Betty was born in Beckindale, but left to work as a tiller girl in London. She later returned to Beckindale and married old school friend, Wally Eagleton. Following Wally's death, Betty returns to Beckindale village. She soon becomes known as one of the village gossips. Betty also looks for her former partner Seth Armstrong. Betty settles in with Seth and the pair host a 1940s theme night at Christmas. Betty regularly stands up for what she believes in, and even tries to call off Zoe Tate's lesbian wedding. Betty's former boyfriend Reggie arrives in the village. It transpires that Betty and Reggie dated while working in the Windmill Theatre in London. On the day she went to tell him she was expecting their baby, she found him in bed with another woman and had an abortion. This left her unable to have any children of her own, which she kept a secret. Knowing this, Reggie tries to blackmail Betty by threatening to tell Seth. Instead, Betty tells him herself and Seth drives Reggie out of the village. Betty decides to visit her friend Kathy Glover in Australia and goes on an extended holiday. Seth joins her, but she gets homesick and returns to Emmerdale alone several months later. On his way home, Seth dies on the aeroplane. Betty is waiting at the airport when Kathy tells her the news. After Seth's funeral, Betty takes the coffin and buries it in the countryside, helped by Laurel Thomas, Zak Dingle and Sam Dingle. A fake coffin arrives containing a sack of sand and is buried in the Emmerdale cemetery. The funeral also sees the brief return of Betty and Seth's former lodger, Biff Fowler. Soon after, Alan Turner moves in with Betty. After lamenting a lack of contact with his son, Terence Turner, Betty gets in touch with him and convinces him to return to the village. It soon emerges that Terence sexually abused his sister, Steph Stokes, as a child. Unable to accept this, Alan lashes out at Betty and moves into Holdgate Farm with Terence. Alan realises the truth not long after and returns. Steph's new husband, Adam Forsythe, murders Terence soon after this, and both Adam and Steph are sent to jail for their crime. As Betty and Alan struggle to get over this, a new person enters Betty's life, Sandy Thomas, the father of local vicar, Ashley Thomas. Ashley and Sandy do not get on following an argument, so Sandy moves in with Betty and Alan. When Mark Wylde's body is found, Betty originally thinks it might have been Seth's and admits to Alan that they buried him in Home Farm grounds and sandbags were buried at the cemetery. When a fire spreads through Emmerdale, it reaches Betty's house and she has to be saved by the residents. She is taken to hospital suffering with smoke inhalation. Her friends Alan, Edna Birch and Pearl Ladderbanks help her to recover. Betty subsequently goes on a six-month cruise. She sells her house to Victoria Sugden, and she and Alan become sitting tenants. This causes some problems, particularly when Victoria insists on swapping bedrooms with Alan, but helps to do a lot of repair work that Alan and Betty were no longer capable of doing. Betty is saddened when Alan dies in his sleep on the night of his return from a bike tour. Betty and Pearl arranges a fitting funeral for Alan, but are shocked when his daughter, Steph, returns after a seven year absence in prison. Betty is on the judging panel to decide who the next vicar of Emmerdale will be – Ashley or newcomer Harriet Finch. Although Edna and Pearl are keen for Ashley to return, Betty feels that Harriet will be better able to modernise the church. Betty departs on a cruise around New Zealand by herself. On her return, she is furious when Victoria explains that she had stopped reading her emails because she found them boring. Betty later announces that she is leaving Emmerdale to move back to Australia, but makes up with Victoria shortly before she leaves. On the day of her departure, Betty learns that Laurel is an alcoholic and she advises her to get clean. A crowd gathers to see Betty off, before her lover, Reuben Archibald, arrives in a limousine to take her away. On Christmas Day, she video calls Victoria, who then takes the laptop to the Woolpack where Betty talks to all of her friends. In 2017, Finn Barton visits Betty in Australia for three weeks. In 2018, Sandy goes to live with Betty in Australia. In February 2020, Betty rings Laurel to tell her that Sandy has died. In July 2020, Bob Hope reveals to Lydia Dingle in the cafe that it was Betty who taught him how to bake.
Development
Departure
In April 2015, it was confirmed that Paula Tilbrook would be retiring and had already filmed her final scenes as Betty after 21 years, which would air in May. Speaking of her departure Tilbrook said: "Today is both the saddest and the happiest day of my life. Happy because I've got everyone here with me but the sad part is I'm leaving. But there is a great atmosphere and it is nice to go out on a high." Commenting on Tilbrook's decision to retire, Kate Oates, the series producer of the show said: "It's impossible to overstate how much everyone at Emmerdale will miss Paula. She's created a British television icon: someone who has lit up our screens and touched our hearts. "Off-screen, she is an integral part of the Emmerdale family: an inspiration to those she works with, as well as a fabulous raconteur and hilarious storyteller. We are sad to lose her from the programme, but wish her the happy retirement she so deserves."
Reception
Laura-Jane Tyler from Inside Soap praised the character during her final scenes, saying "She may be a touch frail these days, but Betty Eagleton proved she was still a force to be reckoned with in Emmerdale this week – funny, feisty and smart as a whip. They don't make 'em like actress Paula Tilbrook any more!"
