Our Ken At 80

As Corrie’s Ken Barlow celebrates a big birthday, actor William Roache looks back at his Weatherfield journey.

- Alison Slade

In the fictional world of Coronation Street, hundreds of characters have come and gone, and a wealth of different stories been told. But for all the changes, one thing has remained the same. From the very first episode, on 9 December 1960, right up until the present day, it has been home to Ken Barlow.

When we first met Ken, then a student of English and History, he’d not long turned 21. This week, the Weatherfield bookworm hits another milestone birthday – he’s 80! Can you believe it?! And no one is quite as surprised as star William Roache.

‘I never imagined that, one day, we’d be filming Ken’s 80th – nobody did!’ explains William, who, in real life, is a sprightly 87. ‘When we started filming Coronation Street, it was only meant to be an 11-week stopgap.

‘When we got on air, of course, we became something really big. We were cutting-edge realism in kitchen-sink drama. But still, no one would ever have imagined that we’d be running, nearly 60 years later.’

REFLECTION TIME

Ken’s certainly had an eventful life – he’s been married four times, for starters, and probably dated more women than his current male counterparts put together.