Top 30 Coronation Street Couples

28. Bert and Ivy Tilsley

Although Ivy had been part of the street since 1971, we didn’t see her husband Bert until 1979. At this time they’d been married for 23 years and had one son Brian born in 1958. Bert was introduced into the programme when Ivy expressed interest in 5 Coronation Street, now empty after Deirdre Langton had moved next door to N°3. During the four years that we saw the senior Tilsleys on our screens, it was Ivy’s hatred and judgement of daughter in law Gail as a wife, mother and as an Anglican that dominated storylines. Poor Bert had to be a referee between the two women and regularly escaped to the Rovers. Bert supported his son’s marriage and was besotted when grandson Nick was born in 1980. Originally unemployed, he found a job as a fitter in 1982 and then a mechanic at Brian’s garage. In 1983, he was injured in a compressor accident and was unconscious for two days. He returned to N°5 an invalid and later disappeared and was found dazed and confused in Bristol. He had suffered a breakdown and was admitted to hospital. He died off-screen in Bristol in 1984, leaving Ivy a devastated widow.

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