55 Years of Corrie in 55 Days - 2011

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

In 2010 when Coronation Street celebrated its 50th anniversary, our blogger Sunny Jim wrote some amazing blog posts entitled 50 Years of Corrie in 50 Days.

Every one of those 50 blog posts paid homage to every year of Coronation Street's history, outlining  events on and off the cobbles. Sunny Jim used Corrie reference books and online sources to create a wonderful resource for fans.

You can read them all here in this wonderful online book.

As Coronation Street this year will celebrate its 55th anniversary in December 2015, it's time to start updating our online book.  Today, we start with events from the cobbles from 2011 and will bring you 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 over the next few months.

55 Years of Corrie in 55 Days - 2011

 

Claire Peacock and her sons leave for France after she batters Tracy Barlow for calling her dead husband Ashley names. Audrey’s friend Claudia arrives. Tyrone develops a crush on Sally Webster. Graeme married Xin and both of them left the Street. Julie and Brian start dating. Gary suffers panic attacks after his ordeal in Afghanistan and suffers a break down with Izzy in her flat. Nick Tilsley gets Peter Barlow drinking again.

 

John Stape murders Colin Fishwick’s mum Joy.  He then imprisons the Hoyles and Chesney in the basement of the Hoyle’s house. Fiz is arrested for John’s fraud and he kidnaps Rosie Webster.

Speaking of Rosie, she moves into Eileen’s house and the queue for the bathroom gets long when she's in there doing her beauty routine: "It's cleanse, tone, vomit," says Sean.  Rosie needs a baby to take on a fashion shoot, she takes baby Jack but brings the wrong baby back home. Rosie’s agent Jeff chats up Sally and whisks her off to Paris for a holiday. 

Sally takes out an injunction against Kev preventing him access to his lottery winnings. There's a court hearing where the injunction's overturned – Kevin wins, Sally loses – but desperate to get his missus back Kevin gives Sally a cheque for the whole amount later, telling her he wants her back, loves her and always will.  Sally tells Kevin to stick his cheque and do one.

Frank Foster arrives at Underworld.  He tries to rape Maria who tries to warn Carla off him, but Carla doesn’t believe Maria and lets Frank invest in the factory. Carla’s mum dies and she kisses Frank.  The two of them get close and end up engaged but Frank rapes Carla. His mum ends up killing him.

Faye Windass arrives as foster child for Anna and Eddie Windass. Eddie leaves for Germany. With Eddie gone, Owen set his cap at Anna and she agrees to a night in the pub with him.

David married Kylie. It's fair to say that Gail and daughter-in-law Kylie didn’t get on that well. "She's a Tasmanian devil in a push-up bra!" snorts Gail when tensions grow. Little Max comes to live with the Platts.

Roy’s mum Sylvia arrived. She’s over the moon when she finds out she's won a cruise in the competition that she entered with Mary's slogan. She goes off cruising and returns with tales about a man she’s met, called Milton.

Katy's pregnant with Chesney’s baby and she gives birth in the manger at the nativity play at Bessie Street School.

Jim McDonald tries to rob a building society and gets locked up in the Big House.  Todd returns with new bloke Jools in tow.  Sean went to London to see son Dylan with Marcus.  Ken and Deirdre took up pottery throwing. Ken’s grandson James moves in to No. 1. Audrey had a fling with Marc the transvestite.

Nick’s Bistro opens. Gail tries and fails to get the bar manager's job and ends up as the cleaner instead. "I'll just go and give the gents a good bottoming," she tells Nick before scuttling off in her pinny. 

Steve and Tracy went to Blackpool and stayed overnight in a B&B.  Tracy ended up pregnant with twins but after she miscarried the babies, she lied and said Becky had thrown her down a flight of stairs.

Dennis Tanner returns to Rita’s life as a down and out. Eileen and Julie discover they're distantly related to Dennis Tanner when he reveals that his mum Elsie's maiden name was Grimshaw.  Eileen Grimshaw celebrated her 50th birthday and falls in love with the fireman who comes to rescue her when she gets her head stuck in the railings on the roof of Underworld.  
Sunita’s aunties arrive in time to see Dev propose to Sunita but she turns him down. Over at the Alahan's, Amber upsets everyone by staying out all night with Tommy Duckworth and revealing that she's been kicked out of Uni.  Dev's head's spinning trying to make sense of it all.

