Audrey Roberts (also Potter) is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by actress Sue Nicholls.

Audrey becomes a grandmother in December 1980 when Gail gives birth to Brian's son, Nick Tilsley (Warren Jackson).

As an unmarried mother, Audrey is not considered a suitable match for widowed local councillor, Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley).

Audrey attempts to revive her career as a hairdresser and persuades Alf to buy the salon from Fiona Middleton (Angela Griffin).

Audrey is devastated when her best friend, Alma Halliwell (Amanda Barrie), dies of cervical cancer in June 2001.

Audrey nearly becomes a victim of her serial killer son-in-law, Richard Hillman (Brian Capron), when he discovers that she has inherited quite a lot of money from Alf.

In late 2002, viewers saw him subtly make Audrey fear that she is developing senile dementia by deliberately unlocking doors she had locked, hanging out washing that she does not remember, turning on lights and dropping a dress off to be dry-cleaned.

After Audrey's employee and friend Maxine Peacock (Tracy Shaw) is murdered in January 2003, Audrey suspects Richard is responsible and urges Gail to leave him, fearing for her and the children, Sarah (Tina O'Brien) and David's (Jack P. Shepherd), safety but Gail will not listen.

Audrey tells Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold) that she will not be at the wedding so Fred borrows Bev's car to visit her.

Stephen visits and offers David a job in Italy but changes his mind after Audrey finds drugs in his drawer at the salon.

In August, Audrey returns from a booze cruise in France with Bill, Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle) and Roger Stiles (Andrew Dunn).

Audrey bumps into an old friend, Claudia Colby (Rula Lenska), at a function and is introduced to her dinner partner, Lewis Archer (Nigel Havers).

On the day of their departure, Lewis' deception is revealed after he is caught kissing Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride) and placing fake betting slips in the cash register on CCTV.

Audrey is shocked to discover that Claudia's boyfriend, Marc Selby (Andrew Hall), is a transvestite when she picks him up from a police station after he is assaulted.

At a doctor's appointment, Audrey learns that she and Gail have high blood pressure, caused by too much alcohol, and they decide to cut down and exercise more.

Deciding to go on around the world on a cruise with Lewis, Audrey attempts to regain full control of the salon from David.

Audrey discovers that Gail and Gloria Price (Sue Johnston) are testing Lewis about whether he really is a changed man.

Audrey then wins a Hairdressing Achievement award but is unhappy that Claudia nominated her, leading her to throw flowers at her due her acceptance speech.

[2] At the time the actress had been in many theatre, cabaret and TV roles and was continuing with her career whilst appearing in the show on a recurring basis until she was offered the chance to become a permanent cast member.

"[4] Of her character, Nicholls said in 1991 during an interview with Graeme Kay that: "Audrey's not quite as loud and brazen now, I've tried to take her down a bit, which fitted in with the fact that she married Alf, who is quite serious and sombre.

[2] In October 2009, actor Nigel Havers joined the cast of Coronation Street as a potential love interest for Audrey.

[5] Audrey first meets Havers' character, Lewis Archer, when she attends a ball with Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden).

[7] Kate White from Inside Soap wrote that Audrey finds Lewis hard to resist, especially after he has apologised for his previous actions.

[7][8] Nicholls said Audrey could be making a mistake, and added, "You read this sort of thing in the papers all the time, women of a certain age being charmed by these men.

[7] Digital Spy's Daniel Kilkelly wrote that Lewis' renewed relationship with Audrey and their plans to go on a round-the-world cruise would cause a feud between her and David.

[10] Kilkelly said Lewis tries to play peacemaker and suggests postponing the trip until he can save the money himself, but Audrey insists David will co-operate and she tears up their contract.

[12] At the 2003 British Soap Awards, Sue Nicholls won gongs for "Best Dramatic Performance" and "Hero of the Year" for her role in the highly successful Richard Hillman storyline which ran between 2002 and 2003.

[15] Impressionist Francine Lewis performed an impression of Audrey Roberts in the seventh series of Britain's Got Talent.

In recent years, some attention has been focused on the 'Audrey Roberts noise' following a viral video created by Martyn Hett, which compiled numerous times Audrey was seen to complete a question with an audible 'Hmm?'.

[16][17] The noise was then dubbed onto the song "I Don't Like It, I Love It" by Flo Rida and Robin Thicke, and played on Radio 1 numerous times by Nick Grimshaw.