Bill Roache believes ‘Coronation Street’ has lost its sense of "community".
The 86-year-old actor is the longest-serving male TV star in a continuous role after playing Ken Barlow since the soap’s first episode in December 1960, but he "hardly knows" some of his co-star’s names nowadays, compared to there being just 15 cast members in the show when he started out.
He said: "It was 11 weeks at first – we didn’t think it would go on longer.
"When you’re ongoing like that there will always be good and bad.
When we first started there were only 15 cast members and we were all in every episode. It was a community. Now there are some [cast members] who I hardly know their names.
"You go in and work with your family and do your scenes and go home. Some of the others, you see them in the green room for a cup of tea and then you don’t see them for weeks.
"Now there is no rehearsal, you just turn up and need to know your lines.
"A scene can be over in 20 minutes."
However, Bill is still enjoying his time on the soap, and has teased fans they can expect some huge storylines coming up for his on-screen family.
Speaking on ‘Sunday Brunch’, he added: "It can draw on its own history and we’ve got some big Barlow stories coming up."
Bill’s comments come just weeks after he hinted Ken could get a potential new love interest.
When it was suggested Ken could land himself a new lady, he replied: "Ken has had 23 girlfriends and three wives. We’ve got a new producer coming in and he’ll be handling our 60th anniversary, which is in two years’ time.
"I haven’t had my interview with the producer yet."
Bill Roache: Corrie has lost its community feel
