Last updated at 13:54, Wednesday, 07 July 2010

It’s beginning to affect us all, this old age – even in Soapland... Take Coronation Street.

Actress Pat Phoenix, left, who played Elsie Tanner in the soap opera, at Etterby Street, Carlisle

Some of the longstanding actors and actresses have decided it’s time to retire and a few others have hinted that they don’t plan to grow old in the street either.

Last year we lost Maggie Jones, who played the razor-tongued battle-axe Blanche Hunt for 35 years.

Since Corrie began 49 years ago, the actors who have played the characters we love – and sometimes love to hate – have been regular visitors to the region.

Recently, former Corrie star Sean Wilson, who played Martin Platt, appeared at the Whitehaven Festival.

But over the years, we’ve seen Len Fairclough, Stan Ogden, Vera Duckworth, the magnificent Elsie Tanner and many others pay a visit to us.

The characters have become part of our everyday lives and they’ve done quite a bit of living themselves whilst playing their characters.

Barbara Knox, who played Rita Sullivan quit after 36 years. She first made a one-off appearance as an exotic dancer in 1964, then in 1972 she arrived back as Rita Bates and wasted no time in starting an on-off stormy relationship with, eventually marrying, Len Fairclough. In 1973 Len bought the Kabin, and installed Rita as manageress where she’s sold cigarettes, organised papers and gossiped ever since.

Len was killed in a car-crash in 1981 (later it emerged he’d been having an affair). From there on, Rita’s life has seen a series of disasters.

From being almost suffocated at the hands of Alan Bradley and collapsing with carbon monoxide poisoning in her flat, she went on to be wooed by Reg Holdsworth and Alec Gilroy, eventually marrying Ted Sullivan in June 1992, only for it to last three months after Ted died of a brain tumour.

She also lost her best friend Mavis Wilton who moved to the Lake District in 1997. No wonder she’s retiring.

But she has recently made a return in a wrinkly love triangle with Audrey Roberts and gigolo Lewis Archer (played by Nigel Havers), so she may have decided she wasn’t quite ready to leave Weatherfield.

Legendary character Jack Duckworth (Bill Tarmey) is making his final appearance on the cobbled stones of Weatherfield, later this year.

Jack was married to loudmouthed Vera for 51 years, until her death in 2008, but much preferred his pigeons and a pint.

However, if the rumours are true, a spooky comeback from Vera is on the cards before he departs. Jack and Vera’s relationship was stormy and they always seemed to be scheming to put one over on the other.

Jack always had an eye for the ladies. In his forties he considered himself a handsome devil and made appearances in a disco under the name of Vince St Clair.

He also joined a dating agency under a false name, but Vera got wind of this and she too joined under a pseudonym and arranged a date with him. A nasty shock was in store for him when he turned up at the Rovers to pick up his date.

Vera and Jack did once briefly separate and carried on extramarital relationships, Jack with barmaid Bet Lynch, Vera with Rovers cellarman Fred Gee.

Jack was always work-shy and never held a job down for long.

He lost his job as a cabbie when he was found guilty of drink driving. Vera bought Stan Ogden’s old window-cleaning round and sent him back out to work.

Jack didn’t mind once he realised how many lonely housewives lived on his round.

He gave the round up to become a cellarman for the next 15 years at the Rovers which, to him, was as near heaven as he was every likely to get.

Even Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride) has given a hint she may hang up her spectacles. At 54, she doesn’t want to be out in winter mornings recording on the cobbles for hours at a time and who can blame her?

She’s had more than her fair share of trouble. She’s been sexually assaulted, contemplated suicide, nearly lost baby daughter Tracy when a lorry ploughed into the Rovers – she’d left her outside while she popped in for a drink!

Deirdre’s been married three times (Ray Langton, Ken Barlow and Samir Rachid) but has had a string of affairs (another one imminent, I believe), one with Mike Baldwin when she was married to Ken (who isn’t squeaky clean himself, but that’s another story) and although she ended the affair and stayed with Ken, she went on to have a few more, one with a plumber (hope you’re keeping us with this one), a Dutchman called Dirk vander Stek, Dev from the corner shop and then Jon Lindsay, a con man which resulted in Deirdre being sentenced to 18 months in jail for fraud (Jon was let off with a suspended sentence). However good old Ken and Mike Baldwin campaigned for her release and succeeded.

Talking of jail, Tracy is certainly her mother’s daughter as she’s had quite a colourful life herself so far and she’s only 33. At the moment she is in jail for murder but rumour has it, she’s being released!!

I’m just hoping Gail MacIntyre, (aka Tilsley, Hillman and Platt) waits until after I’ve retired before leaving the street, because I reckon, at this moment in time, she’s on her tenth romance – and we all know that’s already ended in disaster as well.

First published at 11:20, Wednesday, 07 July 2010
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk