WE’RE OUT OF SOAP!
MARION McMULLEN LOOKS AT MEMORABLE TV EXITS AS CORRIE FANS BID FAREWELL TO NORRIS COLE
NOSEY Norris kept watch on the antics of his Coronation Street neighbours for 27 years and they will be raising a glass or two to his memory at the Rover’s Return.
His soap exit was made quietly off-screen this week with Ken Barlow, Rita and Mary arriving at the hospital only to be told he had passed away half an hour earlier.
Actor Malcolm Hebden, who played Norris Cole, is now 81 and suffered a heart attack in 2017. He briefly returned to Corrie a few years later and his character was last seen enjoying life at Stillwaters retirement complex.
Malcolm has notched up more than 1,600 episodes of Coronation Street but first played another role on the soap before landing the iconic role of Kabin owner Norris. He first appeared on the cobbles in 1974 as Carlos, the Spanish boyfriend of Thelma Barlow’s Mavis Riley.
Brookside’s Beth Jordache, played by Anna Friel, also died in hospital when she made a sudden exit from the Channel 4 soap in 1995. She passed away from a pre
existing heart condition just hours before she was due to appear in court to appeal her conviction for murdering her abusive dad Trevor Jordache.
One of Coronation Street’s most memorable deaths was when the villain Alan Bradley (Mark Eden) met his maker in 1989 after being run over by a Blackpool tram, while chasing his ex-partner Rita Fairclough (Barbara Knox). Mark was later invited to unveil a plaque at the seaside resort at the tram stop where the scene was filmed because so many fans wanted to visit the scene of his demise.
Mark, who passed away in January at the age of 92, once said: “I was only allowed to film Alan’s last moments running away as they insisted on a double for the scene under the tram wheels. I gather 26 million viewers watched those final moments.”
Queen Vic landlady Angie Watts (Anita Dobson) was last seen in Albert Square in 1988, but her off-screen death was only announced 14 years later in 2002. It was said the EastEnders favourite had drunk herself to death and died from cirrhosis of the liver.
When Janine Butcher pushed Barry Evans (Shaun Williamson) off a cliff in EastEnders, it really was a cliff-hanger. He fell to his death on New Year’s Day 2004 while they were on honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands. Janine plotted to marry Barry for his money after he told her he was terminally ill. However, in a twist of fate, Barry learned he was not dying after all and shared the news with a horrified Janine. The result was RIP Barry. He banged his head on a rock after falling and the scheming gold-digger took a seat and waited for him to die.
The Emmerdale air disaster of 1993 was watched by 18 million viewers and saw four regulars perish. Mark Hughes, Elizabeth Pollard, Archie Brooks and Leonard Kempinski all met their end.
Since then Emmerdale’s been a magnet for major incidents, including the 2000 bus crash and barn fire.
The 10th anniversary of the plane crash saw a New Year’s Eve killer storm hit the village, during which the iconic Woolpack was struck by lightning, resulting in Tricia Dingle being crushed by a wall. She was declared brain dead and her organs donated for transplants.
Not every soap exit is marked by violence. Coronation Street cleaner Hilda Ogden ( Jean Alexander) packed up her curlers and head scarf and left Weatherfield in 1987 after 23 years of keeping the Rovers Return looking spotless. A Save Hilda campaign was promptly launched by fans when they were heard she was leaving, but Hilda departed on Christmas Day to head to Derbyshire and a new job as housekeeper to Doctor Lowther.
Jean was once voted the greatest soap opera star of all time and Coronation Street’s Jennie McAlpine even named her daughter Hilda in 2018.