How should Deirdre be written out?

This morning we blogged that Anne Kirkbride, who plays Deirdre Barlow, is taking a three-month sabbatical from Coronation Street.

For me, this is sad, as we've only welcomed back Ken and now we'll be saying goodbye to Deirdre for a while and once again things at No. 1 were back to normal - well, as normal as we can get on the street!

It's fair to say we've seen a lot more of Deirdre this past year than we've had in a long time. Well in more scenes per episode anyway! She has had to carry the moral support role that Ken always held and over the past year we've seen a return to the classic Deirdre we knew back in the 1980s and early 1990s - strong, independent and determined. Let's hope we don't see her return to the wimpering character we've known in the past few years. 

When the announcement was made of her temporary departure, many commented that it wouldn't make much of a difference as she doesn't hold such a key role as she did. That's a fair argument, but then again Deirdre is synonymous with Corrie and without a doubt we would feel her loss. As the Barlows are still so central to the programme, losing Deirdre to the dynamic of the family would be noticeable. She has taken over the role of Blanche naturally as it's known that daughters do eventually morph into their mothers! 

As long as there are characters linked to the character who has left or died, that character will be missed. There is still a gap at the Barlows without Blanche and the Rovers doesn't feel the same without Betty, even though she only appeared fleetingly. I missed Ken when he was away and it's nearly two months now since we last saw Rita, Norris and Emily and I want to see them again in episodes.

Anyway, I've rambled! My original reason for doing this blog post was to ask how would you like Deirdre to be written out?

With such a large cast, maybe the producers won't bother with an exit storyline. As has been said, we've not seen Rita or Emily for two months and they've not had an exit. Maybe Anne Kirkbride will film a selection of scenes that will be played out during her absence, if that is possible of course. It has been said that she's leaving in November, which means Deirdre will be dishing out stuffed marrow over Christmas so her absence won't be seen until the new year. Whereas the producers struggled with a plausible reason for Ken to leave the street as he doesn't have any sick relatives to nurse, we have the perfect reason for Deirdre - her Auntie Beryl! Beryl is of course Blanche's sister and although not seen, she has been mentioned. Deirdre could nurse Auntie Beryl for a few months while Ken could always go and visit. And wouldn't it be great if Auntie Beryl couldn't cope alone and would have to move in with the Barlows? That would be classic Corrie! And would make sense as well!

Or have you got any other ideas?

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