to quit her job at the bar. While on a date with Frank, Tracy speaks excessively about Steve, in a deliberate attempt to wind Frank up. He notices this happens quite a lot and decides to end the relationship after he realises she is in love with Steve. Later on Tracy tells Steve and Becky that she is moving to London with Amy and won't be coming back.
With Steve so desperate to keep his daughter, he tries to appease Tracy as much as he can. Knowing that she will always try to manipulate any situation to her advantage, he plans to trick her. After he splits up with Becky, he gets Tracy to agree to a custody settlement over Amy. Tracy misinterprets what is going on and has illusions of being manageress at the Rovers and living there with both Steve and Amy. After she signs the custody agreement, he sacks her from the Rovers and introduces her to the newly-appointed Stella Price
Stella Price
Stella Price is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Michelle Collins. Collins' casting was announced in April 2011 and she began filming her scenes in May. The actress commutes from north London to Manchester for filming. Collins joined the show in...
(Michelle Collins
Michelle Collins
Michelle Danielle Collins is a British actress best known for her roles on television in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, as Cindy Beale, Coronation Street as Stella Price, and BBC dramas Sunburn and Two Thousand Acres of Sky...
). In July 2011, Tracy attempts to start a relationship with Steve and invites him to dinner, where she makes a pass at him. He rejects her and leaves but following an argument with Becky, Steve returns to the Barlow house and sleeps with Tracy. After Steve rejects her again and refuses to start a relationship with her, Tracy realises that there is nothing left for her in Weatherfield, and leaves with Amy for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Tracy returns and tells Deirdre and Ken that she is pregnant with Steve's baby. Intitially, Ken believes that Tracy is lying as she done it previously with Roy Cropper. However, Tracy does a pregnancy test and shows them the result. She informs them that she does not want Steve to know, and plans to have an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
without him knowing. Deirdre thinks Steve has a right to know and reveals to a stunned Steve that Tracy is pregnant, and he is the father of her unborn child. Steve tells Tracy that he will help her financially, but can't offer anything else. Tracy begins to use the pregnancy to her advantage by winding Becky up, knowing that Becky can't hit a pregnant woman. A few weeks later, Tracy begins to treat Steve better and acts concerned for his welfare plus his stress levels. He begins to soften towards her. She asks him for her job back at the Rovers, to which he is initially reluctant for the safety of the baby but she persuades him. Soon afterwards, however, Tracy collapses and is rushed to hospital, where an emergency scan reveals that she is actually expecting twins
TWINS
Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers are a pair of NASA instruments aboard two United States National Reconnaissance Office satellites in Molniya orbits. TWINS was designed to provide stereo images of the Earth's ring current. The first instrument, TWINS-1, was launched aboard USA-184...
. Tracy and Steve are stunned by the news, as is everyone in the street. She tells Steve that she worries she won't be able to handle twins alone so he tells her that he will do his best to make a relationship work for the sake of Amy and their unborn babies, much to Tracy's secret delight.
Casting
Johnny Briggs (actor)
Johnny Briggs, MBE is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Mike Baldwin in the soap opera Coronation Street, in which he appeared from 1976 to 2006...
): "Because I was a kid, everyone was really friendly to me. Julie Goodyear
Julie Goodyear
Julie Goodyear, MBE is an English television actress and media personality, best known for playing the long-running role of pub landlady Bet Lynch on British soap opera Coronation Street.-Biography:...
, who played Bet Gilroy, was really lovely and a very down-to-earth person. The biggest plot I was involved in was when Deirdre had an affair with Mike Baldwin. There was a lot of shouting going on and Ken was screaming at her, 'Get out of the house!' I just thought, 'what's going on, why are they shouting?'" Finch left the role when she was seven as her parents had opted to move to Guernsey.
It was two years till the producers recast Tracy. On screen during that time, Tracy's parents Ken and Deirdre would say that Tracy was either in her room upstairs or at school. 8-year-old Holly Chamarette was given the role in 1985. At the time she reportedly commented, "I'm thrilled. I've been watching Coronation Street for ages." She was chosen from more than 60 children, but left the role when she was 11 in 1988, quitting the acting profession to become a doctor.
The third actress to play the part was Dawn Acton, appearing between 1988 and 1999. Acton was 11 when she took on the role and played the character through her teenage years, in what Acton has described as Tracy's tarty phase. Acton has said that Tracy's appearances became rare in the mid 1990s, until the casting director James Bain informed her that her contract was not being renewed as "the storylines involving Tracy had dried up". Acton adds, "I was 17 but I wasn't devastated. There were no tantrums, like the ones Tracy was famous for. James said I should try other things in the acting world. I did - but it didn't work out." Kate Ford was the fourth actress cast as Tracy in 2002. Dawn Acton reauditioned for the role but was unsuccessful. A spokeswoman for the soap said: "[Kate] is very excited to have got the part. The character has changed substantially in the past four years and really hits the ground running. Kate is thrilled." Discussing why Acton was not brought back, a spokesperson said, "We [looked] at other actresses because the character has changed so much—she's going to be explosive." Ford was a fan of the show as a child, and revealed that when she was 12, she wrote around ten letters to the casting director requesting a part.
