November 23rd 1963 in Dallas, 31st August 1997 in Paris and 18th January 2008 in Wetherfield: all will live on for eternity as landmark dates that have witnessed the sad deaths of iconic figures people have taken into their hearts as their own.

After gracing the cobbled streets of the nation's favourite soap for nigh on 34 years, TV's original and best battleaxe Vera Duckworth is to be killed off, just prior to making her dream move to Blackpool.

In a refreshing twist to a genre where viewers tune in in their millions to watch something they already know is going to happen – hardly anyone could have been genuinely surprised that the Branning family video screening on Eastenders turned out the way it did – Coronation Street producers have gone to great lengths to ensure that the exact nature of her tragic demise is kept out of the TV guides as a closely guarded secret in order to maximise the impact of this seismic event.

One thing that is for certain, however, is that the Street will not be the same without her; it truly is the end of an era.

Since first gracing our screens, actress Liz Dawn, who plays Vera, has clocked up 3,011 episodes, second only to Wetherfield mainstay Ken Barlow.

The best of those years, of course, have been as part of the 'Duckies' double act, alongside long-suffering pigeon-fancying husband, Jack.

However, while there may have been many happy times, not least the couple's big-money windfall which saw them become the landlord and lady of their local, the Rovers Return and the celebration of their golden wedding anniversary last year, Vera has also seen her fair share of grief.

As well as having to fight to keep her marriage on track after several affairs conducted by both parties, Jack and Vera have also had to endure their son being convicted of bigamy and, most dramatic of all, trying to sell their grandchild behind their back.

Bill Roach, the legend behind Ken Barlow, explained that, though soap characters may come and go and be cast to reflect our changing society, there will never be another Vera.

"Vera epitomises what the Street is," he said.

"Someone who you care about, someone who's struggling against life and always failing, always getting it wrong but never giving up hope. The sort of character you identify with - you cry with them, laugh with them."

This has been Vera's greatest contribution to the soap over the years and, as with so many other characters, it is her good humour and essential decency which perhaps means Coronation Street will always continue to pull in a larger audience share than the scheming and back-stabbing residents of Albert Square.

She may well have been praised by Tony Blair on a prime ministerial visit to the show's set and been to Buckingham Palace to collect an OBE, but surely the thing Liz Dawn will value most will be the fact that she will be mentioned in the same breath as Elsie Tanner and Bet Gilroy by our children and our children's children.