Carrie Fairchild
Telly Talk Dream Maker
I saw a couple of Twitter posts over the festive period about old Corrie characters and it got me thinking about how, due to circumstances beyond the control of the show, certain major characters ended up being written out without great ceremony. I'm not talking about when an actor or actress sadly dies offscreen but the other events that take people away from our screen.
- For example, after 23 years on the show, Coronation Street's original landlady Annie Walker's final scene (unbeknownst to all involved) was just her perusing some items at a bring and buy sale. After this was filmed, Doris Speed took time off from the show after taking ill when a tabloid revealed her true age to the nation. She had intended to return to the show but after a robbery at her home, she moved to a nursing home and the cake sale scene proved to be her last.
- Also from that era, Ena Sharples (Violet Carson) ended her 20 year tenure on the show by going off to stay with a friend while her apartment was being redecorated. Again, it was planned that she'd return but Violet's failing health meant that Ena never came back to the street.
- More recently, after Bev Callard announced she was leaving the show, Liz McDonald was promised a big exit but due to the timing of covid restrictions and Bev's contract running out, Liz was quietly written off as going to live in Spain with her son Andy.