Coronation Street fans 'in tears' as fan favourite leaves after 23 years

Coronation Street: Peter Barlow finds it hard to say goodbye.
Peter Barlow left Weatherfield in emotional scenes on Boxing Day. (Image credit: ITV)

Coronation Street had fans emotional as their entry into the Christmas TV line-up saw Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) leaving after more than two decades.

It has been a turbulent time for Peter, who was responsible for killing Stephen Reid (Todd Boyce) at the end of Super Soap Week, and this dramatic moment has been a catalyst in his life as he's struggling to come to terms with what happened. 

Peter saw Stephen holding Jenny (Sally Ann Matthews) hostage and drove into the evil businessman, killing him, but he is now wracked with guilt for his actions after Jenny admitted she thought Stephen would never hurt her.

He avoided jail time for Stephen's death with DS Swain (Vicky Myers) confirming to Peter that he wouldn’t be going to prison as no one could prove he wanted to commit murder, but despite his freedom, he still found it difficult to move on from what he did.

While simultaneously dealing with the guilt of killing Stephen, Peter has also been battling his own demons and trying to resist using alcohol to help him drown his emotions, so it has been a very difficult time for him.

It's been equally difficult for Peter's wife Carla (Alison King), who made a dramatic decision after trying to support him through everything. She bought him a one-way ticket to Spain so Peter could join his pal on a round-the-world sailing trip, which would hopefully help him to clear his head.

Despite the kind gesture, it would mean that Peter would be gone for an unspecified amount of time, so it might be a while before Carla sees him again. However, they concluded this was the right choice for them both.

We last saw Peter as he headed to the train station, leaving Weatherfield and his wife behind, which gave actor Chris Gascoyne the chance to bow out. For now, anyway!

Peter will certainly be missed by fans of the ITV soap, with many of them taking to Twitter to share their feelings about the emotional Boxing Day episode. Many have paid tribute to Chris and his character Peter, praising him for working so hard on the character.

Coronation Street continues on Wednesday, December 27 at 8 pm on ITV1 and ITVX. For more listings, see our UK TV Guide

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress