ITV to mark Corrie legend Barbara Knox’s 90th birthday with special documentary

Coronation Street legend Barbara Knox will celebrate her milestone 90th birthday with a very special one off documentary coming to ITV1 and ITVX later this year.

The street stalwart, who has played the iconic Rita Tanner continuously for over half a century, will join Bradley Walsh as she looks back on the highlights from an illustrious career in television and theatre.

Produced by ITV Studios Daytime for a peak time audience, the programme will trace Barbara’s first footsteps into showbiz before her first appearance on Coronation Street in 1964.

Katie Rawcliffe, Head of Entertainment Commissioning at ITV, said

“It’s easy to throw the words ‘legend’ and ‘icon’ around, but Barbara Knox really does embody both of those terms. It’s a privilege to tell the story of one of British television’s most enduring stars as she celebrates a very special birthday.”

Barbara will also share her most treasured memories from the role which has made her famous across the world, revisiting the site of the infamous Tram accident in 1989, and reflecting on the moment she was awarded an MBE in 2010.

The documentary will also feature candid interviews with a number of Barbara’s co-stars past and present, celebrating the soap’s longest-serving actress and the impact she has had on television screens.

Barbara, notoriously private and guarded about her life away from set, for the first time shares with Bradley memories and even never seen before photos from her childhood.

The actress first appeared in Coronation Street as Rita in 1964, however, did not become a regular fixture of the cobbles until 1972. Rita has had many storylines; her involvement with murderous conman Alan Bradley (Mark Eden) in the late 1980s is perhaps the most notable.