Ida Barlow (also Leathers) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'', played by

Noel Dyson Elsie Noël Dyson (23 December 1916 – 29 June 1995) was an English character actress Dyson played a number of roles in theatre, television and films (including in telemovies) but is best remembered as a versatile character actress in TV seri ...

between 1960 and 1961.

Creation

Casting

Creator

Tony Warren Anthony McVay Simpson (8 July 1936 – 1 March 2016) publishing under pen name Tony Warren, was an English television screenwriter and actor, best known for creating the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. He created other television dramas ...

originally had Betty Alberge in mind for the part of Ida when writing the first scripts, but when Alberge auditioned everyone agreed she was more suited to the role of shopkeeper

Florrie Lindley '' Coronation Street'' is a British television soap opera/serial, initially produced by Granada Television. Created by screenwriter Tony Warren, ''Coronation Street'' first broadcast on ITV on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of char ...

, leaving auditions for Ida wide open until Noel Dyson was found.

Background

Ida Leathers was born in 1916 to

Nancy Leathers '' Coronation Street'' is a British soap opera, initially produced by Granada Television. Created by writer Tony Warren, ''Coronation Street'' first broadcast on ITV on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters introduced in the sh ...

(

Norah Hammond Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (born 1931), French historian Places Australia * Norah Head, New South Wales, headlan ...

). Ida grew up to be a soft, caring, almost saintly woman and married the love of her life Frank Barlow (Frank Pemberton) in 1938. They went on to have two sons -

Kenneth Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byna ...

(

William Roache William Patrick Roache (born 25 April 1932) is an English actor. He is best known for playing Ken Barlow in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' since it was first broadcast on 9 December 1960. He is listed in the ''Guinness World Records ...

) in 1939, and

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

(

Alan Rothwell Alan Rothwell (born 9 February 1937) is an English actor and television presenter. He played David Barlow in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' as a regular from 1960 to 1961, and again from 1963 to 1968. His other acting credits include p ...

) in 1942, and thus Ida found her new place in life as housewife and relished it. She spent most of her time looking after her family and keeping the house running, rarely socialising in the Rovers at all.

Storylines

Ida was the perfect housewife and doted on Frank and her boys. Ida had a special friendship with the Barlows' next-door neighbour,

Albert Tatlock Albert Tatlock is a fictional character on the British television soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Albert was played by actor Jack Howarth from 1960 to 1984. The character became something of a cultural institution, so much that grumpy old ...

( Jack Howarth), and visited him on a regular basis, unlike his daughter

Beattie Pearson ''Coronation Street'' is a British soap opera, initially produced by Granada Television. Created by writer Tony Warren, ''Coronation Street'' first broadcast on ITV on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters introduced in the sho ...

(

Gabrielle Daye Gabrielle Daye (2 October 1911 – 5 January 2005) was an English stage, film and television actress, notable for her TV role as Mrs. Pring on '' Bless Me, Father''. Other television appearances include ''Coronation Street'' (as Beattie Pears ...

), which sometimes caused friction between the two women (or at least disparaging comments from Beattie), despite Ida's calm nature. Ida's mother

(Norah Hammond) moved into No.3 in 1961, due to her failing health, and no-one expected her to outlive her daughter. One day when Ida was visiting Beattie, concern grew when Ida never arrived. Later that day, Frank learned that Ida had been hit by the bus she was intending to catch and died. Ida's funeral episode saw a new peak in viewing figures for ''Coronation Street'', with 15.6 million viewers tuning in.

Development

Departure and death

It was announced that

had quit the role of Ida, after less than a year, and that she was tired of playing her. It was then confirmed that the character would be killed off to increase viewing numbers. Ida was struck by a bus and Frank Barlow was devastated. Dyson played Ida in 41 episodes overall. Her final appearance was in episode 77; although no death scene was shown and the events of her death unfolded on-screen from the next episode onwards. She was the first regular character to die and the second overall (

May Hardman '' Coronation Street'' is a British television soap opera/serial, initially produced by Granada Television. Created by screenwriter Tony Warren, ''Coronation Street'' first broadcast on ITV on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of char ...

being the first in episode 7).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlow, Ida Coronation Street characters Television characters introduced in 1960 Female characters in television