1974–1981 Blanche is introduced as the widowed mother of
Deirdre Hunt (
Anne Kirkbride). Her bank manager husband, Donald, died in January 1963 after being knocked down outside their house by a black
Ford Prefect. Blanche immediately makes her mark by slapping Deirdre's love interest,
Ray Langton (
Neville Buswell), when she thinks he is treating her daughter badly; she is equally quick to criticise Deirdre when she disapproves of her behaviour. Blanche originally runs a corset business from home but later takes jobs as a barmaid at
The Rovers Return and helps
Gordon Clegg (
Bill Kenwright) run the corner shop. In 1976, she meets former lover, bookmaker Dave Smith (
Reginald Marsh). They rekindle their affair, and she decides to move away to help Dave run his country club in
Kenilworth. After her affair with Dave Smith ends, Blanche returns to
Weatherfield in January 1977 to help look after her newborn granddaughter
Tracy (Christabel Finch), accompanied by
Warwickshire vet, Steve Bassett (
Dennis Chinnery). They become engaged but split up that May. Following the news of Deirdre moving to
New Zealand, Blanche returns to the street in 1978 to talk her out of the idea. In 1981, Blanche returns to Weatherfield for Deirdre's wedding to
Ken Barlow (
William Roache). In December 1993, Blanche has a stroke (off-screen) and Deirdre goes to stay with her to nurse her (a storyline devised to cover Anne Kirkbride's sick leave). Deirdre returns to Weatherfield the following year after Blanche has made a full recovery.
1996–2009 Blanche briefly returns to Weatherfield in 1996 when Tracy (now played by
Dawn Acton) gets married and again in 1998 after Deirdre is sent to prison following a wrongful conviction for fraud. Blanche begins matchmaking between the divorced Deirdre and Ken, believing Ken is good for Deirdre. She fails, but Tracy gets them to reconcile and in 1999, Blanche returns permanently and moves in with the reunited couple. Blanche quickly gains a reputation as a gossip and a meddler, with
Audrey Roberts (
Sue Nicholls) often being the target of Blanche's acid tongue when her 13-year-old granddaughter,
Sarah-Louise Platt (
Tina O'Brien), is revealed to be pregnant. She makes hurtful comments at Sarah but backs down after the birth of her baby daughter,
Bethany Platt, when she finally stands up to Blanche and tells her to leave her and her daughter alone. Blanche briefly becomes
Rita Sullivan's (
Barbara Knox) assistant at
The Kabin but soon drives Rita mad with her meddling and tactlessness. In 2002, Blanche has a new love interest, funeral director
Archie Shuttleworth (
Roy Hudd) but is unhappy when he makes friends with Audrey. Blanche suspects they are having an affair but later discovers Audrey, a hairdresser, is working with Archie to dress dead bodies for viewings. Archie is angry when Blanche spreads this around and ends their relationship. Blanche is upset but later moves on to supposedly wealthy retiree, Wally Bannister (
Bernard Cribbins). Wally is more interested in Tracy (now played by
Kate Ford), who simply wants Wally's money and decides to seduce him. This falls flat when Tracy visits Wally's house and discovers that he is actually the gardener, posing as the owner, and is not rich at all. Ken and Deirdre find out and disgusted with their daughter, decide to keep the news from Blanche (who is away visiting her sister) to avoid upsetting her. When her granddaughter Tracy falls pregnant, she tells
Roy Cropper (
David Neilson) and his wife
Hayley (
Julie Hesmondhalgh), that Roy is the father and tells them that she will have a termination if they do not want to adopt it. Blanche tries to persuade Tracy to keep the baby by buying No. 7 Coronation Street for them to live in, upsetting Deirdre, who wonders why Blanche never bought a house for her. Tracy gives birth to a daughter and gives the baby to the Croppers, who name her Patience; Blanche sees through Tracy's "indifference" and encourages her to fight for her daughter. Tracy breaks down and Blanche enlists Ken and Deirdre's help to get the baby back. Although they are disgusted when Hayley reveals Tracy sold her daughter for £25,000. Blanche, Ken and Deirdre stand by Tracy, who reclaims her daughter and renames her
