Geoffrey Simpson

Geoffrey Simpson was a posh friend of Ken Barlow's from his Manchester University days who bumped into him while Ken was on his honeymoon in London in 1962.

The pair were staying at the same hotel in the capital when Geoffrey caught sight of Ken leaving the venue's lounge and asked his lady companion if it was indeed Ken Barlow he'd seen. Val confirmed that it was and chatted with Geoffrey while they waited on Ken. Geoffrey was delighted to run into his old mate, and dragged him away from Val for some catch-up drinks. As Val left them together, Geoffrey remarked to Ken that she was a "nice bit of skirt" but not very bright, wrongly assuming that Ken had picked her up for the weekend rather than them being there on their honeymoon.

Geoffrey and Ken exchanged contact details and three months later, when Geoffrey was in Manchester for a few days, he looked Ken up and arranged to have dinner at 9 Coronation Street with the Barlows, bringing along his girlfriend Sandra. At the meal, conversation mainly revolved around Ken's decision to give up teaching in order to realise his ambition of being a novelist - a career move Geoffrey heartily endorsed - with Geoffrey, Sandra and Ken comparing notes on their favourite authors.

The occasion went well enough that Geoffrey offered to reciprocate, entertaining the Barlows before he left town. Ken took Geoffrey up on his offer and went along to his the next day but without Val, telling Geoffrey and Sandra that she had a headache. However, Ken was actually covering for Val, who had refused to spend another evening with the "affected mummy's darlings."