Maybe he was just away on holiday at the time? They probably wouldn't have gone so far as to make sure cast members holidays were changed to allow them to attend, as it might have been a give away that something was happening if none of the cast were due to be on holiday in a given week.
That's when it was run on the street simple scripts and good actors I remember when I was a kid they asked me what my favourite TV program was and said it was corrie.The beginning with the old rooftops and the cat.Then you had Hilda and Stan eddy Yates eating chips out of newspaper.Then obviously Jack and Vera what I'm trying to say is there's no characters anymore Corrie now is shit.
Why was Julie Goodyear given a celebrity entrance? It was like she was going to say something, not her night it's was Bills night. Was she still in the show when this was filmed?