Bill Webster is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Peter Armitage.

The character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 6 February 1984 and remained in the show until 1985 when Armitage decided to leave.

His last appearance was broadcast on 29 December 2011, where Bill was in attendance at youngest granddaughter Sophie's wedding to her fiancée Sian Powers.

Bill is the father of Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell), his sister Debbie (Sue Devaney) and another son, Carl, from his marriage to Elaine Prior.

After watching the advert, the serial's producer H. V. Kershaw decided that Armitage would be right for a role in Coronation Street and contacted his agent.

Armitage explained that quiet, ordinary blokes like Bill "don't make a lot of fuss" until they become angered.

[3] Bill was initially paired with Linda Cheveski (Anne Cunningham) – an original character who was reintroduced into Coronation Street.

[5] In his book titled Coronation Street; Jack Tinker said that Bill was written out of the series because Armitage had not "settled in the role".

[6] Bill's exit storyline consisted of him, Elaine Prior (Judy Gridley) and daughter Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney) moving to Southampton.

The actor told a columnist for The official magazine of Coronation Street that he had not thought about returning because ten years had passed since his previous appearance.

[1] He added that Bill originally moved to Southampton with his family and then to Germany, he secured a job as a "chippie" and fathered a son named Carl.

[5] In 1997, Armitage was axed by series producer Brian Park who had written out many characters as part a revamp of Coronation Street.

Park told Jan Disley and John Millar from the Daily Record that it was a tough decision but he had to consider the future of the serial.

Bill and Maureen were written out of Coronation Street in a shared storyline; which saw the pair running away to be together, soon after she had married Fred Elliott (John Savident).

[10] A spokesperson from the serial told the Daily Mirror's Paul Byrne that Maureen knows that marrying Fred was the wrong choice and she sets her sights on Bill once again.

Kris Green from Digital Spy reported that his fellow cast members were enjoying the opportunity to work with Armitage again.

A Coronation Street representative told Roberts that it would be a "memorable entrance" when the character's Christmas dinner descends into chaos.

[15] In April 2009 Green reported that Gabrielle Drake had been cast to play Vanessa; a character who would become involved in Bill's storyline.

A spokesperson from Coronation Street said that it was a "funny storyline which sees Vanessa and her partner eyeing up Bill and Pam when they meet in a hotel.

"[16] On 5 June 2011, Tom Latchem from the News of the World reported that Bill had been axed for the third time by series producer Phil Collinson.

On 31 July 2011, Will Payne from the Daily Mirror announced that Bill would make a return to the series in September after Collinson had a "change of heart".

Bill buys No.11 from Linda, who is acting on behalf of her mother, Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix) and rents Len Fairclough's (Peter Adamson) builder's yard from his wife Rita (Barbara Knox), and they become very friendly.

Several weeks later, Bill returns, confirming that his marriage is over and moves in with Audrey, after working with Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) on the new take-away.

Audrey and Bill split up in August 2008, following a disastrous trip to France with Janice Battersby (Vicky Entwistle) and Roger Stiles (Andrew Dunn).

In March 2009, Audrey tells Bill that she needs him to repay the loan she gave him and as business is insufficient, he is forced to employ Jason on a job-by-job basis.

This makes Tyrone suspicious and leads to him and Kevin arguing after the funeral when he realises that Bill knew about the affair and Jack's paternity.

[22] Dek Hogan from Digital Spy said that "disturbingly, Audrey is getting very flirtatious with Bill Webster, having recently assisted Fred to an early grave via her womanly wiles."

[23] Brian Roberts from the Sunday Mirror wrote that Bill and Jim became "a real pair of likely lads" when they moved in together.