Tracy Barlow was the victim of the cheeky Coronation Street in-joke during the episode of April 17. Tracy and Steve arrived back at the house when her daughter Amy was caught hosting a house party – prompting the neighbors to call the cops – and gave her a stern telling off. Peter Barlow, however, was on hand to protect his niece Amy and finally offered viewers a casual throwback to an infamous tape to Tracy. In an attempt to turn the situation into a less heated one, Peter declared: “Until the coppers turn up, it is not a party …” while his sister declined to calm down.
“Don’t worry about her, she’s just jealous Tracy’s idea of a teenage party was pressing ‘play’ on a tape recorder,” added Peter, leaving Tracy less than amused. As ITV soap viewers will remember, Tracy’s story about these ‘tapes’ dates back to her childhood.
Then, actor Christabel Finch played she, whose family suddenly moved away without informing producers of the show. Until they found a replacement (Holly Chamarette then played Tracy), Corrie’s characters would often refer to Tracy being “playing her tapes” upstairs.
Peter’s throwback gag seemed to amuse some viewers over the social media. They tweeted, “Cool, there’s a reference to Tracey being famous for playing her tapes for six months at a time in the ’80s [laughing emoji].” Another said that they “loved the reference to young Tracy playing tapes in her #Corrie room.” “Tracy’s tapes being mentioned still make me howl,” wrote the third.