That whole scene is incredible, the little unspoken things. Ena seeing Ken's face and immediately knowing the worst has happened, Billy's (almost imperceptible) signal to Ena that they should leave them alone, her gently touching Ken's arm as she leaves. No dialogue required, brilliant acting.

@@yorkie471x3 Yes, perfect comment, thank you.

Great general point, though what he actually picks up is Val's powder compact - all the plug stuff would have been taken away to work out the cause of her death.

She's seen things and she knows things.

Enas awesome

I love Ena. She is a lady of enormous life experience. Grew up in a tough world when and where small things mattered, appreciated and were considered a blessing. Despite what we see, she has a heart of gold.

Now it's awful

A cartoon in comparison to then.

I`ve always admired William`s acting ability - ever since seeing and hearing Ken`s row with Deirdre over her affair with Mike Baldwin, though I was hardly more than a child at the time. He seems particularly good at playing the vexed and troubled. The parts, if you like, at life`s extremities. Ken Barlow is so real.

There was not much choice without the Internet or other channels LOL!

Better than the woke b******s they serve up nowadays

🤣Great spot!!

It was in colour before this (1969) but there was industrial action at ITV between November 1970 and February 1971 and they switched off the colour tubes on the cameras!

@@justindodsworth8893 I remembered that not long after I posted the comment. I have the box set for upstairs downstairs and pretty much the whole first series was filmed in both colour and black and white, which gave a few problems with continuity. For some reason I thought that colour was a tribute to my birth😂

@@_v-. Yeah, I also remember watching Budgie with Adam Faith which was half B/W and half colour.

Yes, but any depressing situations were relatable and plausible. It seems that now the soaps are littered with murders almost on a weekly basis, which is not only depressing but gratuitous.

Or some people object to such happenings that don't involve an original cast member. Also, just like any other drama serial, it has to move on with the world, and what's happening... therefore, in 2023, it cannot be set in a world where there is no such thing as social, no rising cost of living problems & the Manchester bombings never happened.

And Billy Walker (Ken Farrington)

And Irma Barlow

Given that both actors are still alive and working, it's possible Ken and Val could have gone the distance (with a few bumps along the way - it is a soap after all) and in doing so, they would have had the longest fictional marriage on television (at more than six decades) I suspect the writers would have used the same storyline (with the Barlows emigrating) if Bill Roache had chosen to leave as well except in this case, they would have all made to Jamaica safely.

I think Ken would have stayed happily married to Val …