knowingly inflated price and then watches him go bankrupt. Don eventually has a breakdown, becoming obsessed with revenge on Mike. After attempting to frame Mike for arson and insurance fraud, he kidnaps Alma, driving her into the river in his taxi; both survive. His last act is to steal Alma's car and drive into the viaduct at the end of Coronation Street, killing himself. Alma and Mike separate in 1999 when Alma discovers that Mike has cheated on her; they eventually divorce and Alma moves in with Audrey. After finding employment at Freshco supermarket, Alma excels in the job and is promoted. She is involved in an armed siege there in 2000, coincidentally along with Mike and Ken amongst others, in which one gunman is shot dead by the police. Following this, Alma grows close to Frank, a security guard at Freshco. They consider moving away to be together but their happiness is cut short as in May 2001, Alma discovers that due to a missed smear test and a further misdiagnosis, she has inoperable terminal cervical cancer. Frank cannot face watching her die and leaves. Alma is supported by her friends, however, and opts to die at home with the people she loves. The cancer claims her life within weeks; Alma passes away at Audrey's home in Grasmere Drive on 17 June 2001, aged 55, with Mike and her friends surrounding her, and her last appearance is three days later when at her wake Audrey plays a goodbye video she'd shot shortly before her death. Creation Casting Alma was introduced in 1981 as a recurring/guest character, the wife of café proprietor Jim Sedgewick. The role saw the return to mainstream television for actress Amanda Barrie, who was previously best known to viewers as Cleopatra in the 1964 comedy film Carry On Cleo. Barrie played Alma in a recurring role for several years, and then, after six years away from the show, she was asked to return as a regular character, Alma taking over control of the café she was given in her divorce settlement from Jim. Barrie has recalled that her first scene was opposite a Coronation Street "legend", Elsie Tanner, played by Pat Phoenix: "She came for a job at the café and I had to tell her she couldn't have one. That was quite scary. It was my first episode but I didn't think the Street took