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Kenneth Cope was a Liverpudlian actor, writer and restaurateur, the son of an engineer. On stage, he had a lengthy association with the Bristol Old Vic Company at the Theatre Royal, beginning in 1951. In 1953, Cope also debuted on television, and, for the first two decades played rank and file soldiers and professional men in episodic television and in occasional films. He appeared as himself (1962-1963) in the satirical series That Was the Week That Was (1962). As petty crook Jed Stone, Cope was a semi-regular resident of Coronation Street (1960) during the early and mid-sixties, later resurfacing in the role after an absence of 42 years. He had another recurring stint as the widower Ray Hilton during the latter stages of the soap Brookside (1982) (1999-2002).

His most popular role on television was that of the cynical ghost of murdered private eye Marty Hopkirk in ITC's My Partner the Ghost (1969). He is also well remembered for his two appearances in the Carry On series of films: as the lazy, socialist union rep Vic Spanner in Carry on at Your Convenience (1971); and in Carry on Matron (1972) as Cyril Carter, the son of a thief (played by the inimitable Sidney James). The zany plot has Cope's character emotionally blackmailed into posing as a female nurse in order to purloin a stock of contraceptive pills from a maternity hospital. Also for the big screen, Cope was incongruously cast as the Mongol general Subotai in the glossy international co-production Genghis Khan (1965), starring Omar Sharif.

Cope made repeat appearances as different personae in TV's The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955), Z Cars (1962), Dixon of Dock Green (1955), Minder (1979) and The Bill (1984). He also wrote several episodes of That Was the Week that Was, the children's soccer series Striker (1975) (which he also created) and the sitcom The Squirrels (1974). As Percy James, he played the main lead in the short-lived TV sitcom Bootle Saddles (1984), about a group of Wild West aficionados who spend their leisure time dressing up and reenacting American frontier adventures. Cope's character was the prime mover in efforts save a failing theme park called 'Apache Wells', sited in the purlieus of Merseyside.

Outside of acting, Cope and his actress-wife Renny Lister were involved in the restaurant business. Their first venture, Martha' Kitchen (named after his daughter) opened in 1974 in the market town of Watlington, in Oxfordshire. In 1983, Cope and his wife bought a pub in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, and transformed it into a restaurant named 'Edward's' (after their second son Nicholas Edward). Prior to 2021, Cope was based in Southport, where he contributed a regular news column to the local paper, the Southport Visitor.

Kenneth Cope died on September 11 2024, aged 93.

Jean Margaret Hodgkinson, known by the stage name Jean Alexander, was a British television actress. She was best known to British television viewers as Hilda Ogden in the soap opera Coronation Street (1960), a role she played from 1964 until 1987, and also as Auntie Wainwright in the long-running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine from 1988 to 2010. For her role in Coronation Street (1960), she won the 1985 Royal Television Society Award for Best Performance, and received a 1988 BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Actress.

Alexander was born at 18 Rhiwlas Street Toxteth, Liverpool, in 1926, to Nell and Archie Hodgkinson; her father worked as an electrician and the family lived in a terraced house with no indoor lavatory. Alexander had an elder brother, Kenneth. She aspired to become an actress from an early age, and later said that she was inspired by variety acts she saw at the Pavilion theatre in her home city. She attended St Edmund's College for Girls in Princes Park, Toxteth and as a teenager, she joined an amateur theatre group and took elocution lessons.

Alexander spent five years as a library assistant in Liverpool before she began her acting career in 1949 at the Adelphi Guild Theatre in Macclesfield. She first appeared as Florrie in Sheppey by Somerset Maugham. She later worked in rep in Oldham, Stockport and York. Most of her parts were minor, and she also worked as a wardrobe mistress and stage manager. Her television debut is variously given as in the police series Z-Cars or in Deadline Midnight.

Alexander first appeared in Coronation Street in 1962 in a minor role as a landlady. Two years later, she returned to the programme as Hilda Ogden. She started playing the role on 8 July 1964, finally leaving on 25 December 1987. Ogden became highly popular with viewers and Alexander was often identified with her character.

The British League for Hilda Ogden was established in 1979 by Sir John Betjeman, Willis Hall, Russell Harty, Laurence Olivier and Michael Parkinson, among others. In 1984, hundreds of fans sent her condolence cards after the death of her on-screen husband Stan Ogden, played by Bernard Youens, who had died a few months before his character was killed off. In 1985 she received the Royal Television Society Award for her performance on Coronation Street. When she decided to leave the show in 1987, fans started "Save Hilda!" campaigns; however, many did not realise that she had made her own decision to depart. Her final scenes in the programme were aired on 25 December 1987, attracting nearly 27 million viewers, the highest number in the show's history.

In 2005 the UK TV Times poll voted her as the "Greatest Soap Opera Star of All Time".

Andy Devine was born on 28 February 1942 in Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Emmerdale Farm (1972), Queer as Folk (1999) and Coronation Street (1960). He died on 27 January 2022 in Southport, Merseyside, England, UK.

Dustin Gee was born on 24 June 1942 in York, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Madhouse (1980), Rock Follies (1976) and Who Do You Do (1972). He died on 3 January 1986 in Southport, Merseyside, England, UK.

Freddie Marsden was born on 23 November 1940 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Zodiac (2007), Beast (2017) and Supernatural (2005). He was married to Margaret Naylor. He died on 9 December 2006 in Southport, Merseyside, England, UK.

