Bet Lynch
| Bet Lynch | |||||||||
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| Coronation Street character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Julie Goodyear | ||||||||
| Duration | 1966, 1970–1995, 2002–2003 | ||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 568 23 May 1966 |
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| Last appearance | Episode 5636 30 November 2003 |
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| Introduced by | Howard Baker (1966) June Howson (1970) Jane MacNaught (1999) Kieran Roberts (2002, 2003) |
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| Book appearances |
Coronation Street: The Complete Saga Coronation Street: The War Years |
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| Spin-off appearances |
Coronation Street: After Hours (1999) | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Occupation |
Factory worker (1966) Rovers Return Barmaid (1970–1995) Rovers Return Manageress (1985–1987, 1995) Rovers Return landlady (1987–1995) Businesswoman (1999–) |
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| Home | Brighton | ||||||||
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| Father | Patrick Lynch |
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| Mother | Mary Lynch |
| Husband | Alec Gilroy (1987–1992) |
| Sons | Martin Downes |
Elizabeth Theresa "Bet" Lynch (also Gilroy) is a fictional character from the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Julie Goodyear the character first appears onscreen during the episode airing on Monday 23 May 1966. The character returned in 1970 and continued until 1995. She made brief comebacks in 2002 and 2003.
One of the serial's most popular characters ever, Bet first appeared back in May 1966, but did not become a regular until four and half years later in December 1970. In October 1995, after 25 years on-screen, Bet departed following Goodyear's decision to leave, however, she returned in June 2002 in what was intended to be a permanent return for the character. However, Goodyear quit after just two weeks in want was put down to the exhausting work schedule, although several tabloid newspapers reported that Goodyear had been sacked. The following year, Goodyear returned once more temporarily in a storyline that accommodated the return of Beverly Callard as Liz McDonald. She last appeared in November 2003. Bet likes to dress in a way she considers glamorous and has a fondness for leopard print clothes and a beehive hairstyle.
Bet Lynch is born to parents Patrick and Mary Lynch. Her father leaves when she is six months old, and Bet receives a strict Roman Catholic upbringing by her mother, but that doesn't stop her becoming Miss Weatherfield in 1955. When she is sixteen, she meets a man called Joe Mason at a party, who is twelve years older than her. After learning Bet is pregnant, Joe leaves and she gives birth to a baby boy called Martin but her mother insists that the Downes family adopt him.
Bet arrives in Coronation Street in 1966 when working at the PVC factory. She has an affair with her boss John Benjamin and gives Lucille Hewitt (Jennifer Moss) a black eye, because of her jealousy at Lucille's speed of welding. She leaves the area a few weeks later but returns to Coronation Street in 1970 when she bumps into Irma Barlow (Sandra Gough), remembering her from when she worked with her at the factory four years earlier. Later in the year, Bet becomes a junior barmaid in the Rovers Return Inn, appointed by Billy Walker (Ken Farrington). She has numerous relationships with many people, including well-known Street residents such as Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson) and Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs). In 1975, Bet receives news that her 19-year-old son Martin (who she gave up for adoption when he was a baby) had died in a car crash in Northern Ireland, where he had been serving as a soldier. She also finds out that he tracked her down, but was disgusted by her overt sexual nature and left without telling her who he was.
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