Tracy Barlow’s been robbed. She didn’t even get nominated for villain of the year at the British Soap Awards, an accolade that went to Hollyoaks’s Patrick Blake. Sure, Chester’s chisel-jawed headmaster spent the past 12 months in a bullying, violent spiral of evil, but he’s a mere beginner. When it comes to being really, really bad, Tracy has devoted her life to the cause.
The red-lipped siren of the cobbles has murdered, married and manipulated her way through Coronation Street for nearly 40 years. Her latest exploits involve an unsuccessful plot to gain control of The Rovers Return by shagging landlady Liz McDonald’s lover Tony into submission.
Maybe Tracy (played by Kate Ford since 2002) let her guard down earlier this year when she crawled out of a minibus crash and saved the life of sworn-enemy Carla, her boss at the local knicker factory. But when Carla went on to stage a last-minute buyout of the Rovers to prevent Tracy getting a share, the latter’s softer side was put to bed. It’s time for revenge, and a glorious week-long post-watershed rampage.
Here’s why La Barlow is the best soap villain around:
She’s an accomplished killer
One of Tracy’s most memorable moments was killing cheating boyfriend Charlie Stubbs with a metal sculpture during a lapdance. And now she’s brandishing a lighter, hell bent on getting revenge on Carla, Liz and anyone else who has wronged her.
Her insults are as deadly as her scowls
Tracy, who is great when she’s sulking, at her best when she’s angry, can’t even mention Liz without calling her a “nagging, spongeing, life-sapping old tart”. Or Carla without pointing out her “six inches of makeup”. The spirit of her acid-tongued grandmother, Blanche Hunt, lives on.
She thinks she’s the Messiah
One of “Tracy luv’s” finest moments has to be swanning back on to the cobbles after her early release from life imprisonment for murdering Charlie. “It’s the most exciting new arrival for 2,000 years,” she proclaimed.
Even true love doesn’t soften her
Her wedding to Carla’s handsome brother Rob was a full-on fairytale affair. “I want everyone to cop an eye of our fabulousness,” she ordered as she rode around the grounds of a country house in a horse-drawn carriage. Romantic? Not really as she battered Rob’s sister Carla for exposing him as Tina’s killer on her big day.
She’s a wolf mother
In her daughter Amy, Tracy is proud to have bred a mini-Kim Kardashian. To her doting mother, Amy can do no wrong. Well, “doting” is probably taking it a bit far, as Tracy once tried to sell her for £15,000.
Feuds? She rules them
Much of Tracy’s beef is based on good old-fashioned jealousy. Carla has a booming business and the chance to go shopping in town, Liz has a position of power as landlady of The Rovers and the late Tina not only matched her on the gob front but also once kissed Rob. Tracy’s finest ever feud was with the wife of Steve, her greatest love, which culminated in her dangling “Barren” Karen MacDonald off a rooftop one rainy night.
Not to mention catfights
Maria (who tampered with her man), Carla (who ruined her life by pointing out her groom was a killer) and even Gail (who she tried to frame for murder) have felt her hair-pulling ways. Even Hayley once slapped her for taunting her about not being a real woman.
There’s no low she won’t stoop to
Tracy even pretended to sleep with Roy for a 1p bet. Yes, sweet, innocent Roy with his crumbly face and shopping bag.
She knows how to drop a bombshell
Never has Liz’s face looked more crushed than when Tracy told her she’d been having a fling with her man. “Let’s just say that the stockroom has seen more than its fair share of action,” she revealed, alluding to her and Tony’s penchant for afternoon delight in the back of Barlow’s Buys. A mascara-ruining triumph.
