Bafta-award winning screenwriter Adele Rose was best known as Coronation Street’s longest-serving writer and the creator of Newcastle screen favourite Byker Grove.
On Monday she died, aged 87, in hospital following a week-long battle with pneumonia.
Mrs Rose was a favourite among fans and was the soap’s only female writer in its early years, penning 460 episodes of Corrie between 1961 and 1998.
Her partner of 40 years and husband of 10, Peter Chadwick, has paid tribute to his late wife’s sense of humour which was “often quite naughty and quite wicked” and her love of writing, in particular the “battleaxes” on the Weatherfield cobbles.
Born in Salford and raised in the Jewish faith, she originally worked at Granada Television as a secretary, and was encouraged to submit a sample script for Coronation Street by Jack Rosenthal.
She wrote for the soap until she was almost 70, winning a Bafta for her work in 1993.
In 1989, she was approached to do a one-off drama about a Newcastle-based youth club which went on to become groundbreaking teen soap series Byker Grove in 1990.
During its 17 years, the show won an array of awards and attracted four million-plus viewers on a regular basis – making it one of children’s TV’s top-rating shows.
Mrs Rose’s pioneering writing launched the careers of stars including Ant and Dec, Jill Halfpenny and Donna Air, and tackled issues other children’s shows steered clear of, including, homosexuality, bullying, alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, abortion and drug-taking.
Her other writer credits include Heartbeat, Angels, Z Cars, The Dustbinmen and Robin’s Nest.
After many years living the north-east of England, where her husband worked as a journalist in Newcastle, the couple retired to the Cotswolds in 2000. They were together for 40 years and married a decade ago.
As well as her husband, Mrs Rose is survived by son, Steve, and grandson, Daniel. Her daughter Carrie died several years ago, aged 57, after contracting sepsis.
