Bill Roache puts on brave face as he returns to Corrie set

Coronation Street's Bill Roache, 85, puts on a brave face as he is spotted for first time since death of his daughter, 50... as he 'returns to work after 10 days of compassionate leave'

Published: 20:30 BST, 17 March 2018 | Updated: 20:31 BST, 17 March 2018

Coronation Street legend Bill Roache has been seen for the first time since his daughter Vanya died tragically earlier this month, aged only 50, from liver failure.

The soap stalwart, 85, was seen at a post office in Alderley Edge, Cheshire on Saturday, as he naturally seemed downcast and stoic following his heartache.

Despite being told to 'take as much time as he needs' away from work, Bill has already resumed filming his role of Ken Barlow. He was granted compassionate leave following the death of his eldest daughter, which left him 'utterly heartbroken'.

Throwing himself back into routine: Despite being told to take 'as much time as he needs' away from work, after his daughter's death, Bill Roache has already resumed filming his role of Ken Barlow on Coronation Street

Keeping things low-key, the octogenarian appeared to be holding himself together after his earth-shattering news.

Bill has starred in the soap since it premiered on British screens in 1960. He was in the very first episode of what was only meant to be an 11-week series.

ITV told him not to rush back, but a mere 10 days later and he has thrown himself straight back into things.

On-set sources told The Sun that his first scenes, since his return, have featured Ken 'meeting' his new baby granddaughter.

Distraction: Despite being told to take 'as much time as he needs' away from work, Bill has already resumed filming his role of Ken Barlow on Coronation Street

A sad loss: Vanya, who was 50 when she died, is pictured with the late Anne Kirkbride, who played Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street

'Bill made it clear he wanted to be back at work, he’s a total professional even after nearly 60 years on the show,' the insider said.

'But everyone was keen to make sure he is well looked after, and give him all the support they can to help with his transition back.

'The executives have told him to take a break whenever, but it was a lovely first day back on set because the story-line was really heart-warming with the new baby on set. He seems okay, and loved working with his new on-screen granddaughter.'

Taken too soon: Bill, pictured with Vanya (centre), is said to be 'heartbroken' and is understood to have been told to take 'as long as required' away from work

This is the third major loss to hit Bill in his life. His second wife Sara Mottram, 58, died suddenly in 2009. The couple had been hit by tragedy in 1983 when their daughter Edwina died from bronchial pneumonia, aged just 18 months.

Vanya, who was his eldest daughter and from his first marriage to Anna Cropper, passed away on March 2. She was know as Varn to friends, and leaves behind her fiance Toby, who she lived with in Chichester, West Sussex.

Toby confirmed her death and said that it 'happened very quickly'. He said: 'We are very private people, all the family are and so we don't really want to speak about it. Vanya was a nice person, a lovely person.

'It was a liver failure that she died of, it happened very quickly. But I don't really want to talk about it, we're very private people.'

Tragic: Vanya, who was know as Varn to friends, leaves behind her fiance Toby, who she lived with in Chichester, West Sussex. She is pictured with father Bill and brother Linus in 1970

In August 2017 Vanya made reference on social media to spending a short spell in hospital due to low potassium levels and low blood pressure - and so it's thought she had been living with a condition for some time.

Bill and his daughter previously fell out when his marriage to her mother broke down because of his infidelity.

In 1999, Bill was declared bankrupt and Vanya, then 32, was interviewed by the Sunday Mirror about her father's financial woes, which arose from a libel case against The Sun.

Vanya explained that she hadn't spoken to her father for 20 years after he'd 'walked out on the family'.

Feud: Vanya explained that she hadn't spoken to her father for 20 years after he'd 'walked out on the family' Bill is pictured as Coronation Street's Ken Barlow in 1961

She said: 'I don't feel sorry for him at all about this bankruptcy business after he walked out on us. I'm sure as ever he'll manage to land on his feet again and be OK.

'I've lost count of the years since we last spoke. I'm not bothered what happens to him. We have nothing to do with each other after what went on in the past.'

Opening up about their rift, Bill explained: 'She has drifted off in another direction. I would rather not talk about unhappiness because I have such a happy family now

'She is there, but unapproachable. I never wanted to be a bad husband or a bad father but sometimes things go wrong.'

THE DRAMATIC LIFE OF BILL ROACHE

Ster leaving the Army aged 26 Bill decided to give acting a go, the desire to become an actor 'burning away in me', he said

December 9 1960 - Young actor William Patrick Roache stars in the first episode of a new TV show, Coronation Street, scheduled for an 11-week run.

February 1964 - First child, son Linus, is born with actress wife Anna Cropper - but the marriage begins to falter.

1969 - First marriage at an end, Roache later admits having a series of relationships with other women.

1970 - He meets second wife, Sara Mottram, they marry eight years later and Roache says he remained 'absolutely faithful' to her.

1981 - The couple have a daughter, Verity.

1984 - Second daughter, Edwina, dies aged 18 months of bronchial pneumonia, son James born a year later.

2001 - Roache given MBE after completing 40 years on Coronation Street.

2009 - Second wife Sara dies suddenly, aged 58, from a heart condition.

2010 - Roache becomes the world's longest-serving television actor in a continuous role.

