my first scene and I was petrified at the thought of coming into something I'd been watching since the age of seven." Kirkbride remained with the show until her death on 19 January 2015, although what turned out to be her last appearance was broadcast the previous October. Development Relationship with Ken Barlow Ken and Deirdre have been described as soap opera's version of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Their relationship has featured various affairs, break-ups and reunions over the years. The couple's first marriage eventually disintegrated in the early 1990s, this time when Ken had an affair with colleague Wendy Crozier, a dalliance which ended in divorce for the Barlows. Ken was kicked out of home on New Year's Day 1990. Their on/off relationship continued, with each having various other liaisons, until producers decided to reunite Ken and Deirdre in 1999. Ken's and Deirdre's second marriage in 2005 was watched by an estimated 13 million viewers, compared to the nine million who watched the wedding of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles the following day. Coincidentally, Ken's and Deirdre's first wedding in 1981 was screened within 48 hours of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding, and just as in 2005, the Barlow wedding attracted more viewers than the royal wedding. "Free the Weatherfield One" campaign When the story of Deirdre Rachid being jailed for fraud was aired in 1998, a public campaign developed in the UK. A campaign led by tabloid newspapers and the occasional graffiti artist, with the slogan of "Free the Weatherfield One!". Despite Rachid being a fictional character, politicians expressed their opinions on the story as if she had been imprisoned in real life. Prime Minister Tony Blair said that he would be commanding his Home Secretary, Jack Straw, to investigate the issue. William Hague, the then leader of the Conservative Party, announced that his party was also concerned about Rachid's treatment, stating that "The whole nation is deeply concerned about Deirdre, Conservatives as much as everyone else". The "Free Deirdre Rachid" campaign was likened to the "Free George Jackson" campaign in 1984 after Brookside character George Jackson was falsely imprisoned for a warehouse robbery. In the story for Brookside, George served his sentence. References External links Deirdre Barlow at What's on TV Coronation Street characters Fictional politicians Television characters introduced in 1972 Fictional receptionists Female characters in television Fictional prisoners and detainees