Coronation Street's battleaxe Blanche Hunt has been given a reprieve by producers, after reports the character would be killed off. The Sun reports that show bosses were devising a storyline which would see Blanche - played by Maggie Jones - taken ill after feeling faint around New Year. However, the plan was scrapped after it was decided the character still had "a lot to give". "It has been seriously considered and discussed at our latest forward planning meeting that the character of Blanche should be killed off," a show insider told the paper. "But we appreciate she's a great old grumpy character and the chemistry between Blanche, the Barlow clan and the other street regulars is so superb we felt we had to keep her." Blanche was first played by Patricia Cutts in 1974, but she appeared in just two episodes before the actress tragically committed suicide. Maggie stepped in to replace her and played the character for four years before making brief reappearances in 1981 and 1996. She became a regular on the show once again in 1998.