Stella Price’s name goes up above the door at the Rovers Return. She reveals herself as Leanne’s real mum.

Lloyd lets his girlfriend Cheryl’s mate Chris and his pretend brain tumour move into his flat. Tina dates Dr Carter and he takes her out to meet his posh mates. On the golf course with Lloyd, Dev discovers son Aadi is a naturally gifted golfer and goes all out to encourage the kid buying him a brand new set of golf clubs.

Tyrone's new girlfriend Kirsty reveals she's a cop. Kevin asks Ken for advice on changing baby Jack's surname from Dobbs to Webster. ill WeBbster returned after months away, declared his love for Aunty Pam and told everyone he was going to wed her then he fell down flat with a heart attack, ended up in intensive care.

Over at the Barlow's, it's Ken's 72nd birthday and Deirdre's present is a hand-made pottery gift where Ken can put his nuts. “They're peanut bowls!” she shrieks in delight.

Schmeichel the Great Dane went to the kennel in the sky. Ciaran and Michelle forge ahead with wedding plans until he gambled away their wedding funds. Lloyd left the Street to a 10-horn salute from the Streetcars cabs.

Owen and David's spat turned nasty when Owen woke up to find his fish pond filled in with soil and all his fish have disappeared. This cut to a brilliant scene of Kylie at the Platt's screaming in horror to David: "Why's our bath full of fish?"


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50 Corrie years in pictures

Posted in December on The Coronation Street blog by Sunny Jim, this wonderful collage of photos from each of the 50 years of Corrie is awesome!

To follow on from our series, 50 Years of Corrie in 50 Days, here's a quick recap of the last 50 years of Coronation Street in 50 photoghraphs.

(click on the picture for a larger view of the last 50 years)

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 2009

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in December 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 49 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

The portents were not good for the wedding of Becky Granger and Steve McDonald: he’d been married three times before and the day they’d chosen was Friday the thirteenth. So there was little surprise when it all went horribly wrong. The day started with Becky toasting herself over breakfast with brandy and champagne. Blanche Hunt sent over a celebratory bottle of Thunderclap cider for the bride-to-be and once at Audrey’s salon, Natasha helped calm Becky’s nerves with whisky. With her hair and make-up sorted and wearing a bright pink wedding dress that Hayley had made for her, the next stop was the builder’s yard to share a can or two with her ex, Jason Grimshaw. By now she was not only inebriated but very late and Steve was at the register office trying to placate the registrar. Roy and Hayley managed to get Becky there but she was in such a state that registrar refused to marry them

A new date was set but this time when Becky turned up at the register office she was stone cold sober and the whole McDonald clan were there to welcome her to the family. The ceremony went without a hitch and the couple were wed, unfortunately things were about to takle a nasty turn at the reception. Detective Hooch had it in for Becky as he blamed her for his lack of progress within the force so he’d got her ex, Slug, to plant some drugs in her handbag. The police raided the Rovers, found the drugs and Becky was arrested, spending her first night of marriage in a police cell. Steve managed to extract the truth from Slug and threatened to expose the bent copper. Under pressure he eventually agreed to lose the evidence so that the trial was cancelled and Becky was a free woman.

Also in 2009: Molly Compton marries Tyrone Dobbs; Fiz Brown and John Stape marry in prison; Maria Connor gives birth on Southport beach; Eileen’s father, Colin, turns up; Colin Grimshaw is exposed as Julie Carp’s father; Ken has an affair with Martha Fraser; Norris’s long lost brother Ramsay arrives from Australia; Kevin Webster starts an affair with Molly Dobbs; Sally Webster gets cancer; Ramsay Clegg dies; Rita sells the Kabin to Norris; Colin Grimshaw dies; Rovers Amateur Dramatic Association revived.

