Bet Lynch

Bet Lynch
Julie Goodyear as Bet in 2002
Coronation Street character
Portrayed by	Julie Goodyear
Introduced by	Howard Baker (1966) June Howson (1970) Jane MacNaught (1999) Kieran Roberts (2002, 2003)
Duration	1966, 1970–95, 1999, 2002, 2003
First appearance	23 May 1966
Last appearance	30 November 2003
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Date of birth	4 May 1940
Home	Brighton
Occupation	Barmaid (1970–95) Pub landlady (1985–95)
Family Husband Alec Gilroy (1987–2002) Father Patrick Lynch Mother Mary Lynch Brothers Lenny Lynch Sisters Tina Lynch Sons Martin Downes

Elizabeth Theresa "Bet" Lynch (previously Gilroy) is a fictional character from the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. The character is no longer part of current storylines. Portrayed by actress Julie Goodyear the character first appears onscreen during the episode airing on 23 May 1966. The character returned in 1970 and continued until 1995. She made brief comebacks in 1999, 2002 and 2003.

Bet strikes out on her own at a young age, choosing a life of factory and bar work and living in digs in Weatherfield. She is out to enjoy herself and felt most at home behind a bar, where she lavishes in the attention of men, although she only tends to attract men who treat her badly or use her. At sixteen she gives birth to a son, Martin, but gives him up for adoption as she isn't ready to be a mother and the father, Joe Mason, has fled after hearing she was pregnant.

Most of Bet's key relationships are with men, and over time she becomes more cynical about their intentions, with a jaded outlook on life but usually able to hide any pain behind a smile. She likes to dress in a way she considered glamorous, and has a fondness for leopard print clothes and a beehive hairstyle. There has been speculation about Goodyear reprising her role for a one-off episode for Betty Williams' funeral, however nothing has been confirmed.

Storylines

Bet Lynch was born to parents Patrick and Mary Lynch. Her father left when she was six months old, and Bet had received a strict Roman Catholic upbring by her mother, but didn't stop her becoming Miss Weatherfield in 1955. When she was sixteen, she met a man called Joe Mason at a party, who was twelve years older than her. After getting pregnant, Joe fled and she gave birth to a baby boy called Martin. However, she was forced to give him up for adoption. A family called the Downes adopted Martin. Bet arrived in Coronation Street in 1966 when working at the PVC factory. She had an affair with her boss John Benjamin and gave Lucille Hewitt a black eye, because of her jealousy of Lucille's speed of welding. She moved away from the area a few weeks later.

Bet arrived back in Coronation Street in 1970 when she bumped into Irma Barlow, who she worked with in the factory back in 1966. Later in the year, Bet was appointed a junior barmaid in the Rovers Return Inn by Billy Walker, a place she would work at for the next twenty-five years. She had numerous relationships with many people, including well known Street residents such as Len Fairclough and Mike Baldwin. In 1975, Bet got news that her son Martin (who she gave up for adoption when he was a baby) was a soldier and died in a car crash. She also found out that he tracked her down, but was disgusted by her overt sexual nature she left without telling her who he was.

When Annie Walker retired in 1983 after 46 years, her son Billy Walker took over license of the Rovers Return. 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 in January 1985. Bet was involved in a fire at the Rovers in 1986, but was saved by Kevin Webster. The place was gutted but eventually done up and she moved back in a few weeks later.

When the tenancy of the Rovers was being sold up by the brewery in 1987, Bet couldn't come up with all the money in order to buy it. Club owner Alec Gilroy offered her a loan. However, she couldn't pay him back so fled out to Spain and disappeared for a few weeks. Alec managed to track her down to bring her back, and then proposed to her. They later got married. The marriage went better than expected, and Bet had fallen pregnant in 1988, however she had a miscarriage and lost the baby.

In 1991, Alec got a job on a cruise and wanted to sell the Rovers back to the brewery, however Bet didnt want to leave her pub behind, so stayed and let Alec go by himself. Bet became manageress of the Rovers and continued to run the pub for the next 5 years by herself.

When the brewery decided to sell up the Rovers again, Bet couldn't come up with the large sum they demanded. She tried to ask some of her friends, especially close friend Rita Sullivan, for a loan. Rita thought about it, but had to turn it down. Bet also tried to ask step-granddaughter Vicky to borrow some money; Vicky turned down the offer, but later said she would buy Bet a house for her to stay in. Bet got upset and threw everyone out the pub. She then left in the back of a taxi in her leopard-skinned clothing, not knowing where to go next. With a twist of fate, Alec had returned to Weatherfield shortly after her departure and started working for the Duckworths when they took over the pub. Bet didn't return for Betty's wedding to Billy Williams later in the year.

