Coronation Street of youthful rebellion. Though the rest of the original Barlow family were killed off before the end of the 1970s, Ken, who for 27 years was the only character from the first episode remaining, has remained the constant link throughout the entire series. In 2011, Dennis Tanner (Philip Lowrie), another character from the first episode, returned to "Coronation Street" after a 43-year absence. Since 1984, Ken Barlow has been the show's only remaining original character. Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) had appeared in the series since late-January 1961, when the show was just weeks old, and was the show's longest-serving female
Coronation Street soaps which often used straight-to-video films to cover more contentious plot lines that may not be allowed by the broadcaster, "Coronation Street" has largely used these films to reset their characters in other locations. In 1995, "Coronation Street: The Cruise" also known as "Coronation Street: The Feature Length Special" was released on VHS to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the show. ITV heavily promoted the programme as a direct-to-video exclusive but broadcast a brief version of it on 24 March 1996. The Independent Television Commission investigated the broadcast, as viewers complained that ITV misled them. In 1997, following the controversial