Suzi's Fascinating Facts #2: A Biography of Bet Lynch
Suzi Snook
"Bet withdrawal".
Cheers,
Suzi
Vancouver
A biography of Elizabeth (Bet) Theresa Lynch Gilroy,
compiled by Suzi Snook (no, it wasn't copied from a book)
Elizabeth (Bet) Theresa Lynch was born 4 May 1940. Her parents were
Patrick and Mary Lynch, although her father took off when
Bet was 6 months old. She received a strict Catholic upbringing from her
mother in their home on Clegg Street in Weatherfield. However, when
Bet was 16 she met Joe Mason at a party. He was 12 years older than
she. Bet got drunk at the party, and got pregnant. Joe disappeared
immediately upon hearing the news. She gave birth to Martin Andrew, and
almost immediately her mother arranged to have the authorities take away
the child and put him up for adoption; when they came, Bet was helpless to
prevent them as her mother had locked her in a room. Six weeks later,
Martin was adopted by a family named Downes.
From that point in time until 1966, there is no information that I know of
concerning what she did or where she lived, other than the fact that she
had relationships and sexual involvement with a string of men.
On 23 May 1966, Bet Lynch first showed up in the street. She took
a plastic welding job at Elliston's PVC factory on Coronation Street,
which was located on the side of the street currently containing the
even-numbered
residences. She had an affair with her boss, the foreman John Benjamin.
The factory was demolished in 1968. At some point, probably then, Bet
took a job in a launderette.
In approx. September 1970, the fact of Bet's illegitimate son was
revealed. Three months later, Bet was hired on as junior barmaid
at The Rovers Return by Billy Walker. Billy was the somewhat
ne'er-do-well son of Annie Walker, who became the Rovers' landlady
in 1937 or 1939 (there's conflicting information). Annie Walker ruled
The Rovers with an iron hand. She thought Bet to be cheap and tacky
and tarty. However, Billy hired Bet while Annie Walker was out shopping.
Annie wanted Bet sacked, but by the end of the first week it was clear
that Bet's presence was increasing business, so Bet was allowed to
stay. Betty, who was already a barmaid at The Rovers, did not like
Bet at the beginning, either.
Bet wore very gaudy, very noticeable earrings, usually large and dangly,
pretty much up until the time she married Alec Gilroy (see later). She became
notorious for her earrings. Viewers of the show sent in thousands and
thousands of pairs of earrings to Bet during those years.
In 1970, Bet had a relationship with a dubious character named
Frank Bradley. In 1971, she had a relationship with a footballer
names Eddie Duncan. Approx. July 1973 Bet was mugged and
ended up in hospital. Approx. July 1974 Martin Downes, her son,
shows up in The Rovers looking for his mother, Bet. Once he
observed her, however, he thought she was vulgar, and left the
street without identifying himself to her.
In early 1975, Bet had an affair with Len Fairclough (who would
eventually marry Rita). However, she ended the affair because
Len refused to live with her. At about this time, Bet receives news
that Martin, who has been a soldier posted to the Troubles in
Ulster, has been killed there in a car crash. She had never even
got the chance to meet him. She was absolutely
devastated. She became horribly depressed, unable to cope, and
somewhat catatonic. Eddie Yeats, who was a loveable, kind-hearted,
slightly dodgy binman, took care of her as a friend and helped her
snap out of it.
In 1976, Mike Baldwin bought No. 5 Coronation Street and moved
into the street. He and Bet started an affair, and in approx. November
1976, Bet moved into No. 5, ostensibly as Mike's "housekeeper".
However, Mike had a mistress in London, with whom he stayed on
the weekends. Her name was Anne Woodley, a divorcee who had
two sons. Anne showed up at No. 5 one day, discovered Bet there,
went ballistic at Mike, and then Mike kicked Bet out of No. 5.
Or, at least he tried to. Eventually, she had to leave when Mike
sold the house in approx. March 1977, and she moved into the
flat over the corner shop. She occasionally worked in the shop.
At some point, approx. April 1978 I believe, she had to leave the
corner shop flat. I can find no information about the location of
her next flat, but it wasn't in the street.
Approx. September 1980, Bet lost her purse. Someone called
claiming to have found it, and requested to meet with her to
return it. While Bet was out at what turned out to be a non-existent
meeting, her flat was burgled and completely cleaned out. At some
point, I believe here, she rented the corner shop flat again. At this
time Alf owned the shop; he didn't want to rent the flat, but somehow
she talked him into it.
In 1980, Bet had a relationship with a lorry driver named Dan
Johnson. In 1982, she had a one-night stand with -- you've got
to be kidding -- Jack Duckworth! In 1984, Betty Turpin took in a lodger,
a policeman named Tony Cunliffe. Bet fell for him, but he dumped
her for Rita, who in turn dumped him soon afterwards.
In 1983, Annie Walker retired. Her son Billy took over the licence
of The Rovers. He was involved in various dodgy things and
screwed up frequently. He was the landlord for less than a year;
he got in trouble with the brewery, and the tenancy was purchased
back by Newton & Ridley.