Bet arrived back in Coronation Street in June 2002 for Betty Turpin retirement party, which delighted her. Bet revealed that she had made up with Vicky and had been running different pubs across the country for the last seven years, before finally settling down in Brighton. Audrey Roberts offered Bet a room at her home so she would have somewhere to sleep for the night, although Bet intended on staying for two weeks. Rita went to visit Bet the day after to try to make amends over not buying the pub for her, but Bet didn't care as she had moved on from the pub and changed, and said all Rita did was run The Kabin. This insulted Rita, who told Bet she should just push off as she had changed and was now bitter. It was later revealed that the reason Bet was back so she could testify against a former lover called Bruce who stole money from her. Mike Baldwin and Audrey went to the court to give Bet support, however she had lost her court case. In November 2003, Bet crossed paths with Liz McDonald in Blackpool. Bet got involved in Liz's problems as her husband Jim had escaped prison and was on the run. Bet was also due to get married to former Brewery boss Cecil Newton, but he had later died of a heart attack. Bet had returned back to Brighton along with Liz. Bet is rumoured to be returning for the on screen funeral of legendary character Betty Williams in 2012.

Creation

Background

Bet as she appeared in 1995.

Information about the character first surfaced to the public on 2 June 1966, when the Heywood Advertiser ran the story that Coronation Street was going through 'a little facelift' and the character of Bet Lynch was to be introduced. The publication that gave a little background to the character prior to appearing onscreen said: "Julie aged 22 has been working for a model sometime, but has also been on the files at Granada. When it was decided to inject more life into the series, she was offered the part as Bet, a typical Lancashire mill girl, who will be working at the new factory which is opening in 'the Street'."

The character then first appears in 1966 (as presumed) as a factory worker who gives Lucille Hewitt (Jennifer Moss) a black eye. She quickly departs with the explanation she has moved away (actress Patricia Phoenix was also rumoured to have told Goodyear to return to the programme when she gained a little more acting experience). Bet returns in 1970, when she shares a flat with Irma Barlow (Sandra Gough), who put a down payment on it with the help of Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson) and Ray Langton (Neville Bushwell). Bet begins work as a barmaid at the Rover's Return. The earlier incident with Lucille is not mentioned again and the two became good friends.

Casting

Actress Julie Goodyear was offered the supporting role of Bet Lynch for a period of six weeks by Lucy Clayton, which she took without hesitation. Goodyear was convinced that she would continue in the role on a permanent basis and was shocked when they let her go at the end of her originally contracted period. When actress Goodyear filmed a part for a drama series called 'Family At War', the director June Howson complimented her and said she was impressed. Howson later went on to produce Coronation Street and offered Goodyear a six month contract to reprise her role as Bet, which she took up. She then became a permanent cast member.'

In March 2010 it was reported on Digital Spy that Bet was set to make a comeback in an attempt by the newly appointed Phil Collinson producer to try to restore the show to its 'golden days'. However this was denied the following day by Coronation Street bosses. A spokesperson said "At the moment there are no plans for Bet to return. The new producer hasn't even started yet, he's not made any decisions."

Development

Personality and identity

Goodyear described her character as "busty, raunchy, voluptuous; a woman who knew how to flirt and manipulate, and give as good as she got. But she was also vulnerable. Unlucky in love, she could cry. Rejected by those who got nearest to her, she could hurt" and noted that it was this mix that viewers got hooked on. She has been described as having a feisty personality and has learned through the hard knocks in her life how to fight her corner, a survivor, somewhat wary of men, she can get her teeth into most things then gives as good as she gets.

Appearance

The character has had some well known looks and styles throughout her time on the show, many have made her instantly recognisable. Goodyear spoke about how her appearance was shaped in the character's early days, stating: In the early days I never stopped researching the character of Bet on the streets of Salford with Tony Warren, and every time we went out, we would see a Bet at the market shopping, and either Tony or I would say 'Look at that silver mac/hairdo/earrings.' You could see Bet's everywhere and we took inspiration from each of them. Bet was based on women we saw in real life. As time went by people said 'too much', 'too over-the-top even for Bet', but Tony and I always knew it wasn't, and Bet's fan mail proved us right." She has also said that Bet was always dressed in a 'common as muck way'.

Goodyear has stated on different occasions that she would research the typical salary her character would be on for her barmaid job, as she wanted her character only to appear in outfits that she could realistically afford. This was to make her character credible and believable. This was where the leopard skin style of clothing came from because it was considered naughty, racy and very sexy in her character's early days and was deemed very affordable, staying true to her character.

As actress Julie Goodyear got older, Bet's physical appearance matured. No longer the one to wear miniskirts and wear her hair long, she adopted a somewhat infamous wardrobe in that many of her outfits were leopard skin print, which to this day is one of Bet's defining attributes. As Goodyear's hair turned white, she also started to bleach her hair and style it in a beehive fashion. In a survey published in the Manchester Evening News in April 2007, Bet's beehive was voted the worst haircut in soap history. In the early years of her beehive hair do Goodyear would have her real hair combed back and sprayed a large amount of hair lacquer onto it, though after a few years she received a false hairpiece to keep up the image onscreen.

Reception

Inside Soap magazine readers voted Bet as soaps 'Greatest ever Landlady.' In Dorothy Catherine Anger's book "Other worlds: society seen through soap opera" she brands Bet a "tarty woman" who has the ability to "attract men like bees to honey".