Deirdre Barlow: Coronation Street says goodbye to a legend

From her bubble perm and glasses to her travails with Ken and her time in prison, she left an indelible mark on viewers of the soap Dark times descend on Weatherfield this evening. As the Barlows excitedly squabble over plans for a surprise 60th birthday party to mark the return of the iconically put-upon Deirdre, they are greeted by Susie Blake’s Bev, a tragic, tear-stained character at the best of times. Deirdre’s sudden death by aneurysm, sat in a deckchair, comes cruelly and inevitably,