Adam Barlow is the son of the late Susan Barlow and Mike Baldwin, and the estranged husband of Sarah. He is a solicitor based at Barlow Legal Services in Victoria Street, Weatherfield.
Adam was raised in Glasgow in isolation from virtually all of his family. Following a bitter separation from Mike, Susan had gone north of the border and given birth in secret, with her brother Peter being the only one to know that she had a son. In 2001, Mike learned of his existence and started hounding Susan for access. When Susan died in a car crash, Mike was awarded custody of Adam, who returned to his private school in Glasgow as a boarder.
Adam left school in 2005 to get involved with Mike's knicker factory, Underworld. Mike's death just a year later propelled Adam into a management position, with a 40% share of the business, however his relationship with his half-brother and co-owner Danny Baldwin was fractious at best and at the earliest opportunity he sold up to Liam Connor. In 2007, Adam left for Portsmouth to run Peter's new betting shop.
Six years later, now a practising solicitor in Canada, Adam became addicted to prescription drugs. His granddad Ken Barlow lived with him for a year to help him through his troubles. Adam reciprocated in 2016 by moving back to Weatherfield and supporting Ken after he suffered a stroke, living with his uncle Daniel Osbourne at 15a Coronation Street. The following year, he set up Barlow Legal Services with Todd Grimshaw, later employing Imran Habeeb and Dee-Dee Bailey.
Like his father, Adam has occasionally lied and cheated to get where he is but has managed to stay on the right side of the law. He married Sarah Platt in 2020. Adam ended their relationship in 2023 when he found out the baby they were expecting was actually Damon Hay's after Sarah was unfaithful to him. Moving out of their marital home, Adam now lodges with co-worker Dee-Dee at 15a Coronation Street.
Biography
1988-2001: Early life
When Susan Barlow became pregnant in 1987 she, after days of misery, went to London for three days, revealing on her return that she had had an abortion. The incident caused Susan and Mike's relationship to fall apart and Susan moved to Newcastle with the secret that she was in fact still pregnant. Adam was later born in May 1988.
2001-2004: Mother's death
Adam's existence was kept a secret from Mike and the Barlows until January 2001 when Susan's twin brother Peter revealed to their father Ken that Susan had a secret. Susan came down from Glasgow to Weatherfield a few days later and introduced Adam to the family. Word soon got out to Mike and he demanded to be able to see Adam, though Susan was firmly against the idea. She decided to run away with Adam but died in a car crash on the way there, while Adam experienced minor injuries.
Following Susan's death, a custody battle was waged between Ken and Mike, with Mike eventually being awarded custody. Adam was unhappy at his new school so Mike agreed to let him return to his old boarding school in Glasgow, Borthwick Hill. Adam visited his family a few times later in 2001 and in 2002 and 2003.
2005-2007: Underworld
Adam quit his school in May 2005 and landed a job in his father's factory Underworld. Mike died in April 2006 and Adam conflicted with his half-brother Danny Baldwin over who would inherit Mike's assets. Adam was furious to discover that in Mike's will most of his belongings, including the largest share of Underworld, were to be given to Danny. However, Danny and his girlfriend Leanne Battersby had actually hidden the most up-to-date will from Mike's family and when Danny broke up with her, she gave the correct will to Adam. Adam reached a compromise with Danny and they both became co-proprietors of the factory, although there were frequent disputes between the brothers. However later that year, Adam sold his share of Underworld to Liam Connor, to the dismay of his family, who felt he was throwing away what his father gave to him.
In early 2007, Adam tried to support his aunt Tracy Barlow after she was arrested and put on trial for the murder of Charlie Stubbs, though Tracy was ultimately convicted of murder in April. Shortly after the trial, Adam's uncle Peter offered him a job in Portsmouth opening a betting shop which he accepted. Adam and Peter left a few days later.
2007-2016: New life
In October 2008, Peter discovered his ex-wife Lucy had recently died of breast cancer and he was subsequently given custody of their five-year-old son Simon. Peter and Simon went to stay with Ken and his wife Deirdre in Weatherfield to get support, and Adam continued to run the bookies in Peter's absence, later on becoming security systems salesman in the city.
In December that year Peter returned to Portsmouth to work out some things with Adam, however, the following month Adam informed Deirdre that Peter was on the booze and in rehab.
