Penny Ryder first appeared in Coronation Street in March 1964 in a bit part as a Girl but gained a far larger role the following year in the Street spin-off Pardon the Expression as Mary in the first season final episode The Brain Drain. She returned to the Street in November 1997 as Geraldine Milne, a client of Ken Barlow in his short career as a (non-sexual) male escort.