Coronation Street in 1984 1984 was " Coronation Street " ' s twenty - fifth year . Production . 1984 was a pivotal year in " Coronation Street " history . With the programme having lost several members of its principal cast the year before , producer Mervyn Watson and the writers faced the task of creating believable off - screen exits , filling the void with new characters , as well as coping with a slew of further misfortunes . The year began with the on - screen departure of Patricia Phoenix as Elsie Tanner , after 23 years . Her fairytale exit - flitting to Portugal to be with her lover Bill Gregory - was followed four months later by the return of Anne Cunningham as Linda Cheveski after a 16 - year absence . Viewed as a possible replacement for Elsie , Linda was paired with new arrival Bill Webster ( who , not coincidentally , was a builder in the vein of Len Fairclough ) , father of Kevin and Debbie . However , her comeback was not deemed a success and she left a month later . Installed in No . 11 , the Websters were envisioned as the programme ' s next long - term family , but these plans also fell through when Peter Armitage refused to renew his initial contract . The decision was made to save the character of Kevin , but Debbie left with Bill early in 1985 . Last seen in 1979 , Billy Walker too made a return , taking over the Rovers licence in accordance with Annie ' s wishes . Billy returned as a nastier character than previously , much to the disappointment of Kenneth Farrington who at the end of the year decided to leave , forcing the writers to re - think their future plans for the Rovers . His exit was screened a week after Fred Gee ' s final appearance , following Fred Feast ' s resignation after eight years . Feast refused to extend his contract in order to film a departure storyline and so Fred was simply never seen again . Jack Howarth - the oldest member of the original cast , and now the last besides William Roache - passed away on 31st March aged 88 , while Bernard Youens died from a heart attack aged 69 on 27th August after a sharp decline in health . Their characters , Albert Tatlock and Stan Ogden , passed away off - screen after an appropriate amount of time had passed . Jean Alexander ' s performance in scenes following Stan ' s death won her the Royal Television Society ' s Best Performance Award in 1985 . Viewing figures . " Coronation Street " countered its troubles behind the scenes with a very strong performance in the ratings . The average figure for 1984 was 15 . 10 million viewers , a 500k increase on 1983 , despite the fact that six months fell from the same months the year before . All but one of the months which saw gains were in the second half of the year , with December building on 1983 ' s audience by over three million viewers and November by four million . The highest - rated episode of the year was Episode 2465 on 14th November , with 20 . 45 million viewers . This was one of three episodes in 1984 to gain an audience of over 20 million viewers , the most in any year since 1978 . 38 episodes reached number one in the viewing charts , a fall of ten from 1983 , while one episode fell outside the top twenty . Who lives where . Coronation Street Rosamund Street Others