50 years of Corrie in 50 days - 2008

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 48 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

The Duckworths were finally ready to retire and had put down a deposit on a house in their favourite seaside resort, Blackpool. With the sale of no. 9 to Tyrone and Molly agreed everything was in place for the move. Vera sat in her favourite chair and flicked through the estate agent’s details with Jack, working out what they’d be taking with them, and where it would fit in the new house. Thirsty after a day in Blackpool measuring up, Jack nipped out to the Rovers for a swift pint. When he got home, Vera was sleeping peacefully in the chair where he’d left her. Surprised that she hadn’t got his tea ready, he walked over to her and asked if she was ok. There was no response. He touched her hand and realised that she’d gone and softly he began to sing to her: ‘If you were the only girl in the world…’

He’d tried to ruin his sister’s wedding, terrified his mother by sending cards from her dead husband, attempted to kill his future brother-in-law and endangered the life of his niece by storing ecstasy pills in one of her dolls. Bad enough you’d think but things took a turn for the worse when David Platt found out that his girlfriend had had an abortion and that his mother had helped her. He went upstairs to pack his things ready to leave while Gail desperately tried to explain that it was Tina’s decision and tried to stop him leaving. On the landing he pushed his mother and she fell headlong down the stairs smashing her head against the wall. David left her for dead but she got taken to hospital and eventually recovered but the last thing she remembered was having an argument with Jason Grimshaw who initially got the blame.

Audrey began to suspect that David had a hand in his mother’s fate and so he pressured Tina, who felt guilty over the abortion, to provide him with an alibi. But when Gail started to regain her memory, Tina realised it was wrong and dumped David. Gail confronted him and he went on the rampage, smashing windows up and down the Street and was arrested. At the police station he confessed to everything and insisted that he should be locked up for his own good. He was sentenced to four months in a Young Offenders’ Institute where he struck up a friendship with arsonist Graeme Proctor.

Also in 2008: Liam Connor marries Maria Sutherland; Dylan Wilson born; Gail’s father, Ted Page, turns up; Leanne Battersby torches restaurant for insurance; Tony Gordon victimises Sunny Jim; Victoria Court built; Windass family arrive; Carla Connor and Tony Gordon marry; Tony arranges Liam’s murder; Peter Barlow returns with his son, Simon.

50 years of Corrie in 50 days - 2007

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 47 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

After being jilted by Shelley Unwin, Charlie Stubbs teamed up with Tracy Barlow. The pair seemed well suited, both being amoral, selfish and cruel but a manipulative bully like Charlie wasn’t interested in an equal partnership and soon the mind games started. When Tracy moved in with him she brought her daughter Amy with her but Charlie threw them both out, saying that a kid wasn’t part of the deal so Tracy had to dump Amy on Ken and Deirdre. To get her own back at being separated from her daughter Tracy pretended that she was pregnant and let Charlie talk her into having an abortion which he was happy to pay for. She spent the money on shoes and by pretending to be grieving for her lost child, convinced Charlie to allow Amy to move in with them to give her some comfort.

When Charlie heard that his ex, Shelley, was leaving the Weatherfield to run a pub in Derbyshire, he decided to seduce her, just to prove that he could. Shelley told Tracy what had happened and then, disgusted at herself for what she’d done, took it back, saying she’d lied. But when Shelley returned later it was clear she was pregnant and it was obvious who the father was. Tracy forgave Charlie but his attentions soon turned to Maria Sutherland. She had moved into his old flat when he’d bought no. 6 and he was always finding excuses to visit her even sneaking in when she was out to sabotage things in the flat so that she would call him in to fix them.

Tracy was after revenge and by faking injuries, like burning herself with the iron, managed to convince her parents and Claire Peacock that Charlie was being abusive. When she was visited by her step brother Peter, she let Charlie believe that he was her lover and he beat him up. He was arrested and convicted of the assault and sentenced to community service. He ordered Tracy out of no. 6 but she refused. Instead she lulled him into a false sense of security by dancing provocatively round the living room before clocking him one with a statue. He fell to his knees and she hit him again and then tried to make it look as if there’d been a fight and placed a knife in his hand before calling an ambulance. Charlie clung to life for three days before finally dying much to Tracy’s delight.

Tracy was charged with murder, and planned to call as witnesses Claire, Deirdre, and David Platt, who told her he'd seen what she'd done, and would tell the truth unless she had sex with him. Tracy agreed, but strung him along during the trial. Deirdre told Tracy she had questions about Tracy's innocence, but would lie for her in court. Tracy then confessed her entire plan to a horrified Deidre. During the trial, the prosecutor managed to discredit Claire due to her mental illness, and tore David apart. Meanwhile, Deidre had a panic attack during her testimony and was less than convincing. With Tracy's defense in shambles, she was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum tariff of 15 years.