Personality and characterisation
The character is portrayed as being extremely selfish and dangerous. She appears to be a tough, fiery and very bitchy character, with actress Kate Ford stating that "underneath she does care about her daughter which does show a soft side to her". In other words, she is a sociopath.Murder of Charlie Stubbs and Departure (2007)
In January 2007, it was announced that Tracy would kill Charlie Stubbs as part of Kate Ford's leaving storyline which saw Tracy sentenced to life imprisonment for Charlie's murder.Tracy spends weeks staging arguments, locking herself in the house, and even burning herself with an iron, in order to convince neighbour Claire Peacock that Charlie is abusing her. Ken and Deirdre are also concerned for Tracy's well-being, but she will not leave Charlie.
In January 2007, Ken and Deirdre ask Ken's son Peter
Peter Barlow (Coronation Street)
Peter Francis Barlow is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera Coronation Street. The character first appeared onscreen during the episode aired on 15 April 1965...
(Chris Gascoyne) to stay with Tracy. Charlie's best friend Jason Grimshaw
Jason Grimshaw
Jason Grimshaw, is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actor Ryan Thomas, the character first appeared during the episode airing on 25 December 2000, when he comes looking for mother Eileen at the Battersbys' home.Jason is very much the...
(Ryan Thomas
Ryan Thomas
Ryan James Thomas and is an English actor who is currently starring as the character, Jason Grimshaw on ITV's Coronation Street.-Career:...
) sees Peter with his arm around Tracy but does not see his face and therefore does not recognise him. When Charlie badgers Tracy about her mystery man, she lets him believe the man is her secret lover to provoke him. Charlie attacks Peter, not knowing he is her stepbrother, and gives him a severe beating. Charlie is arrested for GBH
Grievous bodily harm
Grievous bodily harm is a term of art used in English criminal law which has become synonymous with the offences that are created by sections 18 and 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861....
, and Tracy's claims of abuse gain traction.
Charlie pleads guilty to the assault charge, and returns home, packing a bag for Tracy. Tracy tells him of her plan to murder him, and refuses to leave. She gives him a lap dance and begins to tell him they will be together forever. While he is distracted, she hits him over the head with a heavy metal sculpture. She taunts him and then hits him again, with a fatal blow. As a crowd begin to gather outside Tracy ransacks the house and puts a knife in Charlie's hand in order to appear that she had acted in self-defence.
Release from prison and return to Weatherfield (2010)
It was announced in January 2010 that Ford would be returning to Coronation Street to reprise her role as Tracy. The actress attributed her return in part to the 2009 return of her friend Shobna GulatiShobna Gulati
Shobna Gulati is an English actress, writer, and dancer of Indian origin, best known for playing Anita in Victoria Wood's Dinnerladies, and Sunita Alahan in the long-running soap opera Coronation Street from 2001 to 2006, a role to which she returned at the end of 2009...
as Sunita Alahan
Sunita Alahan
Sunita Alahan is a fictional character from the British ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street, played by Shobna Gulati. She made her first on-screen appearance on 23 March 2001 and remained in the show until 2005, when the character was axed from the serial by producer Tony Wood...
, and her desire to work with Gulati again. Ford believes that the time she has spent in prison has made Tracy's attitude worse, characterising her as "a bit cagey and a bit bitter". She stated that Tracy still loves Steve, but that his new wife Becky would beat her in a fight. Her first scenes were shown in May, when she returned for her grandmother Blanche's funeral. Ford found the scenes difficult to film, following the then recent death of Maggie Jones
Maggie Jones (actress)
Margaret "Maggie" Jones was an English actress, best known for playing Blanche Hunt in the British soap opera Coronation Street, a role which she first portrayed in 1974 and played regularly from the late 1990s until shortly before her death.-Career:Jones graduated from the drama school RADA and...
who played Blanche. She described Tracy as a more ruthless and extreme version of her grandmother.
Tracy returned to Weatherfield on a permanent basis later in 2010. The storyline depicting her initial return involved her being offered an early release in exchange for extracting a murder confession from Gail. She falsely accused Gail of her husband Joe's
Joe McIntyre (Coronation Street)
Joseph "Joe" McIntyre was a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. The character was portrayed by actor Reece Dinsdale. Joe was introduced as the father of Tina McIntyre, and made his first appearing onscreen during the episode that aired in the UK on May 26, 2008...
murder, by telling the police that she hit him with a rolling pin
Rolling pin
thumb|A wooden "roller" type rolling pinA rolling pin is a cylindrical food preparation utensil used to shape and flatten dough. Two styles of rolling pins are found; roller and rods. Roller types consists of a thick cylindrical roller with small handles at each end; rod type rolling pins are...
, after Gail told her that she hid a rolling pin on top of a bedroom wardrobe in order to stop poor cook Joe from baking potato pie. The police subsequently found the rolling pin hidden in the house, making Tracy's lie appear true. Tracy decided to testify in court, alleging that Gail was guilty of murdering Joe; Gail was found not guilty of murder and Tracy was furious that she might not be let out early, thus throwing a chair across the room at two police officers who were involved in Gail's case. Later that day, Tracy was attacked by Gail's inmates after they threw water at her and locked her in a cell and beat her up for being a grass. Tracy was hospitalized.
