Coronation Street boss reveals the one mistake no producer would dare to make

It’s safe to say that ITV’s Executive Producer for Continuing Drama Iain MacLeod knows a thing or two about soap, given that he spent time as the boss of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

Now, he has revealed the one mistake that no Coronation Street producer would ever dare to make: Axing Ken Barlow (William Roache).

Ken Barlow is to Coronation Street what Olivia Benson is to Law & Order: SVU. That may be a niche reference, so just trust me when I say that both of these characters are the backbone of their respective shows.

With Ken having first appeared on the cobbles in the very first episode in 1960, it’s difficult to imagine the show without him. However, it sounds like we won’t have to, according to Iain.

The big boss of ITV soaps claimed to The Sun that actor Bill Roache can ‘absolutely’ stay as long as he wants.

‘I mean, it would be a brave producer team that took that decision!’ He joked about the option to axe Ken.

And it isn’t just because of the character’s legacy, as Iain commended the actor for his professionalism.

‘He’s on his dialogue, he’s the most professional member of the cast.’

Being the longest-serving soap actor in the world, Bill Roache has won countless accolades and records for his work.

‘I don’t know how many more records there are to break in that field, but I hope he breaks them all,’ Iain said.

While Ken is an absolute icon of British telly, there have been disagreements on the Metro Soaps desk over whether Iain’s suggestion that he should be immune from the swinging axe is the right choice for the future of the soap and the character…

Should Ken Barlow be immune to Corrie’s axe?

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Sue Haasler says ‘Yes!’

There are few constants in life, but one of them is surely Ken Barlow. With the full disclosure that I’m very old indeed, I can’t remember a time when Ken wasn’t on our telly screens.

Viewers have followed Ken’s life from the very first episode of the show in 1960, where we met him as an idealistic young man who was keen to escape his working class roots. While Ken never physically escaped those roots, his university background and intellectual leanings have always made him a slight outsider in the Street, although his intellectual snobbery has mellowed over the years.

With his son Peter Barlow having been a huge part of the show for many years and his step-daughter Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford), son Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) and grandson Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson) as current characters, Ken has links to a lot of people in the community, which means he can be brought into a variety of storylines. In a show that’s about community and family, it’s realistic to have some older people in the Street and along with Rita Tanner (Barbara Knox) and Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls), Ken provides this.

He’s also one of the most recognised and known characters and actors in the whole of British TV. During the recent Corriedale crossover with Emmerdale, the two shows brought their stalwart older characters – Ken and Emmerdale’s Eric Pollard, played by Chris Chittell – together as their characters bonded over a faulty snack machine. 

It was a tiny moment in an episode filled with drama and stunts, but viewers loved it as it brought together two actors who carry the history of their respective shows on their shoulders and did it with all the skill you would expect. The other actors also loved working with the two show legends.

Personally, I can’t imagine Corrie without Ken.

Maisie Spackman says ‘No!’

Before you all come after me with your pitchforks, I want it on record that I also believe that Ken Barlow is a Coronation Street legend and should be treated as such.

However, for me, that means portraying the entire spectrum of a soap character’s experience – including an on-screen exit.

As heartbreaking as it will be to say goodbye to Ken, I am a firm believer that it is what we as an audience, and what the character himself, deserve.

I’ll be gutted if one day, in a few years’ time, we learn that Ken has passed away off-screen, without us having had the opportunity to say a proper goodbye to him.

Ken deserves an emotional, heartfelt exit – one that pays tribute to his legacy on the show. He deserves to be surrounded by family, with several previous cast members returning for a brief period to see him off.

Whether his exit is a move away from the cobbles or a heartbreaking death, it deserves its own episode, led by Bill Roache, with plenty of references to Ken’s past and the character we have come to love so dearly.

By refusing to axe Ken, the producers are limiting how his inevitable exit can be handled. While we could still get an emotional memorial episode – EastEnders and Emmerdale have proved just how successful these can be with their send-offs for Dot Cotton and Zak Dingle – I would much rather see Ken at the centre of his final episode, than simply the memory of him.