Dennis Tanner is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, played by Philip Lowrie. The character was created by writer Tony Warren and was introduced in the first episode on 9 December 1960. Lowrie remained in the role for just over a year before being written out unexpectedly in 1962 when a strike by the actor's union Equity prevented new contracts being signed. Although the strike ended a few months later, Lowrie chose not to return until a year later. After a further five years, Lowrie became frustrated with the material his character was getting and chose not to renew his contract. Dennis departed Coronation Street on 12 June 1968, shortly after marrying girlfriend Jenny Sutton. It was announced in January 2011 that the character would be returning to the soap once again after a 43-year absence. His return made it the longest any actor in Coronation Street has taken a break. His return aired on 12 May 2011. In September 2011, Lowrie was presented with a certificate by the Guinness World Records for being the person with the longest gap between television appearances in the same show, having returned to Coronation Street as Dennis Tanner. It was announced on 14 December 2013 that Lowrie was to leave Coronation Street. He departed, alongside co-star Sue Johnston, who plays Gloria Price, on 21 February 2014. Dennis returned again briefly for another storyline from April to July 2014. It was announced in February 2020 to mark the soap’s 10,000th episode Dennis Tanner was killed off off-screen. Introduced as a teenage tearaway, Dennis quickly became a reformed character and for most of his time on the show, Dennis was primarily used as the show's comic relief with his story lines revolving around his interest in show business, much to the annoyance of his mother Elsie (Pat Phoenix). Dennis was later described as "immensely popular".