Friday night's double episode, written by Jonathan Harvey, saw the end of an era on Coronation Street as Rita's name was taken down from The Kabin. Rita has worked in The Kabin for 36 years. She moved in there when Len Fairclough bought the shop for £3,000 in the summer of 1973, but Rita wasn't impressed. "It's just a grotty little hole!" she told him, but was won round when the upstairs flat was thrown in as well. 
Rita wanted to call the new shop 'Rita's' but it was Len who decided on 'The Kabin'. Rita took on an assistant in the shape of Mavis Riley.Barbara Knox, who plays Rita, remembers falling in love with The Kabin set almost at first sight. "I thought it was wonderful. I loved it. I just thought, 'This is mine. This is wonderful. I feel happy in here'."
And now, after Rita in The Kabin for 36 years, nasty Norris takes over to build his little empire. It truly is the end of an era.Source: The Coronation Street Story by Daran Little.
See also: Red-haired Rita, Queen of the Kabin
7 comments:
It is kind of sad isn't it, especially as she's just going quietly instead of after a blazing row with Norris or something. I wonder if she'll wear leopard print when she leaves for her cruise a la Bet Lynch leaving the Rovers?
I thought she will return after her cruise, after thinking retirement's not for her?
Yes,she does return but I don't know if she'll take up The kabin again. Maybe she'll put a halt to the sale going through at the last minute and change her mind? I do hope so!
The Kabin just wont be the same without Rita! I hear Barbara Knox is having an operation, therefore going off on a "cruise". If this is the case I wish her all the best. How come Norris got the money within days from Ramsay when probate would take months? Not sure if I am happy for this weazely charater to be sole "prop".
In the world of Weatherfield, real estate and legal transactions all take place within 48 hours of the first wisp of an idea!
I've read that it was a just a simple way of writing Rita out of the show at short notice and that when she returns she will pull out of the sale.
Let's hope so because scenes in the Kabin just wouldn't be the same without Rita's bantering of Norris.
I'm pretty sure Rita's name has been taken down from The Kabin once before - when she handed the business over to Sharon Gaskell.
Sharon soon put the shop up for sale and Rita bought it back from her.
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