Coronation Street reached a low of eight million in February 1973, when Pat Phoenix quit as Elsie Tanner, Violet Carson (battleaxe Ena Sharples) was written out for most of the year due to illness, and Doris Speed (haughty landlady Annie Walker) took two months' leave due to bereavement. The audience of ITV's other flagship soap opera "Crossroads" increased markedly at this time, as its established cast, such as Meg Richardson (Noele Gordon), grew in popularity. These sudden departures forced the writing team to quickly develop characters who had previously stood in the background. The roles of Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear), Deirdre Hunt
Annie Walker (Coronation Street) over the running of the Rovers after her death. Annie Walker (Coronation Street) Annie Walker (also Beaumont) was a long-standing fictional character in the ITV soap opera "Coronation Street". She was played by actress Doris Speed from the series' first episode in 1960 until Speed retired from the role 23 years and 1,737 episodes later in 1983. The character of Annie has been noted as "snobbish" and "snooty" due to her condescending attitude and delusions of grandeur. Despite this, Annie proved to be one of the show's most popular characters and Speed received more fan mail than any other cast