Also in 2007: Sarah Platt and Jason Grimshaw get married; Paul Connor dies in a car crash; David tries to sabotage his sister’s wedding; David drives into the canal; Sarah moves to Milan; Harry and Dan Mason buy bookies; the Morton family arrive; Casey Carswell abducts Freddie Peacock; Bruce Jones is sacked for giving away plotlines; Steve MacDonald and Eileen Grimshaw go to Malta on holiday; Liz MacDonald and Vernon Tomlin get married.

50 years of Corrie in 50 days - 2006

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 46 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

Sitting in the Rovers one day in 2005 Mike Baldwin suddenly couldn’t remember the name of vessel in which drinks are contained. It was a small, understated little scene but hugely significant as it signalled the start of the onset of Alzheimer’s. Over the coming year, much to the distress of people around him he became increasingly confused and lost and in his moments of clarity was in terror of the disease which was getting increasingly worse. Not all of his friends and family were wholly sympathetic though. His son Danny decided to try to take advantage of his vulnerable state and with his girlfriend Leanne Battersby, schemed to get Mike to sign documents that would hand control of the Baldwin empire to him.

Mike contracted pneumonia and was admitted to hospital but he ran off believing that he had some important business to take care of. He was spotted near his factory in the pouring rain by Ken Barlow who wrapped his coat around him and called an ambulance. In his confused and distressed state, Mike taunted Ken that Deirdre and little Tracy were going to move in with him now and that he was finished. ‘Deirdre loves me. She’s mine.’ And with that he suffered a massive heart attack and died on the cobbles in the arms of Ken. Ultimately Danny and Leanne’s plan to inherit Mike’s wealth were scuppered by the existence of another will which bequeathed everything to Mike’s son Adam, who sold the factory to Paul and Liam Connor.

Fred Elliott was a butcher with an eye for the ladies, unfortunately his love life was tragically unsuccessful. He’d married Maureen Holdsworth who promptly left him and ran away with Bill Webster. He married Eva Sykes who hadn’t bothered to divorce her previous husband first. And then there was his Thai bride Orchid, who turned out to be a con-artist market trader called Stacey. He was a serial proposer, asking Doreen Heavey, Rita Sullivan, Penny King and twice, Audrey Roberts to marry him but he was turned down every time. After years of trying he finally struck it lucky with Bev Unwin who gave him his chance to settle down once and for all.

In the run up to the wedding, Audrey admitted to Fred that when she last turned him down she was a stupid shallow woman who thought that she could do better but now she realises that she was wrong. If he’d asked her to marry her again, she would have said yes. But it wasn’t to be, Fred had now fallen in love with Bev and that was an end to it. At the church Ashley told his dad that Audrey had decided not to come and so he rushed off to see her. He told Audrey he hadn’t come to tell her what she wanted to hear, but that he loved Bev and he’s going to marry her. As he took his leave he told her: “Be happy. I say, be happy”. And as he headed to the front door there was a crash, a bang and a very deep moan. Fred had suffered a massive heart attack and died on Audrey’s Welcome mat laid out by her front door.

Also in 2006: Aadi and Asha Alahan born; Freddie (originally Thomas) Peacock born; Charlie Stubbs and Tracy Barlow get together; Ernest Bishop’s killer, Ed Jackson, returns to ask for forgiveness; David Platt sends his mother cards from Richard Hillman; Steve MacDonald buys the Rovers; Adam Barlow inherits the factory and sells it to Paul and Liam Connor; Becky Granger, Carla Connor and Michelle Connor make their first appearances; Maureen Webster returns briefly only to be told that her husband, Bill, is having an affair with Audrey Roberts.

50 years of Corrie in 50 days - 2005

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 45 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

When Shelley Unwin was first employed at the Rovers by Duggie Ferguson, she was brassy, confident and wouldn’t take any nonsense from the punters. A bigamous marriage to Peter Barlow and lack of luck with fellas in general had started to dent that confidence and when she took up with the dominating bully of a builder, Charlie Stubbs, she was about to sink even deeper. He constantly chipped away at her, undermining her self-esteem and self-confidence and turned her into an agoraphobic, insecure mess. He was constantly criticising her weight, her behaviour and her personality and one occasion he made her change her outfit fourteen times and ripped out her earrings before a night out. She became completely submissive to him and was a shadow of the plucky, feisty, fun-loving woman we first met.

