HELLO VERA

Stan and Hilda Ogden were Corrie’s downtrodden comedy double act for more than 20 years but, sadly, the iconic couple were parted when actor Bernard Youens died in August 1984. Factory machinist Vera Burton had been a show regular since 1973 and her future husband Jack Duckworth could often be spotted supping a pint in the Rovers Return as an extra.

But it was in the 1980s that the couple came into their own. Vera was known for her big mouth and hot temper, while Jack always had a roving eye and was somewhat workshy.

Together, they were dynamite.

Jack and Vera moved into their Coronation Street home in 1983 after buying No.9 – much to the dismay of some of their new neighbours.

The house had been sold to them by Chalkie Whitely and, to Jack’s delight, the old owner’s racing pigeons came with the property.

He originally worked as a cabbie but lost his job through drink-driving and while he was happy to spend his days on the dole Vera had other ideas and sent him out on Stan’s window cleaning round.

Luckily for him, Jack later secured his dream job as the cellarman in the Rovers Return – meaning he could spend all day in his beloved pub.

The philanderer had an affair with Bet Lynch early on in his relationship with Vera, who in turn enjoyed a dalliance with Jack’s predecessor at the Rovers, cellarman Fred Gee.

In 1983 hapless Jack famously took his life into his hands when he signed up to a video dating agency under the alias Vince St.Clair.

His deception, which saw him don a white suit and gold medallion, was uncovered by Vera after a tip off from Bet. She signed up to the agency as Carole Monroe, disguised herself in a ginger wig for their first meeting and chased Jack out of the pub when he realised who he was actually on a date with, to a chorus of laughter from regulars and viewers.

Another hilarious plotline saw Jack, who was always on the lookout for a scam, enter a contest in one of Vera’s women’s magazines.

He described himself as the husband of the year in flowery prose, entering the competition in his wife’s name.

He won but Vera claimed the prize, a Vauxhall Nova, and signed herself up for driving lessons so she didn’t have to hand the car over to Jack. But when she had a crash and broke his nose, he sued her insurance company.

The bickering couple’s marriage was made even more rocky by their wayward son Terry, who remained the apple of Vera’s eye despite his behaviour and much to Jack’s annoyance.

Touchingly, despite the couple’s love/ hate relationship on screen, actress Liz Dawn described Bill Tarmey as her best friend off it, saying they never argued in all their years acting as Jack and Vera.

“It was a funny relationship because I just used to hit him [in our scenes together],” she joked. “I’ve hit him with everything but a brick.

“We were so close.”