Amy (Elle Mulvaney). Blanche is relieved when Tracy later admits Roy is not the real father. When Tracy and Amy visit
Peter (
Chris Gascoyne) in
Portsmouth, Blanche moves back in with Ken and Deirdre, renting out (and later selling) the house she purchased to
Danny Baldwin (
Bradley Walsh). Struggling with a bad hip, Blanche considers using some of the money for a hip replacement operation but later has the operation done privately in
Poland where it is cheaper. In 2007, Blanche supports Tracy when she is accused of murdering her lover
Charlie Stubbs (
Bill Ward). When Tracy is found guilty and sent to prison, Ken refuses to support her and walks out on Deirdre, who knew Tracy was guilty. Blanche worries that her family is disintegrating and is relieved when Ken and Deirdre reconcile. On 25 June 2007 Blanche holds a mock wake for herself to gauge which of her friends truly appreciate her. She is upset by the low attendance and hearing her friends castigate her negative traits. She resolves briefly to be nicer to everyone by performing acts of kindness around the neighbourhood but quickly reverts to type, believing people should accept her for who she is. In 2008, Blanche shows her softer side, becoming close to Peter's son
Simon (
Alex Bain), who finds Blanche's outspoken ways amusing. Blanche is visibly upset when alcoholic Peter turns up drunk to Simon's nativity play and ruins the show. In May 2009, Deirdre discovers that Ken has been having an affair with actress
Martha Fraser (
Stephanie Beacham). When Deirdre takes Ken back, Blanche is incredulous; tired of her mother's interference, Deirdre orders Blanche to move out of their home. She moves in briefly with Peter, returning to live with Ken and Deirdre after apologising a few weeks later. Blanche often makes barbed references to the event, telling everyone at Peter's AA meeting that "Ken recently had an affair with an actress. Oh, it wasn't
Nicole Kidman or
Glenda Jackson. She lived on a
tugboat". Blanche's tactlessness struck again later that year when Simon's maternal grandparents visited and, after getting drunk, she blurted out that Deirdre had been to prison, Ken had had numerous affairs, Peter was an alcoholic and his fiancée
Leanne Battersby (
Jane Danson) was a former prostitute. Blanche's final scenes aired on 11 December 2009, nine days after Maggie Jones' death. In the subsequent episodes, it was revealed that Blanche had unexpectedly been offered a free holiday in
Portugal by her friend May Penn and would be spending Christmas abroad. When May hurts her leg, Blanche stays on to look after her. On 3 May 2010, Blanche was due to return; when Peter goes to collect her at the airport he discovers Blanche has died earlier that day, devastating Deirdre. May (
June Whitfield) later arrives and explains that the real reason Blanche had stayed in Portugal for so long is that she had fallen in love and become engaged to a man named Arnold. Deirdre is surprised Blanche never told her, and also to hear that Blanche regularly referred to her affectionately as "Dee-Dee". Ken later finds instructions left by Blanche for her funeral, plus a request for a formal will reading. Blanche leaves her dog Eccles to Ken, with a final barbed comment that he should not take her for walks near canals and theatres "where women of ill-repute may gather". She also makes a dig at Ken's attempts at creative writing, leaving him her
Maeve Binchy book collection and describing her as "a proper writer". She also leaves her jewellery to Deirdre, claiming she knew Deirdre had her eye on it, an imitation silver music box to Amy and her late husband Donald's fob watch to Simon.
Norris Cole (
Malcolm Hebden) is also invited to the reading but all Blanche has "left" him is the chance to be the first to spread details of the will around the street, the only time he would get his hands on a piece of gossip before she did. She leaves her remaining money to Tracy. ==Reception==