| Audrey Roberts | |||||||||||||||||
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| Coronation Street character | |||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Sue Nicholls | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Bill Podmore (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982) Mervyn Watson (1984, 1985) |
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| Duration | 1979–82, 1984, 1985—[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 16 April 1979 | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 23 July 1940 | ||||||||||||||||
| Home | 5 Grasmere Drive | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Hairdresser | ||||||||||||||||
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Audrey Roberts (née Potter) is a long-standing fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Sue Nicholls, the character first appeared during the episode aired on 16 April 1979.[2]
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The character of Audrey Potter was created as the mother of established character Gail Potter. After appearing as an occasional character for several years, she became a permanent member of the core cast in 1985.[3]
Actress Sue Nicholls auditioned for the part of Audrey Potter and went on to secure to the role.[3] At the time the actress had been in many theatre, cabaret and TV roles and was continuing with her career whilst appearing in the show on a recurring basis until she was offered the chance to become a permanent cast member.[3]
Of her character Nicholls said in 1991 during an interview with Graeme Kay that: "Audrey's not quite as loud and brazen now, I've tried to take her down a bit, which fitted in with the fact that she married Alf, who is quite serious and sombre. Likewise she's brought him up a bit. Some people see in my character things that I don't. I'm stopped all the time by people who say, "Isn't she awful to Alf?" or "Isn't she a cow".[3]
Audrey Potter makes her first appearance at daughter Gail's (Helen Worth) engagement party to Brian Tilsley (Chris Quentin). As an unmarried mother, Audrey is considered an unsuitable match for widowed local councillor Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley). With Alf, she gains respectability and a stable life. Audrey Potter has previously shown little interest in her daughter Gail's life. She marries Alf, in an episode on 23 December 1985, later enjoying the social status of mayoress and believing herself to be better than the other Street residents. Audrey has two attempts to revive her career as a hairdresser, and the second time manages to talk Alf into buying the salon from Fiona Middleton (Angela Griffin). She is devastated by Alf's sudden death in 1998, but throws herself into work and even stands for council herself, retaining her seat until 2001.
Over the years, Audrey mellows from a social climber to a more sympathetic character. The existence of another illegitimate child, Stephen Reid (Todd Boyce), in Canada, is revealed some years later. She has never been short of love interests, and has had romantic entanglements with Fred Elliott (John Savident) and undertaker Archie Shuttleworth (Roy Hudd), among others. Audrey's best friend is Alma Halliwell (Amanda Barrie). Audrey is devastated when Alma dies of cervical cancer in June 2001.
Audrey nearly becomes a victim of her serial killer son-in-law Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) when he discovers that she is worth a lot of money, inherited from Alf. In late 2002, viewers saw him subtly give Audrey grounds of questioning whether she is experiencing the onset of dementia, through such things as unlocking doors she had locked, hanging out washing that she (of course) can not remember hanging out, turning on lights she had switched off, leaving a dress in to be dry-cleaned, to her surprise as she could not remember leaving it in. Finally, he tries to kill her in a house fire, made to look like the result of her dementia, with the battery removed from the fire alarm. However, she is rescued by Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson).
After her colleague at the salon, Maxine Peacock (Tracy Shaw), is bludgeoned to death in January 2003, Audrey suspects that Richard is to blame. She urges Gail to leave Richard as both she and the children are not safe but Gail refuses to listen to her accusations, which cause fraut relations between the pair. Audrey challenges Richard at Maxine's funeral, accusing him of Maxine's murder, much to the indignation of the mourners. However, Audrey finds an ally in Ken Barlow (William Roache) who believes that chief suspect Ade Critchley (Dean Ashton) isn't to blame for the crime, along with friend Archie and Norris Cole, who is suspicious of Hillman's dealings with his elderly clients. In March 2003, after Richard attempts to kill Gail and the kids by driving them into the canal, Audrey reunites with her daughter.
In October 2006, Audrey speaks to her close friend Fred Elliott, who is due to marry Bev Unwin (Susie Blake) later that week, and tells him that she wishes he was marrying her, not Bev. This causes Fred to have doubts about marrying Bev but decides to go through with the wedding. Audrey tells Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold) she will not be coming to the wedding, which leads to Fred borrowing Bev's car to visit her. After a heart-to-heart, Fred is about to leave Audrey's house to return to the church but collapses in the hall and dies. Audrey, accompanied by the police, tells Fred's son Ashley and his wife Claire (Julia Haworth) at the church.
