Coronation Street legend Norris Cole dies in scenes set to air next week leaving Weatherfield residents heartbroken.
Earlier this year it was announced that Norris Cole star Malcolm Hebden was calling it a day on the soap after appearing in more than 1,600 episodes since he made his 1994 debut.
He announced he was leaving the show back in January after suffering a nearly fatal heart attack in 2017 and stepping back from his acting duties.
The 81-year-old actor did pop up briefly to film scenes in Stillwaters retirement home alongside Bill Roache’s character Ken Barlow, during which time the soap stalwarts uncovered a secret fraud scheme.
At the start of August, the cast of Corrie were busy filming Norris’ funeral scenes, as they prepared to bid the nosey character a fond farewell in a warming send off from the cobbles.
The scenes that were filmed back in August are set to air over the coming weeks, with Wednesday September 15 being the first episode that kicks it all off.
In upcoming scenes, Ken Barlow tells Rita Tanner that Norris wants to meet up as he has some 'important news', however they’re shocked to hear from Freda Burgess that Norris has collapsed and been taken to hospital with a suspected stroke.
With the street rocked by the news, Ken and Rita, with Norris' best friend Mary Taylor in tow, make their way to the hospital to be met by Freda who breaks the news that Norris has died.
Ken then reveals to the group that Norris wanted to share some important news with him, which leaves them all baffled.
In the Rovers Return, residents from the cobbled street raise a toast to dearly departed Norris, before Mary and Freda argue over Norris’s funeral arrangements.
Norris' friend Claudia Colby (Rula Lenska) arrives, and then they argue over where best to hold the wake, Rita steps in and asserts that Norris would choose the street.
As the row over Norris’ funeral escalates, Mary announces she’s stepping down and Freda can sort out the funeral herself.
Gemma Winter (Dolly-Rose Campbell) then gets wind of the scheduled funeral date and becomes worried to hear that it might clash with Aled’s operation.
Breaking the news to Freda that she can’t attend Norris’ funeral as it clashes with Aled’s operation, Gemma is distraught.
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Upset she can't make it, Freda warns Gemma that by giving Aled the cochlear implants they’re changing his identity, but Gemma assures her that’s not the case.
Malcolm, who played former Kabin owner, spoke about stepping down from the soap back in January, telling The Sun at the time: "I absolutely adored playing Norris and I was pleased to be able to return briefly after my operation."
But he added that he realised "although the mind was willing, the body was not so much".
Malcolm suffered a near-fatal heart attack in 2017, in which he was put into an induced coma to receive treatment from a cardiac team, who "saved his life".
He was sent to hospital via ambulance at the time, where surgeons discovered the heart attack had torn a hole in Malcolm’s heart.
A "groundbreaking" operation was able to save his life, with his heart reportedly "wallpapered" using tissue taken from a cow.
Coronation Street continues Wednesday at 7:30pm on ITV
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