2. BLANCHE HUNT (377 VOTES)
Duration: 1974-1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1996, 1997, 1998-2009
Played by: Maggie Jones
2012 character poll position (women): 1
Apart from original battleaxe Ena Sharples, nobody has filled the battleaxe role better than Blanche on the cobbles.
Mother to Deirdre, Blanche had her first stint on the street in the 1970s. A corset maker, she quickly made her mark as nobody to mess with when she slapped Ray Langton for mistreating Deirdre. She was later instrumental in planning Deirdre’s non-wedding to Billy Walker and clashed with his mother Annie. After stints behind the Rovers bar and the corner shop counter, she was whisked away by Dave Smith to run a country club in 1976. She would visit the street in 1977 (for the birth of granddaughter Tracy), 1978 (to console Deirdre during her marriage break-up to Ray), 1981 (for Deirdre and Ken’s wedding), 1996 (Tracy’s wedding) and 1997 (Deirdre and Jon Lindsay’s engagement party).
In 1998, she visited the Barlows once more but decided to stay put and moved into Albert Tatlock’s old room. Thus began Blanche’s tenure as one of Corrie’s classic characters.
Alongside gossipy ally Norris Cole, Blanche would pass comment on the goings-on on the street and didn’t care if residents heard it or not. And it was her family who would suffer the most. Ken and Deirdre had to have elephant skin to deal with Blanche’s acid remarks. But she was as fierce as a lioness when it came to defending the family.
My favourite Blanchisms have to be her condemnation of the Royal Mail and the classic AA meeting.
Blanche went on holiday to Portugal in 2010 and sadly passed away there.
Were you a fan of Blanche? Should she be No.1? Have you got a favourite Blanche moment?
Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.
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