[Scarlett.]

Remember what Phil Collinson said, don't believe what you read in the papers

Coronation Street veteran Bill Tarmey’s character Jack Duckworth will die in a tram crash in the show’s 50th anniversary.

Tarmey is just one of the names set to be culled in the show’s ‘bloodbath’ disaster due to air on December 9th.

The 69-year-old actor, who has played loveable rogue Duckworth for more than 30 years, had announced earlier this year that he wanted to quit the show to spend more time with his family, The People reported.
Cull: Bill Tarmey, who has played Jack Duckworth for over 30 years, will be killed off in the show's 50th anniversary storyline. He is pictured here with his on-screen wife Vera (played by Liz Dawn), who left the show in 1995

Cull: Bill Tarmey, who has played Jack Duckworth for over 30 years, will be killed off in the show's 50th anniversary storyline. He is pictured here with his on-screen wife Vera (played by Liz Dawn), who left the show in 1995

But his dramatic exit will no doubt devastate fans who will have been counting on his character returning for special one-off episodes.

Tarmey’s forthcoming storyline is ever bleaker when his character reveals he is dying from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, in episodes due to be aired in October.

The rather down-beat anniversary plot promises that 'Weatherfield will never the same again' as 'much loved residents are killed and injured'.

The disaster will see the viaduct at the end of the street, close to the Kabin and Corner Shop, collapse sending a tram careering off the bridge and onto the cobbles.
Familiar face: Fans will be devastated that Tarmey's brutal end will not leave the door open for one-off returns to the show

Familiar face: Fans will be devastated that Tarmey's brutal end will not leave the door open for one-off returns to the show

The image of the tram going across the viaduct at the Corner Shop end of the street has been an integral part of the opening titles of Coronation Street for the past nine years.

While exact details of the accident and its casualties are being kept under wraps, other characters set for the chop are thought to include John Stape, played by Graeme Hawley.

Dev Alahan, played by Jimmi Harkishin, Ciaran McCarthy, (Boyzone’s Keith Duffy) and Samia Smith’s character Maria Connor could also be victims of the disaster.

Despite the speculation, alternative scripts will be issued and security will be at its highest as producers aim to keep the identity of those who will lose their lives top secret.
Tragedy will hit Coronation Street this winter as several characters face being killed off in a fatal tram crash storyline to mark the soap's 50th anniversary

Tragedy will hit Coronation Street this winter as several characters face being killed off in a fatal tram crash storyline to mark the soap's 50th anniversary

Even cast and crew do not know which Weatherfield residents will be killed in the disaster – which will be the biggest stunt Coronation Street has ever staged.

And the drama will continue into 2011 as the residents come to terms with the tragedy and the dramatic twists and turns that follow.

But the moves are set to unsettle cast members as actors will be left wondering if they have a future on the show.
Mass cull: Coronation Street producer Phil Collinson announced on This Morning today that several characters will be killed off in the tram crash storyline later this year

Mass cull: Coronation Street producer Phil Collinson announced on This Morning that several characters will be killed off in the tram crash storyline later this year

It will also upset some fans who hoped bosses would bring back some of their favourite characters as part of the celebrations, some of whom fear the moves are a bit down-beat for the occasion.

The moves are being overseen by new Coronation Street boss Phil Collinson who worked on Doctor Who. The show is promising sensational special effects.

He said the show would be looking forward not back in the way it marks the half-a-century celebrations.

Speaking on This Morning earlier this month, producer Phil Collinson said: 'As we celebrate the show reaching such an incredible milestone it feels fitting that we will be screening a dramatic event of this magnitude which will affect the lives of all the residents of Coronation Street.

'We’ll be using all the wonders of modern television production to bring you a disaster that will rock the lives of everyone in Weatherfield.

'At the heart of the drama though will be ordinary people on an ordinary street battling adversity – the template for the programme created by Tony Warren 50 years ago.'

Daily Mail

[Smithy]

Well i wouldn't be surprised at all, plus the article is almost identical to the one in The People

[RichardWells]

Also the people newspaper said that 2 characters who won't be killed off will be Michelle Connor and Tina McIntyre, apparently Phil Collinson likes them.

[Scarlett.]

I just noticed this bit

"his character reveals he is dying from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma"

[RichardWells]

Poor old Jack, thinks he's dying of Cancer but ends up being squashed by a tram instead.

That's really bad luck lol.

[Scarlett.]

lol indeed