Coronation Street's Jack Duckworth is to be killed off in the soap's 50th anniversary special later this year, according to the Mail On Sunday. The paper reports that the character - played by actor Bill Tarmey - is just one of the names set to be culled in the tram disaster due to air on December 9th. Bill - who has played Jack for more than 30 years - announced earlier this year that he was quitting the show in order to spend more time with his family. And he faces another bleak storyline before the 50th anniversary drama when his character reveals he is battling deadly cancer non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. The disaster will occur when the viaduct at the end of the street, close to the Kabin and Corner Shop, collapses, with a tram falling from the bridge and on to the cobbles. Other characters are likely to meet their demise in the disaster, which will be the biggest stunt the soap has ever staged. However exact details of the accident and its casualties are being kept under wraps, with even cast and crew members in the dark as to who might meet their demise. Producer Phil Collinson said recently that the show would be looking forward, not back, in the way it marks its 50th anniversary. "As we celebrate the show reaching such an incredible milestone it feels fitting that we will be screening a dramatic event of this magnitude which will affect the lives of all the residents of Coronation Street," he said. "We�ll be using all the wonders of modern television production to bring you a disaster that will rock the lives of everyone in Weatherfield. "At the heart of the drama though will be ordinary people on an ordinary street battling adversity � the template for the programme created by Tony Warren 50 years ago."
