Ken Barlow is the stalwart of Coronation Street. He has appeared on the show since its first transmission on 9th December 1960. His family life was full of drama. His marriage to Valerie or Val as she was commonly known lasted 9 years (1962-71) ended in tragedy when Valerie was electrocuted. They had two children together Susan in 1963 and Peter in 1965.
Ken Barlow may look like a respected member of the community in Coronation Street but Ken suffered the degrading experience of prison. He took part in a banned demonstration against the war in Vietnam. Ken was ordered to pay £5 (which in those days was a lot of money). Stubborn Ken refused to pay the fine and spent a week in prison.
Drama struck the Barlow family when a convicted rapist Frank Riley escaped from prison and went after Val. Ena Sharples raised the alarm and the police arrested Riley before he could harm Val. Afterwards Val had a breakdown because Ken thought she had been raped even though she was not.
It only took Ken two years to get over Val and move on to Janet Reid. Reid was a home wrecker in her own right. Before she married Ken, she had a steamy affair with garage owner Alan Howard. They broke up in 1977 because Janet did not want to mother Susan and Peter.
Happiness finally arrived in 1981 when Ken married Deirdre Langton in July . It didn't take long however for Deirdre to look elsewhere for happiness. She found it in the form of Mike Baldwin. Baldwin was the same age as Ken but acted much younger. He wined and dined her in the best hotels. They planned to run away together but Deirdre felt sorry for Ken. When she confessed all to Ken, he went ballistic. He had an almighty punch up with Mike in the Rovers. Ken took Deidre back, but the marriage had developed huge cracks which were too big to fill.
During Ken's time as a journalist he had an affair with town hall secretary Wendy Crozier. When Deirdre found out about this she refused to forgive Ken and threw him out. A messy divorce followed. During Deidre's time in prison Ken began to realise that he still had feelings for Deirdre. He clashed with Baldwin again when Mike footed Deidre's legal bill much to Ken's annoyance. Ken and Deidre were reconciled in 1999 and now live with Deidre's annoying mother Blanche. When Ken recieved his pension he used £10,000 of his money to pay off Mike Baldwin. He didn't like to feel that Deirdre still owed something to Baldwin.
This year Ken began to write a book on the history of Weatherfield. He came across some startling information about Fred Elliott's grandfather Mr. Cartwright. He planned to keep it a secret but Blanche let the cat out of the bag. Ken was furious and in one of his finest moments in the show called Blanche "an interfering old goat!"
David's personal opinion of Ken:
I think it is amazing the way Ken has managed to survive since episode one. It is a fantastic achievement from William Roache. He is a wonderful actor who plays an intellectual character. It's nice to see that there is still a place for his character in the show. I know Ken has a tag of being a bore but I don't find him boring at all. He usually has something worthwhile to say. I hope him and Deirdre remain happy together but at the same time I wouldn't mind seeing Ken and Mike having a few more punch ups! William Roache believes that Ken has another 40 years in him. Let's hope so!
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