ATV Icon: Thelma Barlow

As ITV approaches its 70th year on air, we continue to celebrate some of ITV’s classic stars with ATV Icons. This offering celebrates the life and work of Thelma Barlow…

Thelma Barlow, née Pigott was born in June 1929. She is, of course, best known for her long-running role as Mavis Wilton on Coronation Street and her later turn as Dolly Bellfield on the BBC sitcom Dinnerladies.

Born in Middlesbrough, Barlow left school in her teens and began her acting career in theatre. In the late 1950s she performed in repertory companies around Britain – she toured with the West of England Theatre Company (Worm’s Eye View, 1956) and played roles such as Bessie in Jeannie at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1958. She also appeared at Nottingham Playhouse (Celebration, 1960–61) and in numerous Birmingham Repertory productions from 1958–59.

She had several small television roles prior to her big break including in ATV’s drama Love Story (1973) and in Vanity Fair (1967), the BBC’s first colour offering of a classic serial.

Thelma makes her first appearance as Mavis in Coronation Street in 1971 / Granada

A long running ‘double act’ was formed when Mavis began working alongside Rita in The Kabin newsagents / Granada

Thelma’s breakthrough came when she was cast as Mavis Wilton (née Riley) in ITV’s Coronation Street from Granada Television in Manchester. Originally auditioned during a repertory performance in Liverpool, her first episode aired in August 1971, and though Mavis was initially a minor character, she became a regular from 1973 onwards. Over 26 years, she appeared in nearly 2,000 episodes as Mavis – a timid, nervous shop assistant at The Kabin newsagents.

Mavis was widely loved by viewers for her shy demeanour and dry wit; she famously married Derek Wilton (Peter Baldwin) and formed a memorable comic duo with Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox).

During her time on The Street, Barlow was also occasionally active on stage – often during breaks from filming. In 1991 she was surprised with a This Is Your Life (Thames Television for ITV) feature to honour her career. Her final on-screen appearance as Mavis aired on 10 October 1997, when the character moved away to open a B&B, marking the end of Barlow’s appearances in the show, she has never reprised the character now nearly 30 years on.

But there was more to come. While some actors get one big telly character that makes them fondly remembered, Thelma added a second to her repertoire less than a year after walking out of the Corrie studio for the last time.

Mavis was also friends with another street mainstay, Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) / Granada

Despite both jilting each other many years earlier, eventually Derek (Peter Baldwin) and Mavis married / Granada

In 1998 she was cast in a major new role: Dolly Bellfield in Victoria Wood’s BBC sitcom Dinnerladies (1998–2000). Wood had “written [the role] specifically for her,” and Barlow’s portrayal of the snooty but vulnerable canteen worker became a comedy highlight; The character’s friendship with Anne Reid’s Jean and witty one-liners made Dolly especially popular with viewers.

After Dinnerladies, Barlow took on numerous guest and supporting roles in television and film: she appeared in series such as Fat Friends (Yorkshire TV for ITV, 2000), Doctors (BBC, 2002), The Royal (Yorkshire TV for ITV, 2004), Agatha Christie’s Marple (ITV Studios) and Midsomer Murders (Bentley Productions for ITV).

Notably, she played the villainous Lady Thaw in a 2007 episode of Doctor Who (BBC Studios). In 2005 Barlow made her feature-film debut as Gladys Henderson in Mrs Henderson Presents – a performance that earned her a nomination for “Most Promising Newcomer” at the British Independent Film Awards. Her final big screen role (to date) was a small part in the Meryl Streep film Florence Foster Jenkins (2016).

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, she maintained an active theatre career as well, including West End productions such as Arsenic and Old Lace (2003) and tours of plays like Alan Bennett’s Enjoy and Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit.

Off-screen, Barlow’s life has been largely private. In 1956 she married stage-set designer Graham Barlow, and the couple had two sons (Clive and James) before divorcing in 1983.

Love of gardening: Thelma appears on Channel 4 show ‘Loadsmore Muck and Magic’ with Alan Gear /Ch4

Dramatic moment: Jenny Bradley (Sally Ann Matthews), Mavis and Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) / Granada

An avid gardener, Barlow even wrote a book on the subject – Organic Gardening with Love (first published 1992), later reissued as Gardening Nature’s Way. She also featured in the Channel 4 gardening show Loadsmore Muck and Magic sharing her green fingered tips with host Alan Gear. She received recognition for her career when, in 2008, Teesside University – near her birthplace – awarded her an honorary Doctor of Letters.

After more than two decades away from television, Barlow surprised fans by coming out of retirement in 2024.

At age 95 she accepted the lead role in a new short film called Sleepless in Settle (a spoof title), written and directed by Dinnerladies alumna Judy Flynn. In interviews Thelma explained that when Flynn approached her (at her 90th birthday party), she couldn’t resist the project’s charm. She took the part of Barbara mainly because the script gave a positive, age-friendly message.

Filmed in mid-2024 on location in Sussex, Sleepless in Settle premiered earlier this year, however it isn’t a ‘comeback’ Ronnie Barker style. On the talk show Loose Women (ITV, July 2024) she confirmed that while she loved acting again, she has no plans to reprise Mavis – her days on Coronation Street are firmly in the past.

Barlow’s late-career comeback and candid interviews have been widely covered in the press over the past year. Viewers of The Street especially have enjoyed seeing Thelma again, highlighting both nostalgia for her classic role and admiration for her energy at 95. Mavis was in recent years seen in ‘Classic Coronation Street‘ reruns on ITV3 and clips of memorable moments of Mavis do the rounds on social media – Thelma Barlow’s career continues to delight fans old and new.

The Wilton’s throw a dinner party / Granada

Some of the cast of Coronation Street – along with This Morning hots Richard and Judy – outside Newcastle Civic Centre / Granada

Thelma Barlow still fondly remembered as Mavis / Granada