Tracy Barlow

=Tracy Barlow=
Tracy Lynette Barlow (née Langton; previously Preston and Cropper) is a fictional characterin the British television soap opera Coronation Street. She is currently portrayed, since 2002, byKate 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 husbandJoe 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 byClaire 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.
==Contents==
 [hide] *1 Storylines
**1.1 1977–99
**1.2 2002–07
**1.3 2010—
*2 Creation and development
**2.1 Casting
**2.2 Personality and characterisation
***2.2.1 Murder of Charlie Stubbs and Departure (2007)
**2.3 Release from prison and return to Weatherfield (2010)
*3 Reception
*4 See also
*5 References
*6 External links
==[edit]Storylines==
===[edit]1977–99===
Tracy is the daughter of Ray (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.
===[edit]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 Alahan (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.
Charlie's womanising ways get the better of him when he drops his guard and Tracy launches a large metal sculpture at his head (2007)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-girlfriendShelley 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.
===[edit]2010—===
In May 2010, Tracy returns after learning that her grandmother Blanche Hunt (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. She explains that she was feeling sick so done a pregnancy test which was positive. 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: positive. Tracy informs them that she does not want Steve to know, and plans to have an abortionwithout him knowing. Deirdre thinks Steve has a right to know so goes to see him in the Rovers and reveals to a stunned Steve that she 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. Steve begins to soften towards her. Tracy asks Steve for her job back at the Rovers to which he is initially reluctant for the safety of the baby but she presuades him. While getting Becky and Eileen Grimshaw a drink, Tracy collapses and is rushed to hospital, where an emergency scan reveals that Tracy is actually expecting twins. Tracy and Steve are stunned by the news, as is everyone in the street. Tracy 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.
==[edit]Creation and development==
===[edit]Casting===
Left to right: Holly Chamarette who portrayed Tracy Barlow from 1985–1988 and Christabel Finch as Tracy Barlow from 1977–1985The 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."[1] 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.[2] 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.[1] 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.[1]
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.[2] 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."[2] 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."[3] 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."[4] 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.[5]
===[edit]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.
====[edit]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 (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.
===[edit]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.[6] The actress attributed her return in part to the 2009 return of her friend Shobna Gulati as Sunita Alahan, and her desire to work with Gulati again.[7] 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.[5] Her first scenes were shown in May, when she returned for her grandmother Blanche's funeral.[8] 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.[5]
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.[9] 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.[10]
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.[11] 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.
Tracy Barlow 	Tracy Barlow 	 	
 	 	 	
Kate Ford as Tracy Barlow (2011)	Kate Ford as Tracy Barlow (2011) 	 	
Coronation Street character 	Coronation Street character 	 	
Portrayed by 	Christabel Finch (1977–83)
Holly Chamarette (1985–88)
Dawn Acton (1988–99)
Kate Ford (since 2002)	 	
Introduced by 	Bill Podmore (1977)
Mervyn Watson (1985)
Brian Park (1996, 1997)
Jane MacNaught (1999)
Kieran Roberts (2002)
Kim Crowther (2010)	 	
Duration 	1977–1983, 1985-1997, 1999, 2002–07, 2010—	 	
First appearance 	24 January 1977 	 	
Classification 	Present; regular 	 	
Profile 	Profile 	 	
Date of birth 	24 January 1977 	 	
Home 	1 Coronation Street 	 	
Occupation 	Barmaid (2003–06, since 2011) 	 	
{| class="collapsible collapsed" id="collapsibleTable0" style="font-size: 11px; width: 238px; background-color: transparent; "	
{| class="collapsible collapsed" id="collapsibleTable0" style="font-size: 11px; width: 238px; background-color: transparent; "	[hide]Family	[hide]Family
Husband 	Robert Preston (1996–2003)
Roy Cropper (2003–04)	 	
Father 	Ray Langton 	 	
Mother 	Deirdre Barlow 	 	
Adoptive father 	Ken Barlow 	 	
Daughters 	Amy Barlow 	 	
Grandfathers 	Donald Hunt 	 	
Grandmothers 	Mary Langton
Blanche Hunt 	 	
Aunts 	Janice Langton 	 	
Romances 	Graham Egerton (?–?)
Steve McDonald(2003, 2011—)
Frank Foster(2011)
Charlie Stubbs(2005–07)