Despite all her friends and her mother, Bev, begging her not to, she agreed to marry her manipulative oppressor. The night before the wedding she was forced to listen to a few home truths about her fiancé, including the revelation that he’d tried it on with pretty, young barmaid Violet Wilson. Meanwhile, Charlie was spending the night before the wedding in the arms of another woman who he’d picked up in a bar. At the church it looked like neither of them were going to turn up but eventually Charlie swaggered in followed by an unsure looking Shelley. When the vicar got to ‘Do you take this man?’ the nation cheered when she replied: ‘No, I’m sorry, I don’t. I can’t trust you! I can’t marry you!’ before fleeing the church. Charlie couldn’t take the public humiliation and drove off in the wedding car with Shelley as hostage. He threatened her and told her she must be mentally ill but this time she was stronger and managed to escape. She fled through the streets of Weatherfield in her wedding dress, finally free of him.

Martin Platt fell in love with sixteen year old schoolgirl Katy Harris and was branded a pervert by family and friends alike. Her parents wrongly convinced her that Martin was having an affair with Sally Webster in an attempt to split them up and in a state of shock and betrayal she aborted the child she was carrying. Martin was devastated at the loss of his child and the lack of trust she had shown him so ended the relationship. Katy confronted her father about his lies at the garage but he was unremorseful, thinking it all worthwhile to end the affair. She lashed out at him with a wrench and killed him. Her mother, Angela, had seen it all and tried to cover up the murder, first letting the police suspect Martin and then later taking the blame herself. After her mother had been sent to gaol, Katy, a diabetic, committed suicide by eating spoonsful of sugar. Martin found love again and moved to Liverpool with his new girlfriend Robyn.

Also in 2005: Danny Baldwin turns out to be Mike’s son; Ken and Deirdre Barlow remarry; Ray Langton dies at wedding reception; Les Battersby marries Cilla Brown; Status Quo play at Les and Cilla’s wedding; Diggory and Molly Compton and Lloyd Mullaney make their first appearances; Mel Hutchwright wows and cons the book club.

50 years in 50 days - 2004

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 44 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

Maya Sharma had first appeared as the lawyer advising Roy and Hayley Cropper about their rights over Tracy Barlow’s baby, Amy, when they’d been convinced by Tracy that Roy was the father. Coming across as a foxy smart lawyer, it slowly became clear that she was rather unstable and when she was dumped by Dev Alahan in favour of shop assistant Sunita Parekh, the full extent of her craziness was unleashed. She married six illegal immigrants in Sunita’s name and then ruined her real wedding to Dev by arranging for her to be arrested at the reception. Maya was rumbled and arrested but while out on bail she hatched a bigger and much more disruptive plan to get her own back on the happy couple.

First she blew up some of Dev’s shops and as he raced round Greater Manchester watching his empire go up in flames, she kidnapped Sunita and tied her up in the flat above the corner shop on Coronation Street. Dev tracked his wife down but before he can release her Maya clubbed him unconscious and he ended up bound and gagged as well. She kept them there overnight and the following morning she turned on the gas on the cooker before heading down to the shop where she built a bonfire and lit it using one of their wedding photos. She made her escape but the neighbours were soon alerted to the fire and Ciaran and Charlie managed to save the Alahans before the corner shop exploded. Maya had watched all the commotion from the safety of her car and on seeing that Sunita is safe, sped towards her and the other residents gathered on the cobbles. They all managed to get out of the way and Maya crashed her car into a wall but she still wasn’t beaten. When she came round she had another go at Sunita by reversing towards her but was hit by a truck and crushed against the wall. She managed to survive this final crash but by now the police had arrived and after a spell in intensive care she was sent for trial.

As the arrival of his first – and Sarah Platt’s second – child approached, Todd Grimshaw’s life started to unravel. Having already kissed Sarah’s brother Nick, Todd started a full-blown affair with nurse Karl Foster, though he couldn’t bring himself to end his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend even when Katy Harris threatened to blow the whistle. When the truth finally came out, Sarah was naturally devastated, Todd’s brother Jason was uncomfortable and confused (when isn’t he) and Gail was disgusted. Gail went to confront Eileen and after a doorstep confrontation it spilled out onto the Street with Eileen slapping Gail, Gail pulling Eileen’s hair and the pair of them wrestling on the cobbles while gob-smacked neighbours looked on. Todd was now very publicly out of the closet. Sarah went on to give birth 9 weeks prematurely and the baby, Billy, died.

