Corrie episodes with no surviving cast

On the 9th December 1960 the first episode of the soap opera Coronation Street was broadcast on ITV by Granada Television to seven of the nine ITV regions then in existence. The two exceptions were the Midlands and North East of England regions, where their respective franchisees, ATV Midlands and Tyne Tees Television, decided the viewers would rather see a US import, with ATV showing the crime drama Highway Patrol, and Tynes Tees opting for the western series The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp. Since that date many of Coronation Street's cast members have come and gone from the soap, and many have sadly since died, but for 67 years there remained a least one surviving regular cast member for every single episode ever broadcast.

This all changed with the passing on 31st December 2017 of Doreen Keogh, who played Concepta Riley, later Hewitt and then Regan. Prior to her death she was the last surviving regular cast member of three episodes from 1961, namely 42, 138 and 139, making them the first episodes of Coronaton Street in which all the featured regular cast members have since died. In the case of episode 42 there were also two guest cast members, one of whom, Renny Lister who played factory worker Jean Stark, is still alive. Renny is the widow of fellow Coronation Street actor Kenneth Cope, who played Jed Stone. On the other hand episodes 138 and 139 were made during the 1961/62 equity strike, and as such feature no guest cast or supporting artists, so they became the first two episodes of Coronation Street where every single person seen or heard has since died.

The 3rd March 2022 death of Angela Crow, who played factory worker Doreen Lostock, added to more episodes, 30 and 31, to the list of episodes with no surviving regular cast members. Both of these episodes have five guest members, and in both cases I have been able to verify that the only surviving member of the guest cast is Patricia Routledge, of Hyacinth Bucket fame, who was playing café owner Mrs Snapes.

On the 23rd October 2023 the Everton FC chairman Bill Kenwright died, having played Betty Turpin’s natural son, Gordon Clegg, on and off for most of the character’s appearances spanning 44 years. His death added two 1969 episodes, 865 and 866, to our list. Episodes 865 featured six guest cast members, of whom two are still alive, being Glenn Slowther and Wendy McConnell (now Dawson) who played a boy and girl who Hilda Ogden finds courting at a closed train station. A coach driver in the same episode was played by someone called Edward Clayton, but due to the sheer abundance of Edward Claytons in the UK I’ve been unable to verify if this specific one is still alive. Episode 866 features three guest cast members, of whom one is still with us, being Rhoda Lewis, who played bookmaker’s wife Lillian. Dilys Rhoda Lewis, later Mrs Florence, is one of the founders of the Haye On Wye Festival of Literature.

Prior to his death on 25th April 2025 Philip Lowrie was the only surviving regular cast member in 24 episodes, spanning from 1961 to 1968. This swells the list of episodes with no surviving regular cast members to 31. The episodes are as follows:
From 1961
106-107 – No guest cast or supporting artists due to the Equity strike.
109 – No guest cast or supporting artists due to the Equity strike.
From 1962
112 – No guest cast or supporting artists due to the Equity strike.
114 – No guest cast or supporting artists due to the Equity strike.
124-128 – No guest cast or supporting artists due to the Equity strike.
138-139 – No guest cast or supporting artists due to the Equity strike.
From 1963
253 – Both members of guest cast have also died.
From 1964
398-399 – Ray Brooks, who played talent scout Norman Philiips, is the only surviving member of guest cast.
From 1966
542 – Sean Gerrard, who played Newton & Ridley work Ronnie Wiigg, might still be alive, but the other  two members of guest cast have died.
543 – Both guest cast members have died.
544 – Sean Gerrard, who played Newton & Ridley work Ronnie Wiigg, might still be alive, but the other four  members of guest cast have died.
545 – Both guest cast members have died.
550 – Both guest cast members have died.
From 1968
737 – Martin Shaw (Robert Croft), Kenneth Cranham (Roy), Angela Pleasance (Monica Sutton), Veronica Clifford (Vanda) and Brenda Elder (Mrs Sutton) are all still alive. Kenneth Law, Edward Gardener and Ricky Hibbs, who played Judge, Counsel and Usher respectively in the court scenes, may also still be alive.
738 – Martin Shaw (Robert Croft), Kenneth Cranham (Roy), Angela Pleasance (Monica Sutton), and Veronica Clifford (Vanda) are all still alive. Kenneth Law and Ricky Hibbs, who played Judge and Usher respectively in the court scenes, may also still be alive.
769-770 – The same four members of guest cast appear in both episodes, of whom only Stephanie Turner, who played Ray Langton’s girlfriend Shirley Walton, is still alive.

There are currently 12 living actors who are the sole surviving regular cast member of at least one episode of Coronation Street, as follows:
47. William Roache (Episodes 62, 78, 80, 104-105, 108, 110-111, 113, 115-123, 129-137, 140-147, 196-197, 252, 765-766, 1118-1119, 1458-1459 and 2018-2019)
31. Eileen Derbyshire (Episodes 69, 228-229, 307, 333, 358, 414, 428-429, 432-433, 482-483, 640-641, 644-645, 719-720, 767-768, 787-790, 895-896, 919-920, and 952-953)
18. Sandra Gough (Episodes 378-383, 388-393, 438-439, 442-443 and 634-635)
10. Anne Cunningham (Episodes 3-4, 6-7, 20, 35, 47, 75, 85 and 96)
7. Anne Reid (Episodes 89, 564-565, 817-818 and 899-900)
6. Kenneth Farrington (Episodes 24, 59, 66-67 and 1090-1091)
5. Eileen Mayers (Episodes 12, 14, 76 and 278-279)
5. Julie Goodyear (Episode 1114-1115 and 1138-1141)
4: Alan Rothwell (Episodes 561, 688-689 and 740)
2. Diana Davies (Episodes 1190-1191)
2. Thelma Barlow (Episodes 1564-1565)
1. Susan Jameson (Episode 356)
 
The most recent episodes to have only one surviving regular cast member are 2018 and 2019 from August 1980.

I have used the excellent Corriepedia's cast lists for every episode as my source for exactly who was in each episode, and in some case to verify that guest cast members have died. In some cases Corriepedia's only source was the list of that week's cast members printed in TV Times, meaning that not every listed cast member may have appeared in both episodes in that week, which might mean there are actually more episodes with no surviving regular cast members than I have identified from Corriepedia's data.