Star calls time on the cobbles

Actress to quit The Street after 21 years...

11:00 21 October 2010

Actress Beverley Callard has announced she will leave her role as Rovers landlady Liz McDonald.

Callard is calling time on her Coronation Street character and is quitting the ITV1 show as it marks its 50th birthday.

The actress said that choosing to leave the soap was one of the “hardest decisions ever”:

“I've loved every minute of my second stint on the Street. I'll miss everyone on the show but I'm looking forward to some new challenges and to see what life has to offer beyond Liz's famous mini-skirts!"

Producer Phil Collinson said: "Bev has created an iconic and much-loved character in Liz. She will be greatly missed behind the bar of the Rovers and by the viewers of the show."

"She's a lovely lady and is such a talented actress. We all wish her well in whatever she does next and we hope to see the character of Liz return some time in the future. Plans are now being made for an exciting exit storyline.”

Her decision to quit comes at a busy time for the soap star. SheÂ’s been appearing regularly as a guest presenter on Loose Women and she is due to wed her long-term partner, John, at the end of October.

Throughout 22 years on the cobbles, Liz McDonald has been a kidnap victim, battered wife, harassed mother, unfaithful wife, and all along a chain-smoking confidante of friend Deirdre.

Bev joined Coronation Street with Charlie Lawson, Simon Gregson and Nicholas Cochrane in 1989 as the McDonald family and she's been an integral part of the show ever since. Bev originally left the show in 1998, only to return in 2003 for the 40th anniversary.