Coronation Street

Yes obviously id prefer an on screen exit for them but I wouldnt like to see them killed off. Obviously the actors arent ready to leave just yet. It will be a shame if they are taken ill suddenly and unable to record any final scenes.

That has happened in the past with so many great characters being written out without a proper exit. Minnie Caldwell (Margot Bryant) was written out in 1976, 6 months after her last appearance an old friend, which the script said she had been visiting to explain her absence, came to tell Ena that she had decided not to return to Coronation Street.

Ena herself went to visit a friend in St Anne's on Sea near Blackpool in 1980 and never returned. Her final scene with Albert and Ken hinted that she *might* not be back but they were obviously keeping it open incase Vi was well enough to return at a later date, which sadly she never did.

Arthur Leslie (Jack Walker) died suddenly in 1970 and his death had to be written into the script. Same with Jack Howarth (Albert Tatlock) in 1984.

Doris Speed (Annie Walker) was taken ill in 1983 after a newspaper revealed her age wasnt 73 as she claimed but 84 - she never returned. The script said she was visiting her daughter. Both Doris and Margot lived for over 10 years after they left the Street - Doris was 95 when she died in 1994 I think.

Pat Phoenix (Elsie Tanner) was the only one of the main original cast to get a proper exit and she left twice - in 1973 moved to Newcastle to live with Alan Howard to try and patch up their marriage, which didnt work as she was back in 1976. And then left in the back of a taxi in 1984 to live with old flame Bill Gregory in Portugal. Infact in those days they didnt need big exits like they do these days.

Phyllis Pearce and Maud Grimes also didnt have proper exits - the actresses died in real life so it was mentioned they had moved into that residential home and they were probabaly still supposed to be there (or dead, Maureen never mentioned her mother when she returned at Christmas)

I don't get why some people want to axe the child characters, ok they don't do much now but think how much Tracey did as a kid, she disappeared for two years and she's regenerated four times but the character as an adult has given us some good story lines.

I can't seem them getting rid of Emily and Noris (one of the best characters IMO)! Jack and Vera possibly, if Liz Dawn's health deteriorates further-- you can't have Jack without Vera (or vice versa).

They are brilliant, and it is such a shame that Liz Dawn's health has led to her appearances being sporadic, it seems reminiscent of Vi Carson's last five years as Ena. I don't think moving Jack and Vera to the countryside - or even Spain for that matter - would work; I mean, as we (i.e. the viewers) have "grown up" (if you get my drift) with them and "got to know them", can we really see the pair living peacefully together in a leafy cottage or lapping up the sun on a beach? It's just not Jack and Vera... it looks like there's no appropriate ending, but that's my opinion. Hopefully their departures won't be decided on just yet anyway.

when is their 50th wedding anniversary meant to be?

Is Percy Sugden still technically alive in the series?

Steve Frost is a pillock. He's made Corrie into the UK's most successful soap, then he axes Les and Norris within seconds of each other? Doesn't he realise these two fantastic characters are what makes Corrie what it is, and that by axing popular characters he could watch his baby turn into another EastEnders?

thanks for the date of the duckies' anniversary jez

I remember in the Duckworths in Las Vegas video special for their 40th it was found that they were never actually married at all or something stupid like that.

Steve Frost is not a pillock.

Percy is still alive as far as we know.

But then Ena, Minnie, Annie, Phyllis and Maud's deaths have never been mentioned either. I would assume Ena and Minnie are dead by now - they werent in the best of health by the mid 1970s on the show (and would both be over 100 now - Ena would be 108 I think!)

Ena died off-screen; her death was mentioned by Ken in the 1985 video "The Jubilee Years". And Elsie of course also died off-screen in the 1987 video which you were talking about, "The Life and Loves of Elsie Tanner" (I think that's the title).

Vi Carson did actually manage to return to the set after her last episode, but only for a special TV Times souvenir on Corrie's 2000th episode in July 1980 - she doesn't really look in the best of health in the photographs. Were they still expecting her to come back even in 1982? I ask this because in Daran Little's book, a section is on the Queen's visit to the newly-built outdoor set - the way its written makes it sound like Ena was still a part of the cast.