PETER ROSE DEAD: CORONATION STREET AND EASTENDERS ICON DIES AS FAMOUS FRIENDS PAY TRIBUTE

A titan of TV who worked on Emmerdale, EastEnders and Coronation Street has died. Director Peter Rose, who was behind some of the biggest soaps in the country, died last weekend, according to friends.

Screenwriter and author, Harry Duffin said: "It is very sad to say that a great friend of ours, Peter Rose has died last weekend. I met him when we worked together on Howards Way in the 1980s. He was a director and I was script editor. He went on to direct for Coronation Street, EastEnders and Emmerdale until last year."

He added: "Even though we left London we stayed friends together and met whenever we could. His partner, Mick Cawson and Peter spent holidays at our villa when we lived in Spain. He was a lovely man, and Chris and I will miss him very much."

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Kathryn Davies, a friend of Peter, also shared a tear-jerking tribute on her own social media. Sharing snaps of Peter tucking into a meal, she said: "RIP Peter Rose, Director, Howards End, EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale. So sudden. Happy we did lunch in December, nobody to tell me off now! Bless you."

In response to Harry's message, numerous others weighed in to honour the director, who received a nomination for Scene Of The Year at the 2015 British Soap Awards for the iconic "Deirdre Throws the Trifle" sequence.

The scene aired on the ITV soap opera in October 2014. In the scene, Deirdre Barlow is seen launching a trifle at the wall following a family dispute while yelling that "jelly shouldn't run, it should wobble!" Carla Connor and Tracy Barlow had been arguing over the latter's brother, Peter, who was in prison for the murder of Tina McIntyre.

"I am so upset to hear this news. Peter was such a lovely man. We had so much fun co-casting Howards Way together," one remarked. "So sorry Harry. We expect our friends will be around just as they always were and it's always a shock when they aren't! You and Chris must be devastated. Very hard," another added.

"Such sad news. He was always fun and so witty," a third commented. His first TV credit came in 1989 as the director of Howards' Way, before going on to work on the likes of Channel 5's Family Affairs, ITV's Crossroads and the former BBC medical show, Holby City.

Beyond his contributions to Emmerdale, with his last episode airing just a number of weeks ago on January 1, Peter helmed 111 episodes of Coronation Street spanning from 2011 to 2024.

He also brought his creative vision to 126 episodes of EastEnders during the years 2003 to 2010. His additional soap opera work encompassed Channel 4's Brookside.

Outside the world of soaps, his portfolio included the Enid Blyton Adventure Series, Trainer, Virtual Murder, and Come Outside.

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2026-02-04T11:58:47Z