Bet Lynch

Template:Coronation Street character Elizabeth Theresa "Bet" Lynch (previously Gilroy) is a fictional character on the soap opera Coronation Street. She was played by actress Julie Goodyear in 1966 and then again from 1970 until 1995. She has made several brief comebacks since this time, in 1999, 2002 and 2003.

Early years in the Street

Bet first appeared in 1966 as a factory worker who gave Lucille Hewitt a black eye. She quickly departed with the explanation she had moved away (actress Patricia Phoenix was rumored to have told Goodyear to return to the programme when she gained a little more acting experience).

Bet returned in 1970, when she shared a flat with Irma Barlow, who put a down payment on it with the help of Len Fairclough and Ray Langton. Bet began work as a barmaid at the Rover's Return. The earlier incident with Lucille was not mentioned again and the two became good friends.

Relationships

At first, Bet Lynch worked under Rovers Return landlady Annie Walker, whom she clashed with regularly. Annie fashioned herself as refined and posh, and Bet liked to dress in provocative clothing, which Annie thought too tarty. Whenever Bet would have frustrations, either with Annie or with the world in general, she would turn to confidante and fellow barmaid Betty Turpin for support. The two women forged a friendship which would endure to this day.

A liberal woman in the mould of Elsie Tanner, Bet wanted a man to sweep her off her feet but always ended up sexually involved with bad prospects who were usually involved with other women (or married). She liked to flirt with men and receive attention from them, which was criticized by Annie Walker (and less frequently, Hilda Ogden and Ena Sharples). In fact, her son Martin, whom she had given up for adoption, came looking for her in 1974, but was repulsed by her overt sexual nature and left without informing her of his identity. He died in a car crash the following year at the age of 19.

Taking over the Rovers Return

After Annie retired in 1983, the tenancy of the Rovers passed to her son Billy, who didn't really want the responsibility of of running the pub and got in trouble with the police for holding lock-ins after hours. Eventually the brewery, Newton and Ridley, tired of this and made Billy an offer he couldn't refuse. After buying the Rovers, they advertised the post of manager. Bet applied, but didn't believe she had much of a chance as the brewery normally favoured married couples. It therefore came as a shock when she was offered the job, as the regulars had all signed a petition insisting that she was offered the position. In 1985 Bet was installed as Newton & Ridley's first unmarried landlady. Around this time she also nicknamed her infamously large breasts Newton and Ridley.

Marriage to Alec Gilroy

After nearly two decades in search of the right man, Bet married Alec Gilroy in 1987, but even the wedding day was fraught with tension, as the two famously shared sarcastic banter while they were before the vicar. Shortly afterwards, Bet became pregnant, but had a miscarriage. Bet and Alec ran the Rovers together, and were married until 1992, when he left Weatherfield to manage entertainment acts for a cruise liner. Bet was to go, but couldn't leave the Street and instead separated from Alec.

One of Bet's defining trademark attributes was her platinum blonde beehive hair piece. It was voted the worst haircut in soap history in 2007.

As actress Julie Goodyear got older, Bet's physical appearance matured. No longer the one to wear miniskirts and wear her hair long, she adopted a somewhat infamous wardrobe in that many of her outfits were leopard skin print, which to this day is one of Bet's defining attributes. As Goodyear's hair turned white, she also started to bleach her hair and style it in a beehive fashion. In a survey published in the Manchester Evening News in April 2007, Bet's beehive was voted the worst haircut in soap history.

Departure

After the Rovers Return fire, she would continue on as landlady until 1995, when she could not generate the money required to buy the pub from Newton & Ridley, who were intent on selling. When she asked her friends for loans, they all declined, and she abruptly left the street, thinking nobody cared for her. In an ironic twist of fate, Alec returned to the Street in 1996 and helped run the Rovers with the new owners, Jack & Vera Duckworth.

Visiting Vicky in Brighton

Bet's subsequent history was later revealed in a spin-off story in 1999, when she was seen visiting her former step-granddaughter, Vicky, in Brighton, and succeeding in helping Vicky into a successful second marriage as well as coming to the rescue of her ailing business.

Brief comebacks to the Street

Bet returned to the Street in 2002 in a blaze of publicity and was expected to stay, but the actress changed her mind, apparently suffering from overwork, and her sudden departure had to be explained away in the script. She was seen again in 2003, in a special storyline set in Blackpool, when she helped Jim McDonald escape from prison. After a whirlwind romance, she was set to marry former brewery boss, Cecil Newton, but he collapsed and died before the ceremony.