| Tracy Barlow | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Coronation Street character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Kate Ford as Tracy Barlow (2011) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by |
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| Duration | 1977–1983, 1985–1997, 1999, 2002–2007, 2010–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | Episode 1672 24 January 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by |
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 Dawn Acton as Tracy Barlow (1991) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Holly Chamarette as Tracy Barlow (1986) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tracy McDonald (also Barlow, Preston, and Langton) is a fictional character and a main antagonist from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was born on-screen during the episode broadcast on 24 January 1977. She was played by Christabel Finch until 21 November 1983. Holly Chamarette played the role from 8 July 1985 until 23 March 1988. Dawn Acton played the role from 12 December 1988 to 10 July 1995. Acton reprised the role for two short stints in November 1996 and December 1997. She reprised the role once again on 14 March 1999 and made her final appearance as Tracy on 10 October 1999. Kate Ford took over the role from 25 December 2002 to 8 April 2007. Ford reprised the role for a brief stint from late May to early June 2010, returning full-time from 24 December 2010. In April 2024, Ford took a break from the show and returned on 16 August 2024.
Tracy is the daughter of Ray Langton (Neville Buswell) and Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride). Tracy never had much to do with Ray and was later adopted by Deirdre's new husband Ken Barlow (William Roache). Early storylines featuring Tracy concentrated on her childhood. She went on to feature in storylines about drugs, various family crises, relationships with Roy Cropper (David Neilson) and Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson), a feud with Steve's ex-wife Karen McDonald (Suranne Jones) and a short-lived marriage to Robert Preston (Julian Kay). Her exit storyline in 2007 was the culmination of a storyline that saw Tracy imprisoned for killing her boyfriend Charlie Stubbs (Bill Ward) in revenge. In the on-screen events, Tracy was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Her brief return in May 2010 saw the character lie about Gail Platt (Helen Worth) confessing to murdering late husband Joe McIntyre (Reece Dinsdale). Her return in December 2010 saw her released from prison after forensic evidence used at her trial was discredited. She received her daughter Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) back and attempted to steal Steve from his wife Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly) and failed. This resulted in the two characters having a feud. Tracy also began a feud with Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan), which worsened after it transpired that Tina had kissed Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis). Rob would later murder Tina and after discovering this, Tracy and Rob's sister, Carla Connor (Alison King), turned him in and he was arrested, sparking a feud between Tracy and Carla. Tracy's former husband Robert Preston (Tristan Gemmill) also returned, with Tracy going on to briefly reunite with him. She has since remarried Steve and had a drunken one-night stand with Paula Martin (Stirling Gallacher).