Deirdre Rachid JAILED

Deirdre had her fair share of great storylines during her phenomenal 42-year reign on the show (her break-ups and reunions with on/off/on again husband Ken Barlow, love triangles, her daughter’s kidnap, her marriage to toy boy Samir Rachid), but it is her imprisonment after a former lover implicated her in a bank fraud scheme that we remember best. The 1998 storyline spurred UK tabloid newspapers to start a “Free Deirdre” campaign and even the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair joined the calls for her release. After three weeks, Deirdre was released from prison – with four different newspapers claiming victory for themselves and their readers!