Also in 2004: Amy Barlow is born; Claire Casey and Ashley Peacock have a Christmas wedding; Steve and Karen MacDonald remarry; Barlows play happy families on TV; Tracy sells Amy to the Croppers who call her Patience; Danny, Frankie, Jamie and Warren Baldwin make their first appearance; Jack dresses as Ida Fagg for bowls match; Peter Kay makes a guest appearance as drayman Eric Gartside.

50 years of Corrie in 50 days - 2003

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 43 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

Richard Hillman fetched up on the Street when he turned up to the funeral of his cousin, Alma Halliwell, no doubt in the hope that there might be something for him in the will. He made quite an impression on Gail Platt and it wasn’t long before he’d moved into no. 8 with Gail, Sarah and David. As an Independent Financial Advisor and full of charm he quickly started on ‘helping’ several of the older residents with their investments, notably the Duckworths and Emily Bishop.

He went into business with Duggie Ferguson redeveloping and old house into luxury flats but the project went over budget because of problems with the foundations and fears of a bail hostel being built next door threatened the future profits. While arguing at the site one night, Duggie leant on a bannister which collapsed underneath him and he plunged to his death. Rather than seek help, Richard raced off to steal money from Duggie’s house and left him to die. When Richard’s ex-wife turned up demanding her share of his business, he lured her to the site and hit her over the head with a shovel, dumping her body in the trench built for the underpinning of the foundations.

His marriage to Gail was a lavish affair but the cost only sent him deeper into debt and seeking a new cash cow. This came in the form of his mother-in-law, Audrey Roberts. On finding out she was worth £250,000 he started to make it look as though she was losing her marbles and when that failed went in for the kill by trying to set her house on fire while she slept. Audrey soon realised who was at the bottom of things and tried to convince Gail that he was a wrong ‘un but nobody would believe that such a charming man could stoop to such skulduggery, except Norris Cole, who could see the bad in just about anyone.

He was now on the verge of bankruptcy and the only way out that he could see was killing Emily Bishop. He’d convinced her to take out a sell and rent back scheme on her house and with her dead he’d be able to cash in on the deal. While everyone was at the Rovers for a 50th birthday party for Maxine Peacock’s mother, Doreen Heavey, and with Emily Bishop babysitting for the Peacock’s, he disguised himself as Sarah Platt’s boyfriend, Aidan Critchley and sneaked into no. 4. He hit Emily a blow with a crowbar but before he could finish the job he was disturbed by Maxine who had returned home early. He attacked her and fled and while Emily survived, Maxine wasn’t so lucky.

By now Gail was starting to feel that all was not as it seemed with Richard and when she found out that Aidan had been drugged with Audrey’s tranquilisers she realised that something was seriously wrong with her husband’s explanations. She confronted him and a clearly unhinged Richard confessed to everything. He fled into the night and Gail called in the police who started a man-hunt but no sign could be found of him. A couple of weeks later, Gail returned home to find her son, daughter and granddaughter bound and gagged in the car in the garage, with Richard ready to gas everybody with the exhaust fumes.

Meanwhile Audrey could hear the car revving in the garage and sought help to open the doors. With a crazed Richard at the wheel, the car sped out of the garage and careered through the streets of Weatherfield. Screaming ‘This is it! I love you!’ and with The Wannadies’ ‘You and Me Song’ on the car stereo, Richard drove the family into the murky depths of the canal. Gail, David, Sarah and Bethany all managed to get free and were helped out of the canal by Martin Platt and Tommy Harris but when the car was removed there was no sign of Richard. Police divers dredged the canal and Richard’s body was found and identified by a relieved Gail.

Also in 2003: Peter Barlow marries Lucy Richards; Peter Barlow marries Shelley Unwin; Steve McDonald has a one-night stand with Tracy Barlow; Roy Cropper marries Tracy Barlow; Simon Barlow born; Curly and Emma Watts move away as scriptwriters can think of no more storylines; Todd Grimshaw kisses Nicky Tilsley; Sunita Parekh and Ciaran McCarthy call it off at the altar; Neil Fearns, father of Bethany Platt, dies in a car crash.

