Rita Tanner (also Littlewood, Bates, Fairclough and Sullivan) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street.

Portrayed by veteran actress Barbara Knox, the character first appeared on-screen as "Rita Littlewood" for one episode on 2 December 1964, before returning as a full-time cast member on 31 January 1972.

At first she appeared with local resident Stan Ogden (Bernard Youens) and was invited for a drink at The Rovers Return Inn public house.

She cannot find digs for the week and persuades a reluctant Dennis to let her sleep in the bed owned by his mother Elsie (Pat Phoenix) while she's away.

It is then fellow occupant Emily Nugent (Eileen Derbyshire) calls on Dennis about panto rehearsals and is shocked to see Rita in her nightie.

Charlie Moffitt (Gordon Rollings) slips on the joists in the loft and puts his foot through the ceiling of Elsie's room.

In January 1972, Rita resurfaces with her common-law partner Harry Bates (William Simons) as his twelve-year-old son Terry (John Barrett).

The marriage soon gets complicated when Rita begins spending time with various men, initially dating neighbour Ken Barlow (William Roache) before the pair later decide to remain close friends with each other.

Len tells his friends Jerry Booth (Graham Haberfield) and Ray Langton (Neville Buswell) to stay out of the house that evening as he's entertaining a lady but to tidy up before they go.

Benny entertains Rita in his new luxury flat above the betting shop though few of the remote control things work properly.

Det Insp Patterson (Tony Steedman) investigates the burglary and interviews Rita and Benny about the routine of banking the money and who had the keys to the flat.

Rita then seeks help from fellow punter Billy Walker (Ken Farrington) with embarrassing Len in front of Mayor Alderman Chapman at the opening of The Capricorn.

Ena Sharples (Violet Carson) asks Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear), Rita and Norma Ford (Diana Davies) how Minnie Caldwell (Margot Bryant) has been behaving while she's been away.

The marriage runs into trouble in early 1980, when sick of being taken for granted and living in what she describes as squalor, Rita leaves Len and thanks to Ralph Lancaster's help, attempts to regain her cabaret career.

She soon begins a relationship with Alan, which is abruptly threatened after he starts two-timing Rita with local barmaid Gloria Todd (Sue Jenkins).

He starts stalking Rita, who has a breakdown and escapes to Blackpool, but in December 1989 Alan tracks her down and tries to make her return to Weatherfield, but he is run down by a tram and killed in the attempt.

But the marriage only lasts three months, as he dies from an inoperable brain tumour; Ted leaves everything in his will to Rita which causes her to come into conflict with his family when they accuse her of only marrying him for his money.

Rita comes close to agreeing but eventually withdraws prompting Bet to end her friendship with her and depart the street for good.

Rita supports Mavis in 1997 when Derek dies and is heartbroken when she decides to move to Cartmel to open her own Bed & Breakfast.

Rita takes in Stacey, a local woman who tried to con Fred Elliott (John Savident) by pretending to be a Thai bride named Orchid.

She had previously conned a man named Stuart (Duncan Preston), who locked her in his flat for days at a time and inflicted physical violence on her.

Rita is not very happy when Dennis decides he wants to be in the music industry again, so he contacts his old friend Ritchie de Vries (Robin Askwith).

She feels insecure when Gloria Price (Sue Johnston) also decides to tag along with the whole idea, and becomes very close with Dennis, and the pair begin flirting.

Dennis and Gloria do not last long and he returns to the streets when she finishes with him, this results in him having a trip to hospital which Rita finds out about.

When Rita writes a number of cheques for Jenny and her fiancé, Johnny Connor, (Richard Hawley)'s wedding, Gemma tries to prove to her that there's something wrong with her.

In January 2009, it was speculated that Knox and other veteran actors were going to be axed from the show in a bid to save money but this was later denied by a Coronation Street spokesman.

In April 2010 a spokesman for Coronation Street announced that Knox has a job for life on the show and that she will continue to play her character Rita for as long as she wants to be there.

In May 2011, a Daily Mirror reporter announced that Rita and Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) would become love rivals, following Dennis Tanner's (Philip Lowrie) return.

The storyline received a lot of media attention and criticism from the viewers, as it began shortly after the death of Ashley Thomas, a character from fellow ITV programme Emmerdale, who had a seemingly similar diagnosis.

"[11] Knox was nominated for "Best Serial Drama Performance" at the National Television Awards 2018, losing out to her Coronation Street co-star, Lucy Fallon, who portrays Bethany Platt.