Soap star Helen Worth is set to make her final appearance on Coronation Street on Christmas Day, after more than 50 years.
Worth, 73, made her first appearance as Gail Platt on 29 July 1974 and has been at the heart of several major storylines over the years.
She said in June that her golden anniversary year “felt like the perfect time to leave the show”, having made the decision to quit at the start of the year.
“I have been truly blessed to have been given the most incredible scripts week in week out, and to have worked with fantastic actors, directors and a brilliant crew,” she said when her exit was announced.
“The past 50 years have flown by and I don’t think the fact that I am leaving has quite sunk in yet.”
Her storylines have included her turbulent relationships with her children Nick (Ben Price), Sarah (Tina O’Brien) and David (Jack P Shepherd) and mother Audrey (Sue Nicholls).
Gail has had five husbands over the years, with her exit storyline focused on whether she will make it down the aisle with a sixth in the form of Jesse Chadwick (John Thompson).
In the Christmas Eve episode, her serial killer former husband Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) returned from the dead after more than 20 years.
In the dream sequence, Hillman urged Gail not to go ahead with her wedding.