The brewery decided to appoint a manager rather than sell the
licence. Sarah Ridley appointed Bet manageress. Bet was
flabbergasted, but ecstatic. She moved out of the corner shop
flat into The Rovers approx. February 1985. Soon after, on
holiday she has a fling with a barman named Frank Mills.
Approx. June 1986 a fire gutted The Rovers. It appeared to have
been caused by some jury-rigged attempt at electrical repair by
Jack Duckworth, a fuse I think. Bet was sleeping upstairs when the fire broke
out, and nearly died. She was saved by Kevin Webster. The brewery
decided that it wasn't worth rebuilding The Rovers, and decided it
should be demolished. Fortunately, they relented, and rebuilt, renovated,
and redecorated it. The grand re-opening was on 13 August 1986.
The Graffiti Club had opened across Rosamund Street from The Rovers
in September 1983. At the time of the fire, Alec Gilroy was running it,
and he enjoyed a significant increase in business while The Rovers
was out of commission. Once The Rovers was re-opened, he started
nosing around, checking out the competition. This is how he got to
know Bet. Actually, business at The Rovers was down, and eventually
Bet booked some acts represented by Alec to try and increase the
Rovers' business. Alec became attracted to Bet; Bet tolerated Alec.
In the Spring of 1987, Newton & Ridley decided they wanted to sell
The Rovers' licence. This meant that Bet was out unless she could
purchase the tenancy herself. She required something in the order
of 12 to 15 thousand pounds to do so, and she was turned down for
a bank loan. Because Alec was attracted to her, he lent her the
required cash. She purchased the tenancy and became landlady.
However, financially, things turned out to be very tight and very
difficult. Bet had trouble coming up with enough money to make
repayments to Alec; she panicked, and ran away to Torremolinos
without telling anyone.
The brewery found out, and Alec made a deal with them: they
agreed to make him temporary manager of the Rovers so that
he could mind his investment. No one heard anything from Bet
for 3 months. When she finally contacted the brewery, Alec
flew there to find her. She was working as a waitress in a cafe
catering to British tourists. She felt humiliated, hopeless, and like
her life was over. He felt strongly for her, realized that he loved
her, and proposed. In so doing, he offered her both marriage and
the opportunity to be in charge at the Rovers again, this time as the
wife of the landlord. She would be able to go back to Weatherfield
without losing face or status. She accepted, and they returned to
Weatherfield. About a month later, on 9 September 1987, they were married.
In approx. March 1988, Bet was shocked to discover she was pregnant.
Alec was dumfounded by the news as well: they were both absolutely
gobstruck. However, they fairly quickly adapted to the idea. Tragically,
one week later just as they were starting to look forward to the possibility,
Bet suffered a miscarriage. They both took it very hard, but each put
on a public face and perservered.
No major events or developments really until 19 July 1991. Alec was informed
his daughter Sandra and her husband had been killed in a car crash.
Alec and Bet became guardians of their 14 year old daughter, Victoria Arden.
About a year later, approx. September 1992, Alec was offered a job
in Southampton, overseeing the entertainment acts on the ships
of Sunglobe Cruises. Bet and Alec sold the tenancy back to the
brewery and prepared to move to Southampton.
At the very last minute, Bet realized that The Rovers was her whole life, and
she couldn't leave. Alec went on to Southampton alone, and Newton &
Ridley took Bet on as manageress again: a step down from being
landlady, but at least she still had a job and a home.
Things remained fairly quiet for Bet until in 1994 she met
truck driver Charlie Whelan. They became involved in a
fairly rocky relationship, and Charlie moved into the Rovers
with Bet in July 1994. Bet was quite hurt when a few
months later he ran off to Germany with Tanya Pooley, a
barmaid at the Rovers.
Bet remained manageress there until October 1995. Once again,
as in 1987, the brewery wanted to sell the Rovers; however,
this time they wanted to sell of the entire pub, not just the
tenancy, and Bet would need to purchase the pub if she
wanted to keep her home and her job. However, she
could not come up with the needed 67,000 pounds the
brewery was requesting. Hurt that none of her friends
or family would help her come up with the money, and with
all her wordly possessions in a couple of suitcases, she
left the pub, the street, and the people who had been
virtually her entire world for nearly 30 years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suzi Snook "If you can't stay young, you
Vancouver, British Columbia can at least stay immature."
Canada ... Red Green
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yvonne Dionne
> A biography of Elizabeth (Bet) Theresa Lynch Gilroy,
> compiled by Suzi Snook (no, it wasn't copied from a book)
>
> Elizabeth (Bet) Theresa Lynch was born 4 May 1940.
Coolio!
I was born May 4 too (1961). Taurus.
Me and Bet.
Closerthanthis!
Suzi, Thank you so much for the great history. I can't believe Bet and
Jack had a quickie. Eeeeew. It was great to follow one character through
time like this. Thanks for your work.
