Episode 4945 ( 8th December 2000 ) Plot . Ken and Duggie decide to make up a rota so that the entrance to the Street is constantly manned by demonstrators . At the hospital , Vera is critical but stable , having had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics . Tyrone and Maria convince Jack to go home and rest , as he has been at Vera ' s bedside all night , but when Martin advises them that Jack shouldn ' t stay away very long , Tyrone panics and phones Curly to ask him to fetch Jack . While speaking on the phone to Tyrone in The Kabin , Curly is overheard by Norris , who assumes from Curly ' s half of the conversation that Vera has died . Meanwhile , Audrey brags to Rita about her upcoming lunch date with Prince Charles , who is visiting Weatherfield to open a new planning office at the Town Hall . Before she leaves , she drops by the cafe and warns Ken and Duggie that the tarmackers are getting a court injunction , which will means the police will be able to remove the demonstrators . Ken is working on getting a preservation order from Northern Heritage but he fears it will take too long . As Hayley prepares to go to work , she questions Roy about their interview with Peter Hartnell , but Roy is more concerned with the demo , oblivious to Hayley ' s distress . At the Rovers , Natalie tells Liz that she is spending the day with the brewery , who are going to show her around other pubs . Natalie later overhears Liz and Geena pity her situation as a single mother with a pub to run . Duggie tells Natalie about his experiences growing up in a pub , which make her even more worried . Jack reads Vera ' s letter aloud to Curly . Jack is moved by Vera ' s words but tries not to shed tears . In the letter , Vera also confesses to an affair which she had before Terry was born , which led to her uncertainty over Terry ' s parenity . Jack admits to Curly that he knew about the affair , and it was him beating up the man concerned which ended it , despite Vera never finding out . Jack explains that Terry is definitely his , as he reminds him of the way he used to be . They are soon joined by a devastated Emily , who has been told that Vera has died and come to offer her sympathies . Jack and Curly race to the hospital , where they are relieved to learn that there has been no change in Vera ' s condition . At the Rovers , the " news " about Vera spreads , putting a dampener on the spirits of the protesters . Curly and Emily confer and , realising that Norris was the source of the false gossip , confront him . Curly later puts the record straight in the Rovers . Just as everybody celebrates the fact that Vera hasn ' t died , Audrey arrives from her lunch with Prince Charles and tells them that the tarmackers will arrive soon with a police escort . Eileen overhears and hatches a plan . At the hospital , Terry arrives , having heard about Vera . Jack stops him leaving and berates him . Terry breaks down when he sees Vera . As Curly returns , Vera starts to regain consciousness , managing to utter a few words . Terry watches from outside the hospital room . On the Street , the tarmackers arrive and the police give the demonstrators five minutes to move or they will be arrested . Norris is ready to admit defeat but Ken and Duggie persuade everybody to stay put . Ken manages to stall the police by saying he ' s waiting for his solicitor , but with the officer ' s patience wearing thin , the demonstrators still refuse to move . As the police begin manhandling them away , Eileen and Dennis lead a convoy of taxis from Street Cars , which form a blockade . Steve quickly arrives on the scene but he knows nothing about the scheme and is annoyed when the police threaten to tow the vehicles away . As the residents celebrate their brief victory , Peter Barlow arrives in a taxi . He isn ' t surprised to find that his dad Ken is leading the demonstration . Peter tells Deirdre and Blanche that he has finished with the Navy and that his wife Jessica has left him . He goes for a drink in the Rovers and tries to chat up Linda , unaware that she is married to Mike . After making a fool of himself by speaking ill of Mike , Peter discovers Linda ' s identity and storms off . Natalie , Geena and Liz watch a news report by Trevor McDonald on Prince Charles ' s visit to Manchester , and see Audrey meeting the Prince . Elsewhere , Hayley finally gets a chance to speak to Roy . She is disturbed by the fact that Roy doesn ' t see her as a woman . When he clarifies that he doesn ' t think of her in the same vein as other women , and goes off to join the demonstrators , Hayley writes a letter for Roy and leaves the flat , suitcase in hand . Ken realises that the preservation order won ' t arrive in time . When Duggie realises that nobody knows what the preservation order is supposed to look like , he devises a plan to create a fake preservation order , which will hopefully fool the police long enough for the real one to arrive . They type it on Ken ' s laptop and e - mail it to Stan Potter , a friend of Duggie ' s , who prints a hardcopy for them . Unfortunately , they must wait for him to get to the Street . In the meantime , with the cars moved , the police give the tarmackers the go - ahead to start work . Stan arrives in the nick of time and delivers the fake preservation order . Although sceptical , the policeman orders the tarmackers to pack up for the night . As the residents celebrate their victory , Roy frantically searches for Hayley , having read her letter . The residents jeer at Les when he tries to join in the celebrations . In the Rovers , Natalie tells Geena that she plans to sell the Rovers to a pub chain . Outside , Ken leads the residents in a toast to tradition and community . Notable dialogue . Duggie Ferguson : " Just make sure that there ' s always two or three out there that are capable of standing up to rough - looking tarmackers and police dogs . " Roy Cropper : " Who ' s out there now ? " Ken Barlow : " Blanche and Ashley . " Jack Duckworth : " ( reading Vera ' s letter ) " If it can be arranged , I would like to be buried near me mother . " Can ' t see why not , I don ' t know anybody else that ' d like to be buried near ' er . " Norris Cole : " I just heard you say I ' ll give Jack the message and take him straight to the hospital . " Emily Bishop : " Well that didn ' t mean she was dead . " Norris Cole : " Well it did the way he said it . " Rita Sullivan : " And what way were that ? " Norris Cole : " Well , all sort of funereal like , as if he was about to burst into tears . " Curly Watts : " I always talk like that . " Ken Barlow : " It ' s a cause worth fighting for . " Peter Barlow : " What , saving the cobbles ? " Ken Barlow : " And what they stand for . " Peter Barlow : " No , lives are worth fighting for . Your country ' s worth fighting for . This ? This is a flamin ' pantomime . " Ken Barlow : " Well it ' ll do for me . " Peter Barlow : " Oh yeah , I know . Because this is you in ' it , this is all you ' ve ever known , eh ? This little in - bred world , everybody mindin ' everybody else ' s business , lace curtains twitchin . It ' s a small world ' ere dad . It ' s as small as it gets . " Ken Barlow : " It wasn ' t just the cobbles that got us here all together today , it was a feeling of tradition , of community . And I ' m proud of where I come from . I ' ve lived here all my life . I ' ve seen a lot of people come and go , a lot of changes , a lot of dramas down the Street , like lots of other streets where people are living and trying to get together , just that I find there ' s something a little bit special about this one , and I know that you all feel the same . So I want you to raise your glasses with me and drink a toast to Coronation Street . "