50 years of Corrie in 50 days - 2002

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 42 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

In 2002, Keiran Roberts took over as producer and came out with the usual comment that ‘Nobody on this show is bigger than Coronation Street’, which is traditional of a new producer, and was proved correct yet again with the return of Bet Lynch to our screens. Fred Elliott organised a retirement party for Betty Williams and invited some old faces, like her son Gordon (with a new face) and his wife and also former Rovers landlady, Bet Lynch. She’s not changed a bit, still all cheap cigarettes and leopard skin prints, and is back in Manchester for a couple of weeks to sort out some business. Things are still frosty between her and Rita, though they try to put the past behind them, and Rita soon guesses that the business involves a fella and some cash. She later confides in Ken that she’s a witness in a court case against a man who owes her money and if she loses then she’ll be penniless.

Unfortunately we were never to see the conclusion of this story as Julie Goodyear disappeared from the show after filming just 17 episodes. The official reason given was that the four episodes a week schedule was too hectic for her and she was exhausted. Others have said that she got the hump because she wasn’t allowed to smoke in her dressing room. As former Coronation Street writer said: ‘Nobody is bigger than the Street itself. That’s the mistake that a lot of them made. They thought if they went, that they could come back and name their own price. But they find the Street goes on without them.’ Bet returned briefly the following year attending a licensee’s do in Blackpool where she accepted a marriage proposal from Cecil Newton but the wedding didn’t take place as Cecil died of a heart attack before the ceremony.

Newlyweds Ashley and Maxine Peacock were having trouble conceiving and so Maxine did what any young woman would do in such a situation, she consulted her local GP, the too tall Dr Matt Ramsden. His prescription for the problem was unorthodox and unethical: a couple of bottles of red wine and some rumpeh pumpeh with Doctor Lurve. Matt’s heavy drinking wife Charlie found out about the fling and flung him out only for Ashley to invite him to stay with the Peacocks. When Charlie found out where Matt was staying she forced him to tell Ashley why he’d been thrown out and the stress of the ensuing argument sent Maxine into labour. She was rushed to hospital and gave birth to a son, Joshua. At first Ashley demanded a DNA test to determine who Joshua’s biological father was but he later relented after declaring his love for his wife and son. Several years later, Matt returned to the Street to fight for custody of Joshua. A blood test proved that he was the biological father but despite a battle, Joshua remained in the care of Ashley.

Also in 2002: Gail Platt marries Richard Hillman; Sally and Kevin Webster remarry; Dennis Stringer killed in car smash; Duggie Ferguson falls to his death; Patricia Hillman murdered by her ex-husband; Archie Shuttleworth makes his first appearance; the Nelson (Harris) family move in; Les Battersby and Kirk Sutherland pretend to be a couple; Deirdre gets jiggy with Dev.

50 years of Corrie in 50 days - 2001

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 41 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

Although she later turned out to be gobby and sassy, Karen Philips made quite a subdued entrance to Coronation Street when her mate Linda Sykes helped her land a job as a knicker-stitcher at Underworld. That wasn’t to last though, she had a fling with Vikram Desai and a one-night stand with Peter Barlow before starting on Steve McDonald. Janice Battersby teased her about her disastrous track record with men and bet her that she couldn’t get Steve to propose to her. She confided in Steve about the tease and lo and behold he got down on one knee in the Rovers in front of all her mates from the factory. Janice saw through them and so upped the stakes a bit and bet her two days’ pay that she’d never actually get him to the altar.

Neither Steve nor Karen would back down and so it was that they arrived at the register office on May 30th 2001, each expecting the other one to chicken out but neither of them did and they ended up married. Six weeks later they went on honeymoon to Florida and realised that actually they really liked each other and would try to make a go of it. However, after a couple of years Karen decided that she wanted to do things properly and so they got divorced and arranged a fairy-tale wedding. It was such a fairy-tale in fact that it featured a deranged, jealous, evil witch in the shape of Tracy Barlow who wanted to get her clutches on Steve, the father of her daughter, Amy. Despite her attempts to sabotage the wedding plans and disrupt the service, the happy couple were eventually married though it wasn’t long before Tracy managed to split them up and the pair were divorced again.

Later that year Alma Halliwell received that shock news that due to a missed smear test and a further misdiagnosis, she had developed untreatable cervical cancer. Although a spokeswoman for Macmillan Cancer Relief applauded the storyline as it reminded women of the need to have regular smear tests and could therefore help save lives, the story was somewhat implausible and condemned by Amanda Barrie who played Alma: ‘Cervical cancer takes years to develop. No consultant would make a pronouncement as quickly and bluntly as that. I felt straightaway that it gave completely the wrong message.’