Yvonne
Julie Joyce
>
> Suzi Snook (ssn...@direct.ca) writes:
>
> > A biography of Elizabeth (Bet) Theresa Lynch Gilroy,
> > compiled by Suzi Snook (no, it wasn't copied from a book)
> >
> > Elizabeth (Bet) Theresa Lynch was born 4 May 1940.
>
>
> I was born May 4 too (1961). Taurus.
>
> Me and Bet.
>
> Closerthanthis!
>
> Suzi, Thank you so much for the great history. I can't believe Bet and
> Jack had a quickie. Eeeeew. It was great to follow one character through
> time like this. Thanks for your work.
>
> Yvonne
Bet a Taurus!!!! I'd never thought of it before but she has every
Taurean characteristic going! Neat!!!!!
JJ in Kanata, Ontario
Karen Beattie
remember what led to it. I "think" it was three or four years ago.
Paul Baker
>
>I seem to recall Bet having a one night stand with Don Brennan. I can't
>remember what led to it. I "think" it was three or four years ago.
I remember that too - it was when he was still with Ivy - Bet was in
"rescue" and "confidante" mode to most of the members of the cast
at this point. The episode ended with him going upstairs to her
bedroom, and her huge clawed hand sweeping across a large panel of light
switches to turn them off. The viewers were disgusted.
I think this was just before Don became totally obsessed with Denise
and started phoning/stalking her. On another tack, there seemed to
be lots of "stalking/obsession" story-lines around at that time -
maybe Hollywood's influence (Single White Female etc) had something
to do with it. We had Don stalking Denise, Mad Carmel being obsessed with
Martin Platt (I know, I know), Joe being obsessed with Sally Webster
(I know!), even Derek was recently stalked by the gnome. Thankfully, this
trend has died down since then (if we discount Jim stalking Liz - and I
hope _that_ plotline ends pretty soon because it's becoming very stale).
Let's have someone become obsessed with Josie - and send her parcels
of Timotei through the post. Maybe the writers could make Emily go
mad again - she would be perfect, especially as Josie took her job.
Emily could start dressing like Josie, talking like her, pulling those
miserable faces - stealing her credit cards and keys. Imagine how
horrified Don would be if her came home to find Emily in his bed,
telling him that she'd washed his socks and that a caserole was in the
oven. I know it sounds prepostrous, but if someone can become
fascinated by Martin Platt, anything is possible!
Paul Baker
Mike Plowman
>Let's have someone become obsessed with Josie - and send her parcels
>of Timotei through the post. Maybe the writers could make Emily go
>mad again - she would be perfect, especially as Josie took her job.
>Emily could start dressing like Josie, talking like her, pulling those
>miserable faces - stealing her credit cards and keys. Imagine how
>horrified Don would be if her came home to find Emily in his bed,
>telling him that she'd washed his socks and that a caserole was in the
>oven. I know it sounds prepostrous, but if someone can become
>fascinated by Martin Platt, anything is possible!
>Paul Baker
Paul,
Thank you a million times for the above! You have brought laughter
into an office of four very grumpy and tired people. It's late, our
server has crashed, we can't get the backup tape to install, the
General Manager is calling us every name under the sun. To cap it all,
I've had to miss tonights episode:-(
That would quite honestly be a bloody superb storyline. Ir really
would work.
I hope Mr XXXXX the lurker is reading and taking notes from this
excellent new storyliner!
Mike Plowman
Bicester
UK
Roger Gibbins
: I seem to recall Bet having a one night stand with Don Brennan. I can't
You are right. It was around the time Don was harrassing Denise.
If the letters look trembly it's because my computer has been in
the shop for a week. They said I had a corrupt power board. I
think they were having me on. Anyway I suffered severe
withdrawal but the effects are easing as I type.
Isabel
"Heard" in the newsgroups. "It's been 5 years since I was in a
woman and that was the statue of Liberty" Woody Allen
Robyn Ansley
her in 1983, and she quickly became my favorite CS
character. I miss her more every day. No matter how
funny the Duckies are, it just doesn't seem to be right
not having Bet behind the bar pulling pints.
Robyn in Georgia
Monica Wilson
I see a few posts mentioning this bio, but it never showed up on my
newsserver! But then, it has been a bit haywire of late!
Would some kind soul repost or e-mail it me.
Thanks
Monica Wilson
Toronto
_________________________________________
Sent via TVOntario's Public Online Service
Dianne Fishman
Suzi Snook
>Karen Beattie (kbea...@ucs.ubc.ca) wrote:
>: I seem to recall Bet having a one night stand with Don Brennan. I can't
>: remember what led to it. I "think" it was three or four years ago.
>
>You are right. It was around the time Don was harrassing Denise.
>
>If the letters look trembly it's because my computer has been in
>the shop for a week. They said I had a corrupt power board. I
>think they were having me on. Anyway I suffered severe
>withdrawal but the effects are easing as I type.
>
>Isabel
Actually, it was *after* he harassed Denise. The
horrified look on Bet's face was priceless when
Denise confided in her, and Bet realized exactly
what sort of person with whom she'd recently been
intimate.
Suzi
Vancouver