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Acclaimed and award-winning Happy Valley actress Sarah Lancashire has always been clear that she will not return to Coronation Street. <\/p>\n
Closing the door on her role as ditzy Raquel Watts, a character she played for four years, Sarah reckons time has moved on, and there wouldn\u2019t be much for the barmaid to do.<\/p>\n
But there is another, much more specific reason, that the Last Tango In Halifax and Kiri star won\u2019t be back \u2013 the fashion. <\/p>\n
Raquel was known for being glamorous, wearing some outlandish outfits that caught the eye of nerdy supermarket manager Curly.<\/p>\n
The very 90s style wouldn\u2019t fit in modern Corrie, Sarah has reasoned. <\/p>\n
Talking at the National Televison Awards, where she picked up three prizes including an honour of Lifetime Achievement, she explained: \u2018It\u2019s very clear why I would never go back because the show evolves, decade by decade. <\/p>\n
\u2018When people say \u201cI was in Coronation Street\u201d, you think, \u201cWell, which one?\u201d Was it the 60s, the 70s, the 80s? They all have a defining quality.<\/p>\n
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\u2018I know when I was there in the 90s it was very specific to that time and that place, with a voice for writers who were just absolutely brilliant. Heavens, my character would be so old now \u2013 too old for short skirts!\u2019<\/p>\n
She added to The Sun: \u2018So no, but you can walk away from it and leave it there, because you never really leave the characters. <\/p>\n
\u2018They take up residence within you\u2026 so you don\u2019t fully move on from them. I always believe characters choose you, it\u2019s really not the other way round.\u2019<\/p>\n
That is certainly true of Raquel; it seems conceivable that any other actress could nail the role as Sarah. <\/p>\n
Due to that, Raquel won over viewers, and three decades later, she continues to be considered a legend. <\/p>\n
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Her most prominent story was her on\/off romance and eventual marriage to lovelorn Curly, someone that Raquel never truly loved. <\/p>\n
In a special two-hander episode, her final episode saw her tell Curly that they don\u2019t have a future. <\/p>\n
She was also known for being slow on the uptake, and had particularly memorable comedy scenes which saw her struggle with French lessons from Ken Barlow. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sarah has flexed her \u2018never return\u2019 vibe elsewhere, confirming that Happy Valley is also a closed book, with the team not wanting to dilute its impact and knowing that it has a very definite ending.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s right of course, but that doesn\u2019t take away the slight tinge of disappointment.<\/p>\n