Derek Whitely

Derek Whitely was British bank clerk who came to Bet Lynch's rescue when she was stranded in Majorca in October 1974. Bet had gone to Majorca with seven others from Weatherfield and, excited by her new romance with property developer Martin Barrett, she missed her flight home so that she could remain with him. Unfortunately, Martin only saw Bet as a bit of holiday fun, and so he dumped her the moment he saw that she was still around. Bet had no money and nowhere to go, and when she met Derek she was crying in a bar. Derek provided a sympathetic ear and after listening to her story he gave her the £70 plane fare to Manchester.

A few weeks later, just after returning from Majorca, Derek turned up at the Rovers Return looking for Bet. With his suit-and-tie combo and shy demeanour, he wasn't Bet's usual type, and so the purpose of his visit aroused the curiosity of the regulars. When Bet arrived, she pretended to have just flown in from Majorca, telling everyone what a great time she had in order to save face. The sight of Derek sent her crashing back down to Earth - at first she assumed that he had come for the money, but he told her he didn't want it back and that he had come to ask her out. As she listened to Derek talk about the spark they had in the hour they spent together in Majorca, and the life he hated of living alone and having no friends, Bet was downbeat, as she felt no attraction to him at all and knew that if she went out with him, he would want to see her again, so she would have to hurt him. After stepping out for a moment, Bet returned with £70 (borrowed from Billy Walker) with which she paid Derek back the money, telling him at the same time that she didn't want to go out with him. Bet didn't look at Derek during their last conversation and had to make him accept the money, after which he left without saying another word.