Peter Francis Barlow is the son of Ken and Valerie Barlow and father of Simon. He is the current owner of Barlow's Bookies in Rosamund Street and husband of Leanne Battersby.
Peter was born in 1965. He and his twin sister Susan were raised by Ken and Val until Val's death in 1971. Ken initially tried to cope with bringing them up by himself but eventually sent them to Glasgow, into the care of Val's parents Alfred and Edith Tatlock, intending to send for the twins when he had married again. By the time Ken was ready to have his children live with him, Peter and Susan were settled in Glasgow and opted to remain there.
In 1980, Peter joined the Royal Navy and served with them until 2000. He married Jessica Midgeley in 1990 but they separated and later divorced in 2000 after she was unfaithful. After being discharged from the Navy, Peter returned to his native Weatherfield and began to build a life there, buying the Bookies in Rosamund Street and getting engaged to Shelley Unwin. While still with Shelley, Peter became involved with Lucy Richards and married her after finding out she was pregnant with his baby, but he still married an oblivious Shelley and lived a double life until his wives found out. Lucy moved to Australia with Peter's son Simon, and with his life in ruins, Peter moved to Portsmouth.
Peter returned to Weatherfield in 2008 when Lucy died and left Peter all her money in her will, on the condition that he brought up Simon. Peter again bought the Bookies but found the pressures of fatherhood overwhelming, and eventually turned to drink, but quit after burning down his flat and nearly killing Simon. He began a relationship with assistant Leanne Battersby and they got engaged in 2010. Recently, Peter had to fight for custody of Simon when Lucy's affluent father George Wilson saw Peter as a destructive influence on the boy after witnessing Peter fall off the wagon.
Peter's relationship with his father Ken has often been difficult due to Peter's resentment of Ken for never being there for him when he was a youth, and due to their having little in common.
Biography
1965-1971
Peter aged 9, played by Linus Roache, with Ken and Susan.
Peter was born along with his twin sister Susan in April 1965 to parents Ken and Valerie Barlow. In 1968 they all moved to the newly Maisonettes.
In 1971, when Peter and Susan are six-years old, Ken and Valerie planned to take them to Jamaica as Ken was offered a teaching post there, and would be a new life for them. When Peter and Susan were being babysitted by Uncle Albert Tatlock, and while Ken was in the Rovers waiting for Valerie, she was electrocuted and killed in a fire.
1971-2000
Peter aged 13, played by Joseph McKenna
Ken couldn't cope with the twins without Valerie, and later in the year, Valerie's mother Edith Tatlock decided to was best if the twins come up to Glasgow to stay with her and Valerie's father, Alfred Tatlock. Ken accepted as he thought it would be best. Peter and Susan spent their childhood years being raised by their grandparents and Ken came up to visit them time to time, or they would go down to visit them.
Peter aged 21, played by David Lonsdale
Peter visited in 1975 as he missed Ken and wanted to stay with him. Ken learned that Peter had been skipping school.
In 1977, Peter returned again to Coronation Street, presumably this time to stay with Ken. Ken later learned that Peter had failed his exams and decided that Peter should resit them again, this time in Weatherfield. Peter wanted to return to Glasgow, and phoned Edith to come and pick him up, although Ken didn't want to have any of it. Peter later signed up to join the Navy and left.
He returned on leave for his sister Susan's wedding to Mike Baldwin in 1986, and wasn't happy when his father Ken refused to go, as he hated Baldwin. After some home truths towards his father, Ken decided to go, for Susan's sake. Peter left with his girlfriend Jessica Midgeley and they married in 1990.
2000-2007
Peter aged 35, played by Chris Gascoyne, returns to Weatherfield a single man in 2000
After serving 20 years in the Navy, Peter returned to Coronation Street in December 2000, during the time when his father Ken was protesting with the rest of the street to save the Cobbles, as the Council wanted to tarmac it. Peter revealed to his family that he and his wife Jessica had split up, as she had an affair while he was away. In 2001, Peter was the suspect of the rape of Toyah Battersby, but later managed to help catch the real culprit, Phil Simmonds.
Peter accidently let it slip to father Ken that Susan had a teenage son Adam, fathered by Mike Baldwin, but she had claimed that she had an abortion. Mike later found out through Dev Alahan, who was told by Deirdre, who was told by Ken. Susan was visiting Ken at the time, but died in a car crash while trying to flee Weatherfield. Adam however survived, but Peter and Ken felt guilty, and blamed themselves.
Peter looks on as Shelley learns the truth from Lucy about their marriage and son
During 2001, Peter began a relationship with Shelley Unwin, who managed the Rovers Return. However, in September 2002 he began an affair with florist Lucy Richards. When she fell pregnant, he married her, despite still being engaged. The only person to know about his relationship with Lucy was his step-sister and her employee Tracy. When Lucy learned that he was still engaged to Shelley, she threw him out. Lucy gave birth to Simon in July 2003 and slowly began to let Peter have links with her life again. When she discovered that Peter had bigamously married Shelley in July 2003 two weeks after his child Simon was born, she informed Shelley in September 2003 before taking Simon with her for a new life in Australia in November. Peter was thrown out by Shelley and made a hasty departure to Portsmouth following his public shaming.
