List of Coronation Street characters introduced in 1961
In January, Latham introduced four new regular characters, the first batch to arrive since Warren's initial creations at the start of the series a month earlier.January also saw the introduction of Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson), a character who would become one of the series' central figures and the show's most prominent alpha male.Granger took over as producer in July; he introduced Valerie Tatlock (Anne Reid) in early August, followed by Bill Gregory (Jack Watson) in his first of four short stints in October.In January 1961, he turned up on the doorstep of number 11 after an absence of fifteen years in order to meet his two children and ask for a divorce from Elsie so he could marry his new girlfriend Norah Dawson.Dot had several flings in her time despite being married, and in 1969, her husband Walter finally finished with her; and on top of this she lost her fancy new job.Having just dumped her boyfriend Malcolm for his lack of support following her mother's death, and on discovering that May had unpaid debts, Christine's struggle sparked sympathy from Joe, who paid for the plumbing bill himself.Eventually, two weeks after Sheila's suicide attempt forced her to leave the Street, Doreen herself found she had nothing left in Weatherfield and went to join the Women's Royal Army Corps.Farrington was originally tested for the part of Dennis Tanner; producers felt that he did not suit the role and it later given to actor Philip Lowrie.[1] Farrington told Ken Roche of TVTimes that "they did not think I was right for it, so the wrote me into the series as the son of Annie Walker (Doris Speed)".A mechanic by trade, Billy was never happy behind the bar of the Rovers and left Weatherfield several times in the early 1970s to work in London again.When Annie retired in 1984, Billy took over the Rovers licence at her request, but after a short time as landlord he was forced out by the brewery for holding after-hours parties and he left Weatherfield again and returned to Jersey.As far as we know Joan and her husband Gordon were still together by the time the last Walker, her brother Billy, left the Street in 1984—making their marriage one of the longest and most successful in the show's history.With nowhere else to go, they spent the remainder of the evening nursing drinks in the Rovers Return Inn, although as Annie Walker refused to have a baby on licensed premises, Karen volunteered to leave Jason in his pram outside so that she and Colin could stay and wait for Ena.The kidnapping sparked a large-scale search by the police and the army, but fortunately the baby was found after just two days, his pram abandoned on waste ground with Jason unharmed inside.The kidnapper wasn't identified until January 1973, when Christine Peters' suspicious behaviour caused Emily Bishop to investigate and discover that she snatched Jason, for she had lost her own baby and was suffering mentally from the loss.When Ena returned to the Street, she revealed to her friends that Colin and Karen had asked her to stay permanently but that she had graciously turned down the offer.Their date did not go very well, however the actress Renny Lister is married to the actor who played Jed, Kenneth Cope, known for Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), in real life.Post-prison schemes to make money included trying to sell a fruit machine to Jack and Annie Walker, and attempting to persuade his sister to invest in jukeboxes.They got married at St. Mary's Parish Church on 4 August 1962, and took their honeymoon in London, which was paid for with the money Ken raised from selling his motorcycle.Ken's ambitions sometimes got the better of him — later in 1962, he wanted to give up teaching to focus on writing, meaning the pair would be relying solely on the money Valerie was bringing in.Ken and Dave were putting their careers in jeopardy by giving a TV interview arguing for a school crossing after a pupil was knocked down in Bessie Street.In November 1965, while Valerie was at a class, Ken was looking after the twins, but when he stepped out to The Rovers Return Inn for a few minutes, a piece of coal fell from the fire, filling the house with smoke.Valerie thought about reopening the Salon as the twins grew older, but instead started working in the Corner Shop for Maggie Clegg.1968 also saw a change of address for the Barlows; after seeing an artist's impression of the maisonettes, Valerie told Ken she wanted to move into one, as it had modern conveniences the 70-year-old Number 9 lacked.Cockney Nona was not easily accepted by the locals after she had told of her past as an exotic dancer and found life in Weatherfield hard.DS Sowman last appearance came as he attempted to track down Elsie Tanner, who had fled the scene of a car accident of which she was involved in with Robert Maxwell.Ena Sharples (Violet Carson) later discovers Bill writing to his wife Phyllis, and tells Len he must inform Elsie.Thirteen years on, and Bill returns from his Portugal home to pay his respects to Rita Fairclough (Barbara Knox) on hearing of the death of Len.Whilst in Weatherfield, Bill is stunned to learn that Elsie is back living on the Street as he thought she was still happily married with Alan in Newcastle.In 2011, as Dennis Tanner (Philip Lowrie) returns to the Street, he tells Rita that Elsie and Bill were married after settling in Portugal and that after twenty happy years together they died holding hands in a car accident in 2004.