Audrey Roberts (also Potter) is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Sue Nicholls. Audrey made her first appearance on 16 April 1979 and appeared on a recurring basis for three years until April 1982. She returned over two years later in July 1984, before becoming a full-time regular character from 1985.

The character of Audrey Potter was created as the mother of established character Gail Potter (Helen Worth). After appearing as an occasional character for several years, she became a permanent member of the core cast in 1985. Actress Sue Nicholls auditioned for the part of Audrey Potter and went on to secure the role. 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. Audrey made her first appearance in the episode broadcast on 16 April 1979.

In 2010, Nicholls said she found it impossible to believe that she had been with Coronation Street for over 30 years. She commented "It's the best job to have, especially in this day and age when there are no jobs anyway. Everybody wants to be in it so it must have something going for it! I've been so lucky and if I think back over the years all the people have been lovely and the stories have been hot. Being with Amanda Barrie was lovely, and of course Bryan Mosley who sadly died – and it's thanks to Bryan or whoever – if they hadn't married Audrey off to Alf, who knows I might just have been another tart with a heart passing through."

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. Likewise she's brought him up a bit. Some people see in my character things that I don't. I'm stopped all the time by people who say, "Isn't she awful to Alf?" or "Isn't she a cow".

In October 2009, actor Nigel Havers joined the cast of Coronation Street as a potential love interest for Audrey. Audrey first meets Havers' character, Lewis Archer, when she attends a ball with Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden). Audrey is immediately attracted to Lewis, but is frustrated because she is accompanying Claudia Colby (Rula Lenska). Claudia later reveals to Audrey that Lewis is a male escort that charges women for his company. Havers warned that his role of Lewis has a "dark side". Havers commented: "I couldn't resist the idea of doing Coronation Street. I loved the idea of being Audrey's new man. I'm a huge Corrie fan. I started in Corrie a month ago and I'm there until July. I gather my character has a real dark side but I don't know what it is yet."

Lewis and Audrey decide to rekindle their relationship in March 2012. Kate White from Inside Soap wrote that Audrey finds Lewis hard to resist, especially after he has apologised for his previous actions. When Lewis is wrongly accused of taking some money from The Bistro, he plans to leave Weatherfield. Nicholls told White that Audrey feels awful that she too accused Lewis and it is a wake up call for her as she does trust him. The actress said Audrey still fancies Lewis and does not want to lose him again. Lewis and Audrey spend the night together and decide to keep their relationship a secret, especially from Audrey's family, as his "past indiscretions still loom over them like a dark cloud". 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. I'd ask her to think about what she's doing." A writer for Inside Soap said that Audrey and Lewis are very happy as they "bask in the warmth of their revived romance." However, they have to resort to sneaky measures to spend time together to avoid upsetting Audrey's family. When Audrey calls in sick at the salon to spend time with Lewis, Gail and David become concerned and check up on her. They see Lewis leaving her house and realise the pair are back together.

Lewis and Audrey decide to go on holiday together and Lewis offers to pay for himself. 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. Audrey's money is tied up in the salon, so she asks David to sign it back to her so she can pay for the holiday. However, David refuses to sign the salon back as he thinks Lewis might be planning another fraud. 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.

In 2010, when Gail's husband Joe McIntyre (Reece Dinsdale) is found dead, the police suspect that Gail killed him. Nicholls said that Audrey thinks Gail is innocent. She said that Audrey doesn't believe in any way that she killed him but what she does feel is that the whole story has not come out. The death happened in some way that Gail knows about.