Corrie: Ken Barlow says goodbye to his house

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Ken (played by William Roache) has been seen less frequently on Coronation Street over the past few years, mainly due to the restrictions imposed as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. When the ITV soap’s 10,000 episode aired at the start of 2020, the stalwart made the decision to leave Weatherfield and set up residence at the Still Waters retirement home. The move didn’t last too long and the pensioner is now living with his daughter, Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford), but having his loved ones around him doesn’t make up for the loss of his late wife, Deidre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride).

The late character, who was written out in 2015 following the death of the actress who played her, Anne, has been central to a recent storyline on the show.

With the woman who destroyed Deidre’s marriage to Ken, Wendy Crozier (Roberta Kerr), returning to the cobbles, fans have missed the pair sparring as they did many years ago.

However, it seems Wendy has wanted to make peace with what she and Ken did all those years ago since she made her comeback earlier this year.

During Monday’s instalment of the weeknight serial drama, she finally managed to achieve her goal as she made a visit to Ken.

She got some help from Abi Franklin (Sally Carman), who wanted to repay the woman who had helped her get custody of her son Alfie again.

Having learnt that Deidre died several years ago, Wendy wanted to send her condolences to Ken and apologise for the part she played in luring him away from his wife.

As she reflected on her actions and realised how they were both wrong, she told the stalwart she would keep her distance.

In fact, as they bid farewell on the doorstep in the presence of Tracy, Ken told his former lover he never wanted to see her again.

This brought back his memories of Deidre, with the iconic character feeling deeply sorry for betraying his wife all those years ago.

When Tracy walked back through the door after finishing her day at work, she told her father: “I half expected to see bendy Wendy camped out on the doorstep.”

I’m just sad

Ken Barlow

“I think she got the message,” Ken replied, with Tracy adding: “Yes if she knows what’s good for her. I wouldn’t wish my mum coming back to haunt anybody.”

“You know, there are days when I would give anything to see her face again,” the pensioner remarked, with his daughter asking him if he was alright.

“A bit sad. But it will pass,” he told her before she realised he was looking at some old letters her mother used to send to him.

Getting emotional, Ken said: “I wouldn’t pretend that every moment of our marriage was happy, there was blame on both sides for that and I never loved anyone like I loved Deidre.

“I still love her and although painful to read these letters because she is no longer with me, it reminds me how wonderful it was to be loved back.”

“And how lucky we were to have found one another,” the stalwart explained with his daughter in agreement but she brought Wendy into the conversation one last time.

“Yes you were so Wendy Crozier can stick that in her pipe and smoke it,” she said with her father chuckling away at her remarks.

However, with Ken getting emotional and reflecting on his past with Deidre, he could think it is about time to start a new chapter of his life.

With Weatherfield reminding him of the betrayals they both committed in their relationship, Ken could decide to move away to a place where he and his wife were at their happiest.

Packing his bags, it would certainly be the end of an era if the longest-serving character on the show left for good.

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The cobbles would be lined with all the residents of Weatherfield as they pay tribute to the man who has lived through many decades on the cobbles.

Having one final look back, Ken would know he is making the right decision, with Deidre’s voice reassuring him in his mind.

When it was announced Ken would be leaving Weatherfield for Still Waters two years ago, the actor who plays him, William, spoke about the change he has seen on the show over the past 60 years.

William said: “Things have changed unbelievably. I mean episode one, 9th December 1960 was a live episode. We’ve done a few of those since, really, really frightening nowadays because we’re not used to it.

“But in the ’60s a lot of things were live, even some commercials. So that’s how we did it, we used to go out on Friday and Monday at 7pm, and we did the Friday episode live, and then recorded the other as live.”

“That went on for about three months, and then a strike knocked that out of sync,” the soap star continued to explain.

“After that we then recorded them, but in a way, they couldn’t be edited. So it was almost like doing it live.

“The change from then until now is unbelievable, it’s totally different. In those days we’d have three days of rehearsal, dress rehearsal and then record the episode straight through.

“Now, we turn up, do a scene, we can do pick-ups, retakes, not too many, but we can do a few. And there’s no rehearsal, absolutely none.

“And no prompting, so we have to turn up knowing it and ready to do it. Which I prefer actually, often you get some wonderful, really wonderful spontaneity with the thoughts coming out,” he said.

Could it finally be time to say goodbye to Ken?

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.

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