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Vera Duckworth is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Liz Dawn. Vera is known for her long-standing marriage to Jack Duckworth (Bill Tarmey); they became one of the best-loved couples in television history. Vera was often shown in a comedic light.
She first appeared on 19 August 1974 and last appeared on 18 January 2008, where the character peacefully died in her sleep at the age of 70 from heart failure. She reappeared posthumously for a single appearance on the 8 November 2010 episode, in which her husband Jack died.
On 23 August 2010, it was confirmed that the actress would make a one-off appearance as the ghost of Vera Duckworth. The episode was broadcast on 8 November 2010. Husband Jack died from incurable cancer and the scene was a reunion for the two characters. Producer Phil Collinson explained why they decided to include her: "It's something I've heard a lot. People say, 'When my mother was dying she saw my father' ... It's a story I've heard a few people say. We're storytellers at the end of the day. Yes it's Coronation Street and yes it reflects real life, but we're storytellers." Whilst Executive producer Kieran Roberts opined that he would be surprised if anyone thought it was the wrong decision.
The Duckworth marriage was always rocky due to their wayward son, Terry Duckworth (Nigel Pivaro), and extramarital flings. Jack once had an affair with Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear), and went on a dating programme in which he used a fake name, Vince St Clair. Bet joined the dating programme and was shocked to see Jack's video. She encouraged Vera to go, especially to see a video of a man named "Vince". Vera and the other girls then launched a plot for her to get even with Jack. Claiming she was a young widow, Vera arranged to meet "Vince" at The Rovers Return Inn. She was wearing a ginger wig as he approached her from behind, then slowly turned around to face Jack much to the amusement of the pub crowd who were in on the joke.
Vera got a job at Mike Baldwin's (Johnny Briggs) clothing factory – Baldwins Casuals. Vera worked at the factory as a machinist, working alongside many of the street's residents including Ivy, Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix), Ida Clough (Helene Palmer), Shirley Armitage (Lisa Lewis), Ernest Bishop (Stephen Hancock) and Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire). After working at the factory for many years, Mike sold it in to developers, and it was demolished, leaving Vera out of a job until she had a career change when her lodger Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy) got her a job at Bettabuys supermarket, working under boss Reg Holdsworth (Ken Morley).
When the Duckworths inherited some money after Jack's brother died, they bought The Rovers Return, with Vera becoming the landlady. However they later sold it to Alec Gilroy (Roy Barraclough). Vera and Jack moved into Eunice Gee's (Meg Johnson) B&B, and when Eunice moved to Spain to help her sister run a bar, she left Vera and Jack as managers of the B&B. When Eunice sold the business, Vera decided to slow down a bit and got a job in Roy's Rolls café, working alongside Roy Cropper (David Neilson), Hayley Cropper (Julie Hesmondhalgh), Frankie Baldwin (Debra Stephenson) and Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly).
Jack and Vera took in lodger Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) who became somewhat of a surrogate son to them. Vera became restricted to her house due to an injury to her ankle and was cared for by Tyrone and Molly Dobbs (Vicky Binns). They bought her a baby monitor so Jack, Molly and Tyrone could talk to Vera while they were in the pub. Later, Jack and Vera's grandson Paul Clayton (Tom Hudson) arrived on the street but little did Vera know that Paul was scamming Jack and Vera out of money, stealing money from Jack and blaming it on Tyrone. Vera was disappointed in Tyrone but Molly was adamant that Tyrone hadn't stolen the money. Vera refused to believe this of Molly and could never believe that her own flesh and blood could steal from her. Vera decided that she and Jack were to move to their dream place of Blackpool but Paul was forced to confess to Jack that he had stolen the money for the house. Jack was appalled but had to keep it secret from Vera as he didn't want to hurt her and destroy her dreams. Vera still desperately wanted to move to Blackpool so Jack eventually told Vera that he spent a lot of the money they saved to help Paul buy his half of the restaurant, but added the excuse that he spent it before he knew they were going to Blackpool. Jack knew that if he told Vera the truth she would be heart broken and she was still greatly upset and went to bed to get over the shock.
One night, Vera complained about her shoes and Jack sat her down and pulled them off. Vera told Jack that she loved him and she had never loved any one else and pushed Jack to say the same. A little reluctantly, as always, he did and grabbed her slippers for her. He then said that he was going to go to The Rovers for a short while and although Vera tried to insist on him staying with her, he said he wouldn't be long and he had been with Vera all day and needed some time to relax. When he returned, Vera had died peacefully in her sleep. Jack remained calm and kept Vera warm. When the paramedics arrived, they explained that Vera had died from heart failure in her sleep but said that she hadn't experienced any pain.
Over two years later, shortly before dying Jack sees a vision of Vera and they both dance together.
12.5 million viewers tuned in to see the departure of the long serving and popular character. Vera's Corrie exit seen by 12.5m – BBC (Retrieved 2008-07-08) Jim Shelley called Jack's death scene with the ghostly appearance of Vera, "one of the most moving scenes ever seen in soap". In a 2021 Radio Times poll, Jack and Vera were voted as the joint fifth "soap pub landlord", receiving 6% of the votes.
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