Actor and star of Coronation Street

Born: July 29, 1933.

Died: October 22, 2015

PETER Baldwin, who has died aged 82, played one of Coronation Street's dullest characters for more than 20 years. While others got involved in ever more sensationalist plots about rape and murder, his character's most memorable storylines were his hesitant romance with the equally wishy-washy Mavis Riley and the mysterious disappearance of his garden gnome.

His character Derek Wilton was killed off when the new Scottish producer Brian Park, dubbed the Axeman, arrived in 1997. But Derek would not fall victim to anything as dramatic as an axe murder. Getting into a row with another motorist proved too much for him and he dropped dead of a heart attack. Baldwin described it as a bombshell.

He had raised being dull to an art form and many fans were sorry to see him go. In an interview two years ago he said: "Not so long ago, I was in Prague having lunch at a small café, when suddenly all these young men came rushing in wanting photographs and autographs … They were all on a stag party dressed as Batman and Spider-Man and they'd recognised me."

The son of a headmaster and a teacher, he was born in Chichester in 1933 and fell in love with the theatre when he saw Alastair Sim and Ann Todd in Peter Pan. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and joined the West of England Theatre Company during which time he shared a house and worked with Thelma Barlow, who later played Mavis Riley.

Subsequently he spent several years with the London Old Vic company, toured and appeared in Glasgow and Edinburgh in various productions, including Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice.

He first appeared in Coronation Street in 1976 and his character Derek was immediately attracted to Mavis. It would be eight years before they agreed to marry and such was their uncertainty that neither turned up on the initial wedding date. They finally tied the knot in 1988.

One long-running storyline involved the "kidnapping" of Derek's garden gnome, which was actually a prank by one of his friends. Derek received a ransom note and went to meet the kidnapper late at night. But there was also a flasher around and Derek was arrested, though the police released him when they heard his story as it was just too far-fetched to be made up.

Baldwin had a passion for toy theatres and between acting jobs he worked at Pollock's Toy Museum in London and at their toy shop in Covent Garden. He wrote a book about toy theatres and became owner of the shop in 1988.

He was married to the actress and Play School presenter Sarah Long. She died of cancer in 1987 and Baldwin said that his commitment to Corrie helped him get through it. He is survived by their two children.

BRIAN PENDREIGH