Top five Coronation Street TV crossovers

(This post was originally posted by Flaming Nora on the Coronation Street Blog September 2015, reposted to this blog with permission.)

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Coronation Street, on its own, is an iconic show. There’s no argument there. From the damp cobbles, the corner shop and that lovely pub. We all know the theme tune, and we all recognise the cat. However, there have been times when our favourite soap has teamed itself up with another show. The term, “shared universe” is bandied around a lot these days, mostly with big budget superhero movies. However, Corrie has been doing the “shared universe” thing for ages.

Here are five of the best examples.

Corrie meets Eastenders (2010)

Perhaps the most famous crossover of the lot – “East Street” was part of the 2010 Children in Need line up. We had Sean flirting with Christian, Gail and Denise comparing husbands, Eileen and Zainab talking about their gay sons and the earth-shattering realisation that Liz is in fact Kat’s mother! (Funnily enough, a fact that was never brought up again!).

Broadcast the month before Corrie's 50th Birthday, viewers began to worry for Eileen, who said a line that fuelled much speculation over her potential fate. Luckily, when she said, “those trams will be the death of me”, it wasn’t was premonition, just a cheeky red herring.

Corrie meets Dallas (and Smith & Jones)

The Russell T. Davies penned direct to video special “Viva Las Vegas” opened with two heavily referential moments. We had Jack and Vera debating over the meaning of the word ‘vet’ in a Smith and Jones style discussion, followed by a glamorous opening title sequence that was inspired by Dallas. A very guilty pleasure!

I also enjoyed the fact that Liz Dawn and Bill Tarmey were called by their full names, Elizabeth Dawn and William Tarmey. It really added to the classiness.

Corrie meets Doctor Who (and the minions) (2015)

One afternoon, earlier this year, Twitter was teased by a photo of the TARDIS on Coronation Street. “What could this mean?!” both fandoms probably thought. In my head, I’d imagined a story of the TARDIS getting taken away by the council, or the Twelfth Doctor getting annoyed by Ken Barlow because he’s smarter than him. Sadly, it was revealed to be a still for a Greg James skit. Don’t get me wrong, it was a charming video, but an actual crossover would have been far more exciting. It also featured the Minions – characters who are even more annoying than the Corrie Meerkats. (Sorry, readers.)

Corrie meets Red Dwarf (2009)

Lister, Rimmer and Kryten landed on the famous cobbles for a special Red Dwarf episode in 2009. They were on the search for actor Craig Charles. Simon Gregson and Michelle Keegan also made cameos. In these scenes, the Corrie actors are playing themselves, but the comedy show implies that the Rovers set is inside the Rovers exterior. WHICH. JUST. ISN’T. TRUE. It just made the story of fictional TV aliens coming to earth, searching for the actors who played them, less realistic.

Corrie meets Jeremy Kyle

Tina vs David vs Nick on Jeremy Kyle, guest-starring Graeme as an audience member. It was all part of JK’s 1000th show, and the actors were in character throughout. Considering the two shows were both filmed at Granada Studios at the time (they’ve both since moved to Media City) it’s not a surprise the two shows had such good relationships. Jeremy and Graham even filmed a goodbye tribute video for Michelle Keegan’s leaving party when she left the show in 2014.   Perhaps the Platts could have done with a reappearance on the show alongside Callum more recently? Rather than, you know, the whole murder thing. I don’t think Jezza would approve.

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