Coronation Street Elsie and Bet. Other recurring archetypes include the war veteran such as Albert Tatlock (Jack Howarth), Percy Sugden (Bill Waddington) and Gary Windass (Mikey North), the bumbling retail manager like Leonard Swindley (Arthur Lowe), Reg Holdsworth (Ken Morley), Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden), quick-tempered, tough tradesmen like Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson), Jim McDonald (Charles Lawson), Tommy Harris (Thomas Craig) and Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies), and the perennial losers such as Stan and Hilda, Jack and Vera, Les Battersby (Bruce Jones), Beth Tinker (Lisa George) and Kirk Sutherland (Andrew Whyment). Villains are also common character types such as Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford),
Coronation Street Live (2000 episode) this point few details were available of any potential storyline, but a spokeswoman said that the episode would see one of the characters have a serious health condition, while a couple would be faced with a personal dilemma. Other events to mark the anniversary would include a documentary about the life of actor Bill Roache, who had played the role of Ken Barlow since the soap's inception, and a tribute programme called "Forty Years of Coronation Street". On 5 December it was announced that the Slade singer Noddy Holder would make a cameo appearance in the episode as a character