Bill Roache has been writing a novel during lockdown.
The ‘Coronation Street’ legend is still not back on the cobbles as his character Ken Barlow because over-70s actors are yet to return to the show’s set amid the coronavirus pandemic, but he has been penning an adventure story, which has a "psychic side to it", as well as learning to draw to pass the time.
He said: "My daughter Verity is an artist and she has taught me to draw a bit, so I’ve been doing some drawing, and also some writing.
"I’ve been writing a story, which I’ve really been enjoying.
"It’s an adventure story, where a couple are doing up an old house and they find a letter from the war about a guy who found a chalice and had hidden it in a church.
"They go back and try to find it and they do find it. It has a psychic side to it as well.
"I don’t want to reveal too much about it."
But the ITV soap’s longest-serving cast member has revealed he and his fellow over-70s Weatherfield residents won’t be back on the cobbles until after August at the earliest.
Speaking on ‘Good Morning Britain’, he added: "The over 70s haven’t been called yet. I’ve been told I might be called after August, so I hope so.
"We’re ready and willing.
"The writers are told to be inventive, so I’m hoping they will come up with something. I would like to get back [to work].
"I’ve been speaking to my colleagues, and those who are working say there is a wonderful camaraderie, although they’re doing distancing.
"There’s a great feel at work, so I’m quite looking forward to doing that."