Corrie's Windass clan and other cast changes

Several new faces are set to appear in Coronation Street over the coming months as the Windass clan (yes, you read that right) turn up in Weatherfield.

The family comprises husband Eddie (Steve Huison) and wife Donna (Debbie Rush), their son Carl (Mikey North) and Eddie's brother, Len (Conor Ryan - not to be confused with Ryan Connor!). Their names, however, may change before they appear on screen - you wouldn't believe the number of name changes there have been since their inception!

Some of you may recognise the name 'Steve Huison'. He played Lomper in The Full Monty and more recently, The Royal Today's porter Norman Dunstan (pictured, above right).

Apparently, David Platt (Jack P. Shepherd) will finally meet his match in Eddie Windass in a storyline which airs at the back end (no pun intended) of this year. And let's not forget there will be a vacant property on the Street at the end of the year when the last of the Mortons moves out...

Meanwhile, David's cellmate Graeme Proctor (Craig Gazey, pictured left) will make a return to our screens in November when he's released from the Young Offenders' Institute.

In other casting news, I was pleased to see Liam Connor's (Rob James-Collier) mother and father Barry (Frank Grimes) and Helen (Sorcha Cusack) on location, filming for their screen son's funeral. Obviously, I'm not happy about the occasion that they've returned for - losing Liam will be a big loss to Corrie - but I am pleased the storyline team has acknowledged his family. There have been various occasions in soap where important relatives have failed to turn up at such important ceremonies.

However, there's no sign of Archie Shuttleworth (Roy Hudd) again. He wasn't even there for Vera's funeral. Maybe he's gone out of business? Mind you, is it possible for an undertaker to go out of business?

And finally, Janice Battersby's (Vicky Entwistle) fancy man Roger Stiles (Andrew Dunn) will disappear from our screens at the beginning of next month when he discovers the truth about Janice's lottery scam. There are no current plans for the character to return, but the door has been left open.

That rounds up my Coronation Street cast update. To digest this information properly, why don't you pop across to the Soap Movers Table to see all of Corrie's movers and shakers?