He was not seen again until he returned for several months in early 2007, concerned about Tracy's volatile relationship with Charlie Stubbs. He was attacked by Charlie, who thought Peter was Tracy's lover, and within a week Tracy had murdered Charlie. In the time leading up to Tracy's trial he stayed in Weatherfield and enjoyed a short relationship with Maria Sutherland. After Tracy was given life imprisonment, he returned to his business in Portsmouth, taking Adam with him.
2008 to present
Peter was next seen in October 2008, returning with Simon after Lucy's death from breast cancer. He hit the bottle, claiming that he had no interest in being a father. When he discovered that he was in line to receive all of Lucy's estate to care for Simon, he had a change of heart but used the money to buy the bookmakers shop from Dan Mason, renaming it Barlow's Bookies. Father and son set up home in the flat above it.
Peter set his sights on Leanne Battersby, but as it became clearer that he had a drink problem, she was reluctant to commit to him. In early 2009, Peter entered rehab in Portsmouth to battle his demons. When he returned in March, he and Leanne started a relationship. It was short lived, as a woman arrived claiming that they had an affair while he was drying out. Leanne left him, and Weatherfield, to live in Leeds.
Simon tries to wake Peter when the flat is set on fire in 2009
Peter's drinking continued, resulting in him accidentally burning the flat down after passing out with a cigarette in his hand. After realising the danger that he put his young son in, Peter vowed to never drink again and began attending Alcoholics Anonymous.
After a fling with Michelle Connor, he resumed his relationship with Leanne when he persuaded her to come back to him in September. They decided to open a bar together in the joinery premises under the viaduct at the end of Coronation Street. Ken was dead set against the plan, but Peter found investment in Lucy's father George Wilson, who was attempting to build a relationship with Simon.
As work began on the bar, Peter's drink problem returned. George tried to use the alcoholism against Peter to get custody of Simon for himself. As Peter tried once more to clean up his act, he berated George and his wife Eve for losing Simon in Blackpool, and warned George to stay away. Due to Peter's ongoing rehabilitation, plans for the bar were abandoned.
Peter and Leanne become engaged in 2010
Despite his personal problems, Peter's relationship with Leanne survived and they became engaged. He even overcame the threat he felt from her ex-husband Nick Tilsley moving back to the Street. When Nick decided to use the premises at the end of the street to open his own bar, The Joinery, Peter encouraged Leanne to take up his offer of a Manager role.
While Leanne and Nick were working hard to get the bar open, Peter grew close to Leanne's friend Carla Connor when he realised that she had a drink problem. He offered support to her and their meetings were kept secret between the two of them. When Leanne asked where he kept going off to, Peter told her that he was supporting a man from AA named Carl. In November, The Joinery opened and Carla became drunk before driving her car home. She was pulled over by police and Peter took her home from the station after she'd been charged with drink driving. Carla made a pass at Peter that night but he told her, while he was tempted, he only wanted to be with Leanne. However, across town after hours at The Joinery, Leanne began an affair with Nick.
Peter and Leanne marry in hospital following the explosion at The Joinery
Nick begged Leanne not to go through with the wedding as he still loved her. When Leanne told Carla what had happened she told her to choose Nick too, although this was largely down to her plan to snare Peter. Leanne chose to go ahead with the wedding and call off her affair with Nick. At Peter's stag party in The Joinery on 6th December 2010, Nick took Peter into the office to tell him the truth but they were interrupted by Ashley Peacock who had come to say his farewells. At this point a massive gas explosion ripped through The Joinery, damaging the viaduct and causing a tram to derail and crash into the Street. Peter was gravely injured but rescued by Nick and Ashley, who died for his efforts. Believing he was close to death, Peter married Leanne in the hospital that night.
Peter survived but his injuries meant that he would have to learn to walk again. He and Leanne moved into No.1 with Ken and Deirdre while he convalesced. Leanne told Peter that she now knew that "Carl" was Carla. On Christmas Day, Peter announced in the Rovers that he intended to be walking by 14th February when he planned to give Leanne the wedding that she deserved. After a week away over New Year, the pressure of his injuries was already beginning to show. He rejected Ken's help and insisted on moving back to the flat, taking a lot of his frustration out on Leanne. Encouraged by a manipulative Nick, Peter began secretly drinking again. Peter later learned of Leanne's affair with Nick from recently released sister Tracy (who overheard Leanne arguing with Carla about it), and believed she was working against him with Nick. He asked a worried Nick to be his best man, which he accepted. On the day of the wedding, Peter managed to walk down the aisle (with a little trouble) but then revealed to a shocked congregation about Leanne and Nick's deceit and wanted to divorce Leanne. He then kicked her out, and later arrived at the destroyed Joinery to confront Nick and threatened to kill him, only letting him survive due to saving him. Later on, Ken convinced Peter he should give Leanne a second chance, and Peter got a hold of her before she boarded her train and they got back together. They then went on a break to discuss and talk over it.
