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
Frank Foster (Coronation Street) Frank Foster (Coronation Street) Frank Foster is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, "Coronation Street", played by Andrew Lancel. He made his debut appearance on 20 January 2011. Frank was introduced as a business associate of Carla Connor (Alison King). In December 2011, it was announced Frank would be leaving "Coronation Street" at the end of his storyline. Two months later, it was confirmed Frank would be murdered as part of a "whodunit" storyline. Five regular characters became suspects during the investigation, but his mother, Anne Foster (Gwen Taylor) eventually confessed to killing him. Frank made his