We're all still getting our heads around the news that Anne Kirkbride is with us no longer, and that Deirdre Barlow will never grace our screens of an evening again. Tributes have been pouring in for the actress who passed away yesterday following a short illness, and Coronation Street have even released this very special clip below of Deirdre's first ever appearance on the street, while they have also cancelled all filming on the soap today.
Deirdre Hunt, as she was known then, made her debut on the soap back in 1972 in this scene below, where she was found drinking in a pub with Alan Howard (Alan Browning) by his then wife, Elsie Tanner (Patricia Phoenix).
It wasn't until the following year however that she would return to the soap and become a permanent resident of the cobbles when she got a job on Len Fairclough’s builder’s yard. She would go on to become apart of some of the soaps most famous and controversial story lines, including of course that affair with Mike Baldwin and her false imprisonment at the hands of con-man Jon Lindsay (Owen Aaronovitch), leading to the unforgettable 'Free the Weatherfield One Campaign' that Tony Blair himself got involved in.
She will be sorely missed by all Corrie fans, and not just for that raspy voice and excellent choice of specs down the years...