2012 - Celebrity child sex scandals break in the wake of the deaths of Sir Jimmy Savile and Sir Cyril Smith.

March 2013 - Roache's alleged rape victim becomes the first woman to contact police after discussing the Savile and Smith scandals with her son.

May 1 2013 - Police swoop on Roache's house to arrest him on the rape allegations. The news prompts four more women to make allegations.

June 2013 - Roache is re-arrested and interviewed over the new accusations.

January 14 2014 - Roache goes on trial charged with two counts of rape and five counts of indecent assault.

February 6 2014 - After 5 hours and 59 minutes of deliberation a jury at Preston Crown Court finds Roache not guilty of all charges.

Family: He had married Anna Cropper while both were acting in Nottingham and they shared time between a flat in Primrose Hill, London, where most acting jobs came up, and a bungalow in Lancashire near his Manchester workplace. Pictured: Bill, his first wife Anna with son Linus and daughter Vanya

In love: He met his second wife Sara Mottram in 1971 and from then on was 'totally and absolutely faithful' he said, the couple marrying in 1978. They are pictured left in 1980 and right in 2003

The same newspaper article described Vanya as a 'vivacious and outgoing' person who enjoyed 'nights out on the town' with her then-boyfriend, a builder called Robbo.

At the time she worked as a part-time waitress and lived in a small three-bedroom house in East Wittering, near Chichester.

Father and daughter were eventually reconciled and Vanya supported the star when he was tried for rape and sex abuse charges in 2014.

'My beautiful family, wonderful father and a very happy and truthful day,' she wrote on Facebook after his acquittal.

Troubles: Another low came in 1990 when he sued The Sun for libel over claims he was hated by his fellow cast members and was as 'boring and smug' as Ken Barlow

Happier times: In May 2001 he was awarded the Member of the British Empire for services to TV drama

Who is Coronation Street's Bill Roache?

Born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, where Bill Roache's father was the village GP, his early schooling was near his home, at the Rudolph Steiner School run on the principles of the Austrian philosopher, sparking his lifelong interest in astrology and the paranormal.

He next went to Rydal School, a boarding school in North Wales, well away from the bombed-out towns and cities of then wartime Britain.

National Service followed with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and, in his five years in uniform he rose to the rank of captain, but suffered an accident during live ammunition training with a mortar platoon which permanently damaged his hearing.

Roache said he felt an 'obligation' to follow generations of his family who had gone into the medical profession but he was not adept at sciences.

His mother had been a keen amateur actress though he initially felt he was too shy for acting.

But after leaving the Army aged 26 he decided to give it a go, the desire to become an actor 'burning away in me', he said.

Minor roles followed before his first big break on television when he was spotted by author Tony Warren for the role of Ken Barlow for a new TV show he was making called Coronation Street.

Depicting a typical down-to-earth Northern community, it picked up the style of social realism of kitchen sink dramas of the early 60s showing the lives of working class folk, spending their time drinking in grimy pubs, living, loving and rowing with cheek-by-jowl neighbours in corner shops, cafes and terraced homes.

Granada's bosses - and the critics, panned the show, originally commissioned for just 11 weeks, but the viewers disagreed.

The Street went into the 'stratosphere' Roache said later, becoming the most watched TV programme in Britain within six months.

Roache bridles at his life's work being called merely a 'soap' claiming the show was 'cutting edge' and 'highly prestigious.'

But as his star rose as the 'heart throb' of the Street his personal life began to falter.

He had married Anna Cropper while both were acting in Nottingham and they shared time between a flat in Primrose Hill, London, where most acting jobs came up, and a bungalow in Lancashire near his Manchester workplace.

Son Linus was born in February 1965 and daughter Vanya in 1967, but with two young children and living between London and the North the marriage failed.

The relationship was not 'fulfilling' and he admitted a series of relationships with other women from 1965 onwards.

He was later to liberally talk about his years of drinking and womanising, coyly giving no denial when the figure of 1,000 lovers was put to him in a TV interview.

He met his second wife Sara Mottram in 1971 and from then on was 'totally and absolutely faithful' he said, the couple marrying in 1978.

In 1981 they had a daughter, Verity but three years later their second daughter, Edwina, died aged 18 months from bronchial pneumonia, before son James born four years later.

Throughout his troubles he was never off-screen and was presented with a 'Lifetime Achievement' Award at the British Soap Awards in 2000 to mark 40 years on the Street.

The following year he was awarded the Member of the British Empire for services to TV drama.

But in 2009 tragedy struck again when his second wife Sara died suddenly from a heart condition, aged just 58.

A year later he became the world's longest-serving television actor in a continuous role and around that time began a relationship with TV weathergirl Emma Jesson, 36 years his junior.

But after three years they split, reportedly because Roache wanted to concentrate on his 'spiritual path.'

He has never made a secret of his unconventional beliefs from being photographed in flowing robes at Druid rituals in the 1970s to his current membership of the Pure Love movement.

Roache has what he calls his 'knowing - a knowing voice I know to be correct, by which I live.'

He believes in re-incarnation and an 'absolute deity, a total God,' but denies belonging to any 'cult, philosophy or religion.'