Later in the year Peter began to see Carla and was still attracted to her. When she got drunk and accidently ran over Stella Price (Leanne's long lost mum who had recently returned), he helped cover it up. When Leanne found out, she wanted to go to the police but decided against it after Carla overdosed (which was only known by Peter and Leanne). When Carla was raped by her business partner and fiancé Frank Foster after calling off the wedding, Peter had beaten him up but was then charged and released. Peter began to support Carla after her ordeal, coming under suspicion of Leanne. They began an affair, and planned to get together after Frank was sent down, but he was later let off and getting photos of Peter and Carla together and convinced people they tried to set him up. Leanne was devastated and briefly left the Street much to upset of Simon, and Peter moved Carla in. When Frank managed to con the shares of Underworld out of Carla, using his new girlfriend Jenny Sumner to offer Carla a "better" opportunity, Peter got drunk and announced in Nick's Bistro that he would kill Frank. Coincidentally, Frank was later murdered, and Peter came under suspicion. He couldn't remember what happened that night, but "confessed" as the police were suspicious of Carla. However Leanne discovered he was with Howard Lee, who ran the alcoholics support group, and told the police and Peter was released. The killer turned out to be Frank's mother, Anne.
Throughout the first half of 2012, Peter got involved in a strong feud with Leanne over the custody of Simon. In the end he decided to let Simon stay with Leanne. However when he began to want to see him, Leanne made excuses not to, and Peter wasn't happy about Simon getting along with Nick, who Leanne got back with. When Leanne planned to leave Weatherfield with Simon and Nick for a new life, Peter was strongly against it. He later vanished from the street and was presumed dead, but later picked Simon up from football training, and took him to a B&B. He contacted Carla to meet him at the train station and to bring her, Simon and his passports so they can flee the country. But Carla later brought Leanne who was worried, and Peter deicded to let Simon stay with her, and left with Carla, broken hearted. A feew months later, Peter and Leanne divorced.
In December, he arrived back on the street with Carla just as Leanne and Nick prepared to leave for their second wedding in Las Vegas. Peter announced he was off the alchohol and was back for the Christmas period. Leanne and Nick prosponed the wedding as Simon wanted to remain with Peter. However Carla wanted to return back to Los Angelas as she didn't like being back in Weatherfield.
Personality
Relationships
Background Information
- Peter and Susan were first introduced in 1965 as twins to established characters Ken and Valerie Barlow. When Anne Reid quit the role of Valerie in 1971, where the character was killed off, Peter was written out of the show along with his twin sister Susan. He continued to make recurring appearances in the show, and wasn't a regular character again until December 2000.
- Peter has been played by a total of seven actors during his time in the show. The first actor to play him was John Heannau, from 1965 to 1970. Christopher Dormer then took over for a year but left when his parents emigrated. Peter was written out with Susan after Valerie's death. When the character began making recurring appearances from 1971 to 1986, he was played by a variety of actors. Mark Duncan played the part for a single episode in 1971. Linus Roache, whose father William Roache played Peter's father Ken Barlow, played the role in 1973 and 1975 (he even returned to the series in 2010, playing the long-lost son of Ken, Lawrence Cunningham). In 1977, Joseph McKenna played the role which saw Peter wanting to join the navy (and did off-screen in 1980). When the character was written in as part of Susan's wedding to Ken's rival Mike Baldwin in 1986, he was played by another different actor David Lonsdale.
- After a fourteen year absence, Peter was once again brought back during the Coronation Street live anniversary episode in December 2000, with Chris Gascoyne now playing the part. This time Peter was brought back as a regular character, the first time since 1971. The character was involved in numerous storylines such as the death of his twin sister Susan, and a bigamy storyline in 2003. Mr Gascoyne quit the role in 2003, but returned again in 2007 briefly when involved in a storyline when Tracy Barlow was being sent down for the murder of boyfriend Charlie Stubbs.
- Peter was written back into the show in 2008 again in a regular role, with Chris Gascoyne still playing the role. The return saw Peter's battle with alchohol, and also raising his son Simon Barlow, whose mum Lucy died off-screen (and was involved in the bigamy storyline, where Peter married both her and Shelley Unwin). The character also was involved with Leanne Battersby, who became a mother figure to Simon. His storylines since his return involved getting back onto the alchohol time to time, nearly losing Simon to George Wilson (Anthony Valentine) and his recent involvement in Carla Connor (Alison King), who began to suffer from alchoholism. Another storyline for Coronation Street 50th Anniversary saw Peter be confined to a wheelchair after a tram crash, and spent the next few months learning to walk again and also discovering Leanne's affair with Nick Tilsley (Ben Price).
See also