Story[]
Now being rejected by his wife Rita Tanner, Dennis Tanner decides to leave Weatherfield again. He has a chat with distant cousin Julie Carp and looks at the "Dennis Tanner 1951" graffiti on the window sill. Dennis then walks off down the street with a bag packed, as he leaves Weatherfield for the last time. This means boring Ken Barlow can regain his much earned title as the only character left from the first ever episode 53 and a half years earlier.
Cast[]
- This episode sees the final departure of Philip Lowrie as Dennis Tanner, which leaves William Roache as the only remaining cast member since the first episode. Roache's return as Ken Barlow was in Ep 8440 - 4 Aug 2014, after a 15 month hiatus, so Ken never saw Dennis leave the street yet again. On a side note, Ken and Dennis last appeared in the same episode together in Ep 8090 - 25 Mar 2013.
- In February 2020, over 5 years after Dennis' departure, he was revealed to have died. Dennis' exact death date was never revealed but it was sometime after November 2015 when him and Rita begun filing for divorce, and before he died he wrote a letter to Rita, and told Rita he wanted his ashes scattered in Blackpool. A Coronation Street anniversary book revealed it happened in January 2020, so at least a couple of weeks before Rita found out.
- Actor Philip Lowrie was axed from the show by producer Stuart Blackburn in late 2013. Since his exit, due to his character Dennis being killed off, this probably indicates that he would not have wanted to return due to being axed from the role. Actress Anne Cunningham also hit out at the way Lowrie was axed from the show.