Barbara Deakin (née Rodwell) was the aunt of Michael Rodwell.
In September 2014, Michael traced Barbara after finding out from his cousin Bob that his father died twenty years ago from a genetic heart disease. After plucking up the courage to ring her, Barbara arranged to meet Michael in the Rovers at 5.30pm that evening. She told Michael and his partner Gail McIntyre that her mother also died young from a similar cause. Michael was unnerved as his father was the same age as him when he died. Barbara told Michael that his father always loved him, regardless of how far apart they were.
In March 2015, Barbara discovered that Michael's estranged son Gavin had died and she turned up at 8 Coronation Street to break the news to him. However only Gail was at home - she convinced a confused Barbara not to tell Michael as she didn't want to worsen his condition, and confirmed that she would attend the funeral in his place. In reality, Michael had been led to believe that Andy Carver was his son after he'd taken on Gavin's identity, and Gail felt forced to keep the truth from Michael fearing that the shock may kill him.
True to word, Gail attended the funeral service which was held the following week but her hopes of making a swift exit from the church were scuppered when she was intercepted by Barbara, who insisted that she also attended the wake to speak to Susan Meldrum - Michael's ex-wife and mother of Gavin.
List of appearances[]
2014
2015