Coronation Street star William Roache - I will never retire from Ken Barlow role

The 85-year-old has been a mainstay on the ITV soap since its inception in December 1960 and has no intention of quitting the cobbles anytime soon.

Asked whether he would ever retire, Roache says in the new issue of Radio Times: "No! I never think about it. I enjoy what I'm doing and I'm lucky in that I'm in a job where I can age. I'm actually falling to bits in front of people's eyes and that's what I'm meant to do.

"If I were playing James Bond, I'd grow out of the age where I could play the role. But Ken Barlow is me - he's getting older and I'm getting older with him."

Recent storylines on Corrie have seen Ken survive an attempt on his life made by son Daniel Osbourne and suffer a stroke.

But Roache feels that Ken is just as integral to the Barlow family as he ever was:

"There is a superannuated Don Corleone element to Ken. If you look at Ken's family, he has a daughter who's a serial killer and a son who's an alcoholic bigamist, so they're like a little Mafia family and I try to keep them all together."

You can read the full interview with William Roache in the latest issue of Radio Times (out today)

And visit our dedicated Coronation Street page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.