Ken Barlow
If you had to compare Ken Barlow's life story to a classic movie, then It's A Wonderful Life wouldn't be a bad contrast.
Okay, the seasonal favourite with Jimmy Stewart may not be set near Manchester but the themes are still there: An everyman yearning of bigger things beyond the end of his street, ends up settling for his lot and stays to make a difference in his lovable town.
Unlike that much loved flick which told the tale of a man's troubled existence from youth to middle age in a couple of hours, many of us have watched the Barlow saga unfold over the last 40 years in real time.
Ken, of course, was a bright chap who could have gone to London to make his fortune but he decided to stick around his roots and make a difference. Unlike Jimmy Stewart, he may not have had a guardian angel to show him the way, but he did have his much missed Uncle Albert.
There was also a moment one Christmas when Ken decided that life wasn't worth living and decided to end it all. If it weren't for Bet (Julie Goodyear), Granada execs would have needed another street bore to fill Ken's shoes.
Barlow has been in Corrie for so long, some believe that (heaven forbid) the street could be wiped out by a nuclear blast and the last two things still standing would be the Rovers and cosy old Ken, still trying to save the cobbles from being covered in tarmac.
As with many soaps, some of the public - and the media - seem to have a hard time gauging where the drama ends and the reality begins.
Roache, the country's most famous druid, is one of the few soap stars to ever take his case to court to prove under oath, that he is not 'boring', as one tabloid labelled him.
Maybe they weren't paying attention but Barlow's life is one of the least boring in any soap's history.
He has spent the last four decades romancing just about every available woman who walked into the Rovers, Joanna Lumley among them.
Many of his lovers either died in a bizarre hair drying accident or ran off with other men. Ken may not look it but he is also one of the most powerful characters on the box.
When 'Dreary's' affair with Mike Baldwin was revealed in 1983, the country came to a standstill as Ken threw his screen wife against the wall and shocked everyone - not least actress Anne Kirkbride.
Beneath the cosy Barlow veneer, there was a wild animal just bursting to get out.
Suddenly the press jumped on the fact and before you knew it, soaps were all over the tabloids like a rash. The fact that he also survived the axe in the late Nineties, as regulars like drippy Derek fell by the wayside is testament to his popularity with the suits at Granada.
In real life, Roache's son Linus has followed in his dad's footsteps, although he has already notched up a more diverse series of roles in films such as Priest, Wings of the Dove and Shot Through the Heart.
With Corrie now officially in the 21st-century and more episodes per week guaranteed, you can bet that Ken Barlow will be there every step of the way as he grows old gracefully and starts collecting his pension from The Kabin.
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