Albert Pierrepoint was often called the official Chief Executioner of the United Kingdom. The Home Office called him the most efficient executioner. Despite the US release title of the 2005 movie about him he was not the last hangman, executions continued for over eight years after his resignation.

Between 1932 and 1955 he conducted or assisted at about 450 hangings, following in the footsteps of his father Henry and uncle Thomas who were also executioners. Albert gained a reputation as a swift and efficient executioner, and he aimed to minimise the length of time the condemned person had to suffer fear - his record for removing the condemned prisoner from his cell until "the drop" was seven and a half seconds.

He resigned in January 1956 over a row about his fees (he was paid a fixed rate per hanging, rather than a salary), and his reputation was such that the government wrote to him to beg him to reconsider his resignation.

Pierrepoint appeared as himself in the 1961 BBC documentary, "The Death Penalty" (ironically, he had come to believe that the death penalty was not a deterrent to crime, as most murders were committed in the heat of the moment rather than premeditated; however, he kept his opinion to himself until the 1974 publication of his autobiography, "Executioner: Pierrepoint"). Pierrepoint was first portrayed by Clive Revill in "Let Him Have It" (1991), and later by Timothy Spall in the 2005 TV biopic, "The Last Hangman".

John Tinniswood was born on 26 August 1912 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK. He was married to Blodwen (née Roberts). He died on 25 November 2024 in Southport, Merseyside, England, UK.

Billy Bingham is a former Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager.

As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, whom he played for between 1948 and 1950. Making the move to England, he then spent eight years with Sunderland A.F.C., making 227 appearances. In 1958 he switched to Luton Town F.C., making close to 100 league appearances in a three-year spell. This was followed by a two-year association with Everton F.C., where he again went close to 100 league appearances. He finished his career after breaking his leg in a match for Port Vale F.C. in 1964, at the age of 33. He had scored 133 goals in 525 appearances in all domestic competitions. Between 1951 and 1963, he won 56 caps for Northern Ireland National Football Team, scoring 10 international goals, and played at the 1958 FIFA World Cup (1958).

His management career would be as notable as his playing career. After taking charge at Southport F.C. in 1965, he was appointed manager of Northern Ireland National Football Team two years later, after taking the "Sandgrounders" to promotion out of the Fourth Division. During his time as an international manager he took charge at Plymouth Argyle F.C., and later Linfield F.C.. He led Linfield to a quadruple in 1970-71, his only season in charge. In 1971, he was appointed as the head coach of the Greece National Football Team. Two years later he returned to the domestic game with Everton of England. He returned to Greece for a brief spell in 1977, taking the reins at Paok Thessaloniki. The following year he went back to England to take charge of Mansfield Town F.C. for one full season. In 1980, he was re-appointed as Northern Ireland manager, his final position, and a post he would hold for the next thirteen years. He led his nation to the finals of the 1982 FIFA World Cup Spain (1982) and 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico (1986).

Marie Ashton was married to Jack Diamond. She died in 2020 in Southport, Merseyside, England, UK.

Thelma Falls-Hand was born on 2 November 1925 in Haslingden, Lancashire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for What's Good for the Goose (1969), Coronation Street (1960) and The War of Darkie Pilbeam (1968). She died on 10 January 2020 in Southport, Merseyside, England, UK.

Clarence Blakiston born in Biggleswick in 1864, highly well-known classical, melodrama and comedy theatre star from the 1880's. later appeared as a aristocratic gentleman in few silent film roles first in a short drama from the 'Tense Moment from Great Plays' film series starring Sybil Thorndike for the Master (BEF) Film Company in 1922, later worked for the British Gaumont Film Company and then the B&C Film Company. minor roles in few talkies in the mid 1930's. Dead in 1943 age 79.

Howard Kendall was an actor, known for Reds & Blues: The Ballad of Dixie & Kenny (2010), Match of the Eighties (1997) and The Time of Our Lives (2009). He died on 17 October 2015 in Southport, Merseyside, England, UK.

James Kenyon was born on 26 May 1850 in England, UK. James was a producer and director, known for Diving Lucy (1904), The Nurse's Brother (1900) and The Lost Scout on the Veldt (1901). James died on 6 February 1925 in Southport, Merseyside, England, UK.

Classically trained veteran actor John Sharp was brought up in Liverpool, where he attended the Liverpool Institute, and was a contemporary of Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Later, he joined the Marlowe Society at Cambridge, appearing as Arviragus in a 1960 production of Cymbeline alongside Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi and Trevor Nunn. Since then, he has been active in both acting and directing at some of the country's main Little Theatres; the People's Theatre in Newcastle, the Stockport Garrick and Southport Dramatic Club. In recent years he has created three stage scripts, a stage version of 'The Story of Oliver Twist,' a translation of Moliere's 'The Miser' and a compilation telling the story of the life of Charles Dickens, all three of which have been performed.

Blackpool based comic who famously had a relationship with ''Coronation Street'' actress Julie Goodyear. Through his career, Diamond appeared with such stars as Les Dawson, Roy Orbison, and The Beatles. He also made several TV appearances, including "The Diana Dors Show" in 1981. Diamond was described by fellow comedian Bernard Manning as ''a very funny man''. He retired from show business in 2004.

Peter Wilson died on 23 April 2001 in Southport, Merseyside, England, UK.