Adam then completed an undergraduate degree at Edinburgh University from 2009 to 2012 where he bedded a succession of women, enjoying a longer term fling with Lydia Chambers who viewed the young charmer as being the love of her life. She was devastated when he ruthlessly dumped her when she fell pregnant, though in March 2022 she informed him that she had aborted the child. In the meantime, he moved to Toronto and attended Canadian law school for three years, and a further eight to twelve months’ experiential training before being called to the bar as a qualified lawyer in 2016. During that period, in July 2013, grandfather Ken travelled there to support him after suffering a shock collapse at work. Adam eventually recovered from his undisclosed illness and Ken returned to Weatherfield in August 2014.
2016-: Return
In November 2016, Adam flew back to England a few weeks after Peter informed him that Ken had suffered a stroke. He arrived in Weatherfield, where he took some whisky from the office at Underworld, resulting in a conflict with the factory owners, Aidan Connor and Johnny Connor. After reuniting with Peter and Tracy, he went to see Ken in hospital where he met his uncle Daniel Osbourne for the first time. Daniel and Adam stayed with Ken at his home until they moved into 15a Coronation Street, with Daniel's new girlfriend Sinead Tinker tagging along in March 2017. That same month, Ken was attacked by an unknown assailant; Adam was suspecting to be the attacker, but Adam himself suspected it was Daniel, as the pair did not seem to get along. He bundled Daniel in the boot of his car and demanded to tell him the truth, but Daniel instead told Adam that Ken had manipulated Sinead into aborting their baby. This caused Adam to report Sinead to the police, which caused Daniel to angrily threaten him. Adam's suspicions about Daniel being Ken's attacker were proven right, and Daniel was cut off from the family. However, after Daniel had a recreational drug overdose, Adam realized his uncle was suffering from a lot of issues from the past and made up with him.
By 2019 Adam had passed his OSCE exams and was now fully qualified to practise as a solicitor in the UK.
Personality
Relationships
Background information
Adam's existence is that of a retcon. Although off-screen, Susan didn't fake an abortion so she could leave Mike, she "aborted" her child as she wasn't prepared for motherhood. Also 2001 seems to hint that Ken never had contact with Susan after 1987 so wasn't aware of Adam, however, this is untrue as he still visited Susan off-screen in that time. Susan was said to be present at Peter's wedding in 1990.
Adam was introduced in January 2001, played by Iain De Caestecker, as part of a storyline which involved a custody battle between long-time rivals Ken Barlow and Mike Baldwin. Although Adam left the programme after a few months, De Caestecker reprised the role for a few episodes in 2002 and 2003.
Adam returned as a full-time character in December 2004, now played by Samuel Robertson, who was credited as Sam Robertson during this stint. Robertson left the role in 2007 with his last on-screen appearance taking place in April of that year.
Adam's shock collapse in 2013 was written in to accompany the absence of William Roache, who was facing trial for child sex charges of which he was later cleared.
It was announced in July 2016 that Adam would be re-introduced to the programme later that year alongside Peter Barlow and Daniel Osbourne, as new producer Kate Oates wanted to strengthen the Barlow family. In September it was confirmed that Samuel Robertson would reprise the role of Adam. Adam returned onscreen the following November as a full-time character.
First and last lines
"Hi." (First line, to grandfather Ken)
Appendices
(To be completed)
List of addresses
Address | Duration |
---|---|
Glasgow | 3rd May 1988 to 11th February 2001 |
1 Coronation Street | 12th February 2001 to 11th March 2001 |
No. 4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays | 11th March 2001 to 29th April 2001 |
Borthwick Hill, Glasgow | 29th April 2001 to 16th May 2005 |
No.4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays | 16th May 2005 to 9th January 2006 |
Portsmouth | 20th April 2007 to c.2013 |
Toronto, Canada | c.2013 to mid November 2016 |
1 Coronation Street | 16th November 2016 to late November 2016 |
15a Coronation Street | late November 2016 to 16th September 2019 |
Rovers Return Inn | 16th September 2019 to 6th May 2020 |
8 Coronation Street | 6th May 2020 to 12th August 2020 |
7 Redbank Apartments | 12th August 2020 to 31st July 2023 |
15a Coronation Street | 2nd August 2023 to present |
Employment history
Role | Institution | Duration |
---|---|---|
Owner/Solicitor | Barlow Legal Services | July 2017 to present |