Peter Barlow (Coronation Street)

Peter Barlow (Coronation Street)

Peter Francis Barlow is a fictional character from the ITV television soap opera Coronation Street. The character first appeared onscreen when he was born during the episode aired on 5 April 1965. Currently portrayed by Chris Gascoyne, who has portrayed the character in episodes since the live 40th anniversary show in December 2000, the character has been previously portrayed by five different actors.

Raised with his twin sister Susan, by his grandparents from the age of five after the death of his mother Valerie Barlow (Anne Reid), Peter grew up apart from his father Ken (William Roache). He joined the Royal Navy in 1980 and married Jessica Midgeley 10 years later. The marriage lasted 10 years, after which Peter returned to Weatherfield. Having bought the Bookies, Peter married both Shelley Unwin (Sally Lindsay) and florist Lucy Richards (Katy Carmichael) in a high profile bigamous storyline. Having been discovered, Peter was left alone and fled Weatherfield. He returned in 2008 with a son Simon (Alex Bain) whom he had by Lucy who had died from cancer. Struggling to cope with fatherhood, Peter took to drinking and after numerous relationships, got engaged and married Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) in the 50th anniversary episode; however, they separated in February 2012 after his affair with Carla Connor (Alison King) was exposed.

Peter has been favourably viewed on by critics and Gascoyne has received both a nomination for Best Actor at the 2011 All About Soap Bubbles Awards and a Best Actor nomination in the British Soap Awards 2011.