Freda Burgess is the deaf niece of the late Ernie Bishop and the niece by marriage of Emily Bishop. She has appeared in Coronation Street sporadically from August 2005 to September 2021 to date, mostly to visit her aunt Emily at Number 3 Coronation Street. Although she had a poor relationship with Emily's nosy and interfering lodger Norris Cole, Freda and Norris later became friends and when he went to stay with Freda and Emily in 2018 their friendship blossomed into a relationship, and they got engaged in 2019. In 2020 they began living at a retirement complex with each other. She paid a couple of visits to Coronation Street on her own in 2021 to see Chesney Brown and Gemma Winter. She returned again in September 2021 to inform the residents that Norris Cole had died.
She is played by Ali Briggs.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Freda was born to Sidney and Edie Burgess. When small she met her uncle Ernie Bishop a few times, but ended up losing contact with him when her family moved to Bradford. This was before he met Emily Nugent and married her. Although her parents, a pair of penny pinching hypochondriacs, visited Ernie in 1971 to get money out of him and ended up leaving him on bad terms.
2005-2021[]
Freda made contact with her auntie Emily in August 2005, and Emily invited her to Weatherfield. Freda turned up at Number 3 Coronation Street to see Emily, who was initially unaware that Freda was deaf until Freda informed her. The pair of them reminisced about Ernie, who had been killed back in 1978 when shot in an armed robbery. Freda met Emily's busybody lodger Norris Cole, who believed that she was just after Emily's money.
She returned in March 2006 after her uncle Ernie Bishop's killer Ed Jackson had returned to Weatherfield in order to try and get forgiveness from Emily for what he had done. Emily eventually did forgive Ed, as he was truly remorseful.
Freda paid another visit in July 2009. She got irritated by Norris' long lost brother Ramsay Clegg, who was trying to hard to please when he was attempting sign language, and came off quite patronising in the process. Norris didn't like his brother either, and they joined in making fun of Ramsay. Before Freda left a few days later, she urged Ramsay to get the sign language right if he wished to use it.
A few months later she paid another visit, in which she was saving up money for a flat. Freda and Norris entered a competition and won some money, which they split and Freda put it towards a deposit for a flat.
By 2013, Freda was living in Edinburgh. When Emily had an accident, Freda sent her some presents and cards for her to get well soon. Norris became jealous and claimed one of the gifts were from him, but eventually owned up.
In January 2018, Emily went to stay with Freda following her two year stay volunteering in Peru. Norris joined them that same year on an extended break. Norris enjoyed his time with Freda and Emily and planned to settle down with them, and sold his shop in early 2019 to Brian Packham.
Freda and Norris got engaged in 2019 during his stay in Edinburgh with Freda and Emily. Norris later returned to Coronation Street to ask his wife Mary Taylor for a divorce, as he was planning to leave the street permanently. Although she declined and wanted to punish Norris, she accepted and allowed her friend to be happy. Freda attended Norris' farewell party at the Rovers in June 2019, and they left together in a taxi.
In March 2020 Freda and Norris moved into Stillwaters retirement home outside of Weatherfield. There they met Coronation Street resident Ken Barlow, who was staying at the complex with his partner Claudia Colby (although Ken would later leave). In June 2020 Norris returned to the street for a final time to celebrate the anniversary of VA Day, and said that his wedding to Freda was on hold as they were still settling into Stillwaters.
Freda returned to visit Chesney Brown and Gemma Winter. In September 2021 Norris passed away from a stroke, and Freda was in attendance at the funeral.
Trivia[]
- Ali Briggs, the actress who portrays Freda, is also deaf in real life.
- Freda's backstory is somewhat confusing as it contradicts her parents' Sidney and Edie's appearance in the show in 1971. No mention of Freda was made when her parents appeared, even though she was presumably born before Ernie's first appearance in 1967 (due to Emily not knowing she had a deaf niece). Also in 1971, the Burgess family were living in Barrow-in-Furness, even though Freda said they moved to Bradford and lost contact with Ernie. She hadn't met her aunt Emily during her marriage to Ernie in the 1970s as Emily was unaware she had a deaf niece until 2005, and Freda didn't even know her uncle went onto become an actual photographer, his well known profession.
- Also, in regards to the above, it has never been stated how old Freda is, the best guess is she was born 1950-1955.
- Freda wasn't credited with the surname Burgess until 2009, four years after her first appearance.
Appendices[]
List of addresses[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| Bradford | unknown date to 2010 |
| 16a Turnham Street, Edinburgh | 11th January 2010 to February 2020 |
| Stillwaters retirement complex | February 2020 onwards |
Employment history[]
| Role | Institution | Duration |
|---|
Memorable Info[]
Appearances: 8-17 Aug 2005, 5-8 Mar 2006, 23-30 Jul 2009, 5 Nov 2009-11 Jan 2010, 3 May-7 Jun 2019, 16 Mar-13 Apr 2020, 14 Jun-24 Sep 2021
Parents: Sidney Burgess and Edie Burgess
Siblings:
Spouse(s):
Children:
Uncles: Ernie Bishop
Aunties:
Grandparents: George Bishop, Caroline Bishop