A new year can often mean a fresh start, and for Coronation Street’s Evelyn Plummer (Maureen Lipman) 2025 is set to be completely life-changing. And it’s largely thanks to Roy Cropper (David Neilson).

Actress Maureen recently revealed that she’d be bowing out of the part she’s played since 2018 to take a ‘gap year’ with her partner David Turner, who she proposed to on a train.

She explained that she’d be ‘Absent for a while, and then coming back. I’m not going to die but then I’ll be in and out of it because I want to have a bit of a life. David and I are thinking of having a bit of a gap year.’

Evelyn is, of course, the grandmother of Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) and the mother of Cassie Plummer (Claire Sweeney). Since her arrival in the show she’s cemented herself as a fan favourite because of her steely, no-nonsense attitude which conceals a kind heart.

While she’s been kept busy in the middle of the often trouble-beset Dobbs household, her friendship with Roy Cropper has been a highlight of her time in the Street, as the two formed a touching bond.

And it’s Roy who gives Evelyn the gentle push she needs to take the next step in her life when he suggests that she should consider doing a law degree.

Evelyn certainly has a formidable intelligence and during the campaign to free Roy from prison and other run-ins with the law she must have already gained quite a bit of knowledge.

She mulls the idea over, and decides to have a go. Tyrone is surprised to hear that his gran has applied for university to read law.

As always, things don’t go entirely smoothly when Evelyn heads for her interview and comes face to face with the woman she impersonated at the Chariot Square law lecture.

While that might be a slight hiccup, one thing we know about Evelyn is that she doesn’t give up once her mind is set on something.

Maureen is amused by the idea of Evelyn becoming a student.

‘Roy sees potential in Evelyn, he sees that she’s more than just a pretty face, but he’s sort of the architect of what happens to me over the next few months,’ she said.

‘The best thing that could happen is a series about Evelyn going to university. Can you imagine if all the students start dressing like Evelyn?’

While Evelyn is away at university, Maureen will be exploring other roles, joking, ‘There’s got to be something that Lesley Manville, Brenda Blethyn and Harriet Walters don’t play that I could do!’

But the good news for Corrie fans is that she will be popping back from time to time, with the show confirming that, although Evelyn will no longer be living in Coronation Street she’ll still return when storylines allow.