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
Peter Barlow (Coronation Street) Peter Barlow (Coronation Street) Peter Barlow is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, "Coronation Street", played by Chris Gascoyne since 2000. The character of Peter was born on screen during an episode broadcast on 5 April 1965, he was born along with his twin sister Susan (Katie Heannau, Wendy Jane Walker, Suzy Patterson, Joanna Foster) to parents Ken (William Roache) and Valerie Barlow (Anne Reid). Gascoyne made his first appearance in the role during the 40th anniversary live episode airing on 8 December 2000. Gascoyne left the role in 2003 and returned in 2007 for a brief