Executive producer Phil Collinson
Phil Collinson
Philip "Phil" Collinson is a British television producer. He was initially an actor, before switching to working behind the cameras in the industry as a script editor and writer on programmes such as Springhill and Emmerdale, later becoming the producer of Peak Practice, Doctor Who and Coronation...
has revealed that Tracy's return will bring a few years' worth of storylines for her and many other characters in the soap, and that there is a possibility of Becky McDonald and Tracy appearing in a special two-hander
Two-hander
Two-hander is a term for a play, movie, or television programme with only two main characters. The two characters in question often display differences in social standing or experiences, differences that are explored and possibly overcome as the story unfolds....
episode. It was revealed on 4 October, that Tracy would return on Christmas Eve 2010, following her shock release from prison.
Tracy returns just as the tram crash memorial service is taking place. By the end of Christmas Eve she has managed to alienate most of the community, particularly Gail McIntyre and the recently-widowed Claire Peacock. On 30 December 2010, after Tracy has complained to Deirdre, Ken and Peter about being deprived of sex, David Platt confronts her at home about her conduct towards his mother. After a bitter argument, Tracy seduces David. Shortly afterward, Tracy sleeps with Nick Tilsley
Nick Tilsley
Nicholas Paul "Nick" Tilsley is a fictional character in the British soap opera Coronation Street. Originally known as "Nicky", he was the first-born child of Brian Tilsley and Gail Platt , and has been portrayed by three different actors. Warren Jackson from 1981 to 1996, then by Adam Rickitt...
(Ben Price
Ben Price
Ben Price is a British actor, best known for playing the third incarnation of Nick Tilsley in the ITV soap opera, Coronation Street...
); they are discovered by Leanne Battersby
Leanne Battersby
Leanne Anika Barlow is a fictional character on the soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Jane Danson, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 4 July 1997....
(Jane Danson
Jane Danson
Jane Danson is an English actress, most famous for playing the role of Leanne Battersby in Coronation Street.-Acting:...
). On New Year's Eve, Deirdre and Ken find Tracy unconscious with a head injury. Suspicion falls on Steve, who is standing nearby with blood on his hands.
Reception
When Tracy was blackmailed by David, Steven Perkins of LowcultureLowculture
lowculture.co.uk is a UK television website founded in January 2003 by Paul Lang, who currently works as the art director of Doctor Who Adventures.-Purpose:...
commented: "It's very incredibly wrong, and yet they're both so vile that it goes right around the loop and goes back to being a thoroughly great idea." Fellow Lowculture contributor Nick Linsdell praised Tracy as "one of the all-time great, completely horrific, self-absorbed soap monsters." He deemed her trial testament to the show's writers, as, even with a character who has been part of Coronation Street since birth: "they've come up with an exit storyline that outdoes all her previous exploits and dragged in half the cast to enjoy the fun." Perkins also praised the trial storyline, commenting: "It makes for quite a nice change to have sat through a soap trial, knowing for once that The Accused was (a) guilty as sin, (b) acting in a deliberate, calculated and premeditated fashion and (c) not trying to frame someone else." Alongside this unusual premise, he noted: "there are probably quite a few people who secretly want to see That Bitch Tracy Barlow finally get hers."
Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
included Tracy in their feature profiling 'bunny boiler
Bunny Boiler
Bunny boiler is a pejorative term for an obsessive and dangerous person, referring to a former lover who stalks the person who spurned them. The term is normally used for a woman who stalks a former male lover or his new female partner.-Etymology:...
s' of soap opera. Discussing her they stated: "Qualifying as much as a soap villain as a bunny-boiler, grown-up Tracy in her final incarnation displayed enough deranged behaviour to have Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail bounding for the hills." Opining on her temper they added: "Tracy was capable of a rage so hot that, by comparison, the fires of hell were chilly." They also offered their opinion on what could have made her this way, blaming Ken and Dierdre's behaviour.
In February 2011, Ford was nominated for Best Comeback in the Soap Bubble Awards for her portrayal of Tracy. Tracy was nominated in the category of "Villain of the Year" at the 2011 Inside Soap Awards
Inside Soap Awards
The Inside Soap Awards is a yearly award ceremony run by Inside Soap magazine since 1996. The awards celebrate the British and Australian soap operas and their actors. Until 2007, EastEnders had won the award for "Best Soap" on every occasion...
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On 19 May 2011, Kate Ford revealed that the main thing driving her Coronation Street alter ego Tracy Barlow is the desire to have a family with daughter Amy and ex Steve McDonald. Speaking to TV Times, Ford said that Tracy is feeling as if her meddling is starting to pay off. "She thinks she can see a shift in Steve, and she knows that his and Becky's relationship is not on firm ground. She's excited because she thinks an opportunity might be presenting itself," Ford explained. "All Tracy wants is for her, Amy and Steve to be a family. She sees that as the key to her fulfilment and happiness. She does love Amy and she's really worried about her mystery illness. When it comes down to it, she will put Amy above anything."