Nobody was more surprised than Ken Barlow (William Roache) when Cassie Plummer (Claire Sweeney) turned out to be a better carer/companion than he expected in Coronation Street.

When Ken had a fall that meant he needed to have someone to help him with things around the house, Cassie volunteered her services. Well, not exactly volunteered as obviously she wanted paying. But she assured Steve (Simon Gregson) that she was exactly the helper Ken needed.

When Ken discovered that Cassie wasn’t qualified he was quite reluctant, but agreed anyway. Their relationship didn’t get off to the best of starts, with Cassie unintentionally insulting the memory of Ken’s dear departed wife Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride).

After these initial hurdles were overcome, Cassie and Ken got on surprisingly well considering that Ken has always been the greatest intellectual snob in the Street and Cassie is very much a graduate of the university of life, let’s say.

Cassie’s constant bickering with Steve made life at number 1 difficult for a while and Cassie almost quit, but the discovery that Ken had won £50,000 on the premium bonds had a magical effect on her and she decided to stay.

The fact that Ken has a few quid in the bank is obviously appealing, but Cassie does seem genuinely fond of him and the feeling is reciprocated. There’s also been an undeniable spark between her and Steve.

This, of course, didn’t go down at all well with Tracy (Kate Ford) when she returned from Spain and found Cassie working as Ken’s carer. She at first assumed that Cassie was Steve’s new girlfriend and wasn’t impressed that he’d so quickly moved on with the woman she described as ‘the local druggy.’

Knowing that Cassie was Ken’s carer wasn’t much better for Tracy but at least she could console herself that he was on the mend and soon wouldn’t be needing a carer at all.

In upcoming episodes that moment has arrived, but Ken shocks Tracy by telling her that, although he no longer needs Cassie’s help physically, he gets a lot from her being around and enjoys her company, so he would like her to stay on.

Tracy is fuming and accuses Cassie of using Ken to get her claws into Steve. Cassie denies this, but will Tracy believe her?