After de-mob, he came to Weatherfield, where he married Nellie and had a son Stanley (played by Peter Noone, later of the British pop group Herman's Hermits).

Len's idea of a real woman was his next-door neighbour, Elsie Tanner (Patricia Phoenix): attractive, sexy, with a ribald sense of humour.

However she was more of a friend than a lover, and when Len suggested that their relationship should go to the next level, Elsie always refused, not wanting to spoil the special bond they had.

Len had reconciled himself to being on his own for the rest of his life — and then he met Rita Bates (Barbara Knox), who earned her living as a cabaret singer in the rather downmarket Gatsby Club.

Although she claimed she was married to Harry Bates (William Simons), they were in fact only a common-law couple; her name was actually Rita Littlewood.

Len was amused that she preferred woodwork to needlework and that she liked playing football — this caused an instant bond between them, much to Rita's delight.

[1] For several months Len did not appear, his absence explained by a storyline that he was working long hours on a contract away from home.

Adamson was a former extra and theatre actor who had turned to TV drama with the Granada series Skyport and Knight Errant.

When the series was extended beyond its initial run, Adamson tried again, auditioning for the part of Harry Hewitt's (Ivan Beavis) drinking buddy by the name of Len Fairclough.

"[3] An early sign of the character's success was that Adamson was the only non-original cast member contracted for the duration of the Equity actors' strike between November 1961 and April 1962.

He was surprised to be met with opposition from the actors: "Peter and Barbara argued that a wedding could be the beginning of the end for their characters.

The character was absent between October and December 1969, as Peter Adamson was suspended for two months without pay to deal with his alcoholism.

Bill Podmore, who directed the episode in question, says: "Peter had been pretty tipsy on set many times before but we had always got away with it and I don't think a single viewer ever suspected.

The cunning which leads alcoholics to hide their bottles in inaccessible places had led him to believe that his financial future at least was secure and the shattering of this belief was in fact the first step towards his recovery.

Len's last appearance before Adamson's leave of absence in Episode 2307 stood as the character's swansong, and seven months later he was killed off, dying off-screen in a motorway collision while returning home from his hitherto secret mistress Marjorie Proctor.

He had been a professional actor long enough to realise that if a character of Len's fame was to be killed off, the sacrifice would only be made with the help of the most dramatic storyline possible.

"[5] Writers John Stevenson and Adele Rose back up Podmore's claim that Len cheating on Rita was motivated only by the objective of maximum drama.