Inside Gossip
The King of Corrie to move away – and he’s taking viewers with him…
Coronation Street viewers were left stunned as the credits rolled following the soap’s 10,000th episode – after cobbles stalwart Ken Barlow made the decision to begin a new life away from Weatherfield!
Ken will leave No 1 – where he’s lived for nearly 50 years – so that he and Claudia can move to a luxury retirement home, Still Waters. There, he will be thrilled to find old friend Norris Cole and partner Freda, already settled.
“This is a big decision for Ken, but he thinks it’s now or never,” explains actor William Roache, who has been playing him since episode one in 1960. “He has lived on the same street his whole life and in the same house for most of it.
“Ken feels that he had a chance to move away with Martha [Fraser, played by Stephanie Beacham, whom Ken almost left wife Deirdre for] on the barge, but he let her go. Part of him regretted that. He doesn’t want to make the same mistake again and Claudia is very persuasive. Filming that final scene of the 10,000th episode was very poignant, with just Ken and Eccles and the cobbles.”
Corrie viewers can be rest assured that Ken’s fresh start will not signal the end of William Roache’s time on the soap. Future episodes will chart Ken and Claudia’s new life at Still Waters, where they’ll cross swords with fellow resident Charles, played by Michael Elwyn. The community will also give them the opportunity to take fencing lessons, join a new book club – and hang out at the local cocktail bar!
Meanwhile, back on the Street, Ken’s grown-up children Peter and Tracy will battle it out to buy their father’s house…
“When Ken breaks the news to the family, they are surprised,” reveals William. “But soon Peter and Tracy start squabbling over who has first refusal on the house!
“We’ve already started filming at the retirement complex and I’m really enjoying it,” adds the star. “It always feels different when we film away from the Street. It seems fitting that Ken made this decision in the 10,000th episode, but it’ll be strange not filming in No 1 after all this time.”
So, who will be the new owners of the most famous house on Coronation Street?