Audrey strikes up a relationship with old friend Bill Webster (Peter Armitage), in late 2006. However, on Christmas Day, Bill's wife Maureen (Sherrie Hewson) turns up, and their affair is revealed. Bill returns to Germany but comes back to the street early in 2007 and rekindles his relationship with Audrey, and he subsequently moves in with her.
In September 2007, Audrey's grandson, David (Jack P Shepherd) moves in with her after he is kicked out by Gail. Son Stephen returns at Christmas 2007 to offer David a job in Italy. He accepts but Audrey finds drugs in his drawer at the salon and Stephen withdraws his offer. Jason (Ryan Thomas), Sarah (Tina O'Brien) and her daughter Bethany (Amy & Emily Walton) decide to go, but Jason leaves Bethany and Sarah at the train station. Eventually, Audrey grows fed up with David, especially after she learns he has pushed Gail down the stairs in a fit of rage. She is dumbfounded when Gail refuses to press charges, and still has a reticent relationship with her grandson.
In spring 2008, Audrey is contacted by Ted Page (Michael Byrne), Gail's biological father. He doesn't know about their daughter. Audrey meets him and tells him he has a daughter. He is surprised, and Audrey is equally surprised to learn Ted is gay. This leads characters such as David's girlfriend Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) to jokingly question whether or not Audrey had "turned" Ted gay, which he denies.
On 4 August 2008, Audrey is returning from a 'booze cruise' in France with Bill, Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle) and Roger Stiles (Andrew Dunn). It is an awful trip for her and she feels that Bill has ignored her. Bill has been drinking so Audrey drives. While driving, Audrey and Janice begin having an argument. Janice accuses her of being a fortune hunter and not caring about Alf or Fred. Audrey is furious, even more so when Bill chooses not to defend her, saying she has been unhappy the whole trip. The argument causes her to career off the road and through a small group of trees crashing, she injures her arm. This makes her consider ending her relationship with Bill, and she asks him to move out.
In December 2009, she bumps into an old friend called Claudia Colby (Rula Lenska) at a function and is subsequently introduced to her dinner partner Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers). Claudia later informs Audrey that Lewis is in fact an escort and that she should give him a call. Audrey, having become smitten with Lewis contacts him and begins seeing him from time to time. In April 2010, Audrey is enraged to meet Lewis at an Easter dance with Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox), which leads to the two women becoming involved in a bitter argument over Lewis. Later that month, Audrey discovers Lewis's black book with details on all his clients. She is deeply hurt to see that she is no more than a paying customer to him, but when he assures her that he has fallen for her too she responds to his kiss and they become a couple.
As she approaches her 70th birthday, Audrey toys with the idea of retirement, as she wants to settle down with Lewis. At her birthday party in the Rovers, she has a bitter row with Gail, when she discovers that Lewis was an escort. Annoyed with Gail and other people's interference, Audrey announces that she has found true happiness with Lewis, and the couple leave the pub. Audrey then decides to purchase a Greek hotel with Lewis and emigrate, much to the amazement of her family and friends. However, it soon emerges that Lewis is a conman after he swindles 4,000 pounds out of the bookies. On the day of their departure, Lewis's deception is revealed after he is caught kissing bookies employee Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride) and placing fake betting slips in the cash register on CCTV. Lewis flees the country with the money, leaving Audrey humiliated and heartbroken.
In April 2011, Audrey is shocked to discover that Claudia's boyfriend Marc Selby (Andrew Hall) is a transvestite, when she picks him up from a police station after he is assaulted. Marc begs her not to tell Claudia the truth and Audrey agrees. However, Claudia mistakingly believes that Audrey and Marc are having an affair which leads to Marc telling Claudia about his transvestism.
Sue Nicholls won the award for 'Best Comedy Performance' at the 2000 British Soap Awards.[4] At the 2003 British Soap Awards, Sue Nicholls won gongs for 'Best Dramatic Performance' and 'Hero of the Year' for her role in the highly successful Richard Hillman storyline which ran between 2002 and 2003.[5]