Who is Freda Burgess in Coronation Street? Why doesn't Mary like her?
Freda Burgess is back in Coronation Street this week. Freda Burgess in Coronation Street  Freda is Emily Bishops niece. She is played by actress Ali Briggs, who is deaf. Alis portrayal of Freda, particularly the comic scenes she was part of alongside Norris Cole (played by Malcolm Hebden), won her and Coronation Street an award. They scooped a RADAR (Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation) award for the best portrayal of the lives and viewpoints of disabled people on television. Freda is Emily Bishops niece (Credit: ITV)  Read more: Bill Roache from Coronation Street: Ken Barlows juiciest scandals to be revealed  Freda is also part of the deaf community and lip-reads, uses British sign language and wears hearing aids. In fact, when she first came to Weatherfield back in 2005, it was her lip-reading skills that won over Norris Cole. Norris was suspicious that Freda had come to visit Emily and thought she was after his landladys money. He even compared her to notorious Corrie serial killer Richard Hillman! But when Norris discovered Freda could lip-read he saw all sorts of potential uses for the skill  mostly to do with spying on his neighbours. But Freda wasnt impressed and she left Weatherfield. Fredas return  A few years after her first visit to the Street, Freda returned. She soon revealed shed stolen a prosthetic leg belonging to her boss and needed to dispose of it! She and Norris put their differences aside and bonded over their love of competitions, making Freda an enemy of Mary Taylor, who had got close to Norris in the same way. But Freda moved to Edinburgh, where she cared for Emily when she had a fall. In 2019, Mary was shocked to find the door to number 3 open, and even more surprised to find Freda inside. She announced that Norris was on a silent retreat and had asked her to come to Weatherfield to sell her house. Mary was not happy about it, but Freda and Norris left Weatherfield together and headed to Scotland intending to get married. Freda and Norris at Stillwaters  Freda showed up again when Ken Barlow moved to Stillwaters retirement complex with Claudia Colby. She and Norris had moved down from Scotland. Norris and Freda are engaged (Credit: ITV)  And when Norris came to the Street last year, for the VE Day celebrations, he revealed theyd postponed their wedding for now. Fredas most recent visit to Coronation Street is at the request of Chesney. He is keen to persuade Gemma that their son Aled should have a cochlear implant operation. Freda returned in tonights episode (Credit: ITV)  Ches approaches Freda to talk to Gemma about the experience of being deaf. However his good intentions backfire when things dont go as planned. Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think.