Ken Barlow (William Roache)

[lizann]

leaving?

[Perdita]

leaving?

Bill has always said he would only be leaving as Ken if he was in a coffin himself ... not sure I have ever seen a soap have a storyline where a retirement village was involved .. nice subject to raise in my opinion with our ever growing older population but a lot of loneliness too. Would be nice if other old characters would slowly start moving there too ..

[Perdita]

Ken Barlow leaves Coronation Street after 60 years as beloved soap marks 10,000th episode.

Just before the credits rolled on the historical 10,000th episode of the world’s longest running soap, the character who was in the very first episode in 1960 bid a fond farewell to his ‘old friend’ the cobbles to move away with girlfriend Claudia Colby.

But fans are reassured that this isn't the last they'll see of him, as the Weatherfield patriarch is not leaving the show.

Ken will move out of number one and away from the street, but future episodes will follow Ken and Claudia's new life at Still Waters Luxury retirement complex where they meet Charles Moore.

Back in Weatherfield his son Peter and adopted daughter Tracy will battle over who gets to move into the most famous house on the street.

In Monday night’s episodes Ken and Claudia will break the news to the family about their decision to sell up and live a quieter life at Still Waters.

Both Peter and Tracy want the house at a knockdown price and as Ken despairs over his warring family it confirms he is making the right decision to leave. William Roache said: “This is a big decision for Ken but in some ways he thinks it is now or never.

He has lived on the same street his whole life and in the same house for most of it.

"He feels that he had a chance to move away with Martha on the barge but he let her go. Part of him regretted that.

"He doesn’t want to make the same mistake again and Claudia is very persuasive."

He added: "Filming that final scene of the episode was very poignant, just Ken and Eccles and the cobbles.

“He breaks the news to the family next week and they are surprised but very soon Peter and Tracy start squabbling over who will be given first refusal on the house.

[mysangry]

Bill has always said he would only be leaving as Ken if he was in a coffin himself ... not sure I have ever seen a soap have a storyline where a retirement village was involved .. nice subject to raise in my opinion with our ever growing older population but a lot of loneliness too. Would be nice if other old characters would slowly start moving there too ..

This was the most pathetic celebration episode ever, what alot of nothing! I found it boring, tedious and glad it was finished.
Ken exit of the street, was uneventful, so he's leaving his home that was with his "love" Deidre, not many auldies do that, they prefer not to move, wasted of screen time'
Best bit was Rita's memories of the past residents, it reminded us how good it "used" to be.

[emerald]

There's a lot of older characters in the programme now so having a retirement community as a set in its own right sounds like a good idea. I keep imagining a Sunday evening spin off series, with Ken, Claudia, Norris, Freda and a host of original characters, with maybe an occasional visit from Corrie characters...

[tammyy2j]

William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow on Coronation Street, has confirmed his character has been written out of the show due to Covid-19 fears.

Filming for the popular soap is set to resume next month, but older actors will not be able to return along with the rest of the cast due to health risks.

Roache, who is 88 years old and has played Ken since the popular soap began in the 1960s, said he doesn't think he will be back for "some time".

Speaking on BBC Radio Derby, he said: "I think we, the senior members of the cast, won’t be called back for some time. Sadly I’d like to get back, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.