Initially Alma only told her best friend, Audrey Roberts but she eventually passed the information on to Alma’s ex-husband, Mike Baldwin who still cared for her deeply and regretted their splitting up. Alma headed off to the Lake District to get away from it all, get her mind straight and come to terms with the her imminent death. Mike tracked her down and full of and apologies confessed his regrets. They reminisced about the happy times they had spent together but Alma insisted that he should go back to his wife Linda and try to make a go of it. Alma spent her final hours at Audrey’s with Mike, Ken and other friends and her ashes were scattered in Derwentwater in her beloved Lake District.

Also in 2001: Ben Watts is born; Susan Barlow dies in a car crash; Toyah Battersby raped by Phil Simmonds; Sarah-Louise groomed by an internet predator; Matt and Charlie Ramsden move in; Eileen Grimshaw rents no. 11 with Todd and Jason; Fred Elliott marries Evelyn Sykes bigamously; occasional fifth episode sneaked in; Shelley Unwin makes her first appearance; Edna Miller dies in Duggie Ferguson’s bed.

50 years of Corrie in 50 days - 2000

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 40 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

In 1999 Granada closed their visitor attraction, The Granada Studio Tours, which included the outdoor set for Coronation Street. This gave the producers the opportunity to expand the set and include the exteriors of some places that we’d only ever seen the inside of and to include some new locations as well. A medical centre and chip shop (sadly not Jackson’s Chippy) were placed on Rosamund Street on the site of the old Graffiti Club and on Victoria Street shops for Elliott & Son’s Butchers, Roy’s Rolls and D & S Hardware were built. Strangely a new viaduct which had never been seen or mentioned before also appeared crossing Rosamund Street behind the Rovers. Photographs of the new additions can be found here.

The year started with the Street’s first ever two-handed full episode, featuring Raquel and Curly Watts. At 2 in the morning, just as Curly is in the kitchen mixing up something to try and help him avoid too bad a hangover, there is a knock on his back door. He thinks it's just the lads and shouts at them to go away, but the knocking persists and he opens it to see Raquel, his estranged wife. Curly hopes that she has returned for him, but although she says she still cares for him, she says she doesn't love him the way he wants and she can't some back. Her first bombshell is that she and Curly have a daughter called Alice, although she didn't know she was pregnant when she left and she didn't tell him about it because she didn't want him chasing after her to Kuala Lumpur. Curly is over the moon that he's a father, but very annoyed that she hadn't told him about her, especially as she returned to England to have the baby and stayed with her sister. In his anger, he makes cruel insinuations, asking if she's really his, but Raquel assures him there was nobody else and that she's told Alice all about her father and she's looking forward to meeting him. On a visit to the bathroom, she takes a look round her old home and sees that very little has changed, her old dressing gown is even still hanging on the back of the bedroom door.

As they look at the star that Curly bought for her, he says he's prepared to forgive and forget and that they can start again, but she drops her second bombshell when she tells him there's someone else. When she was in hospital having Alice, she befriended a French couple, the wife of which was dying of cancer. She's been working as a nanny looking after their 2 children as well as Alice and now lives in a chateau, 'a real one, detached and everything', in the Loire valley (she even speaks fluent French and knows a bit about wine). The wife died 2 years ago and since then she's helped put Armand, the husband, back together again, got him loving his children again and the pity she felt for him when his wife first died has blossomed into love. Curly realises that the next thing she'll be asking for is a divorce, which she duly does and she knows he'll give her one, because he's a nice bloke who still loves her and wants her to be happy. She finally drops her third bombshell, announcing that she's pregnant and needs to be married in case the child is a boy, for inheritance purposes. Curly opines 'Why can't it be me, why can't it ever be me', but as Raquel predicted, Curly agrees to the divorce and seems to be finally accepting that it's over. She says she wants Alice to get to know her real father and that he can come over to France any time and that when she's older, she can come over and stay with him during the holidays and they set the first visit for Easter. As dawn is starting to break, she says goodbye and leaves by the back door with tears in her eyes.

Another landmark this year came in the form of the 40th Anniversary of the programme. Rather than celebrate another decade with a special TV Times supplement and a couple of TV specials it was decide to broadcast an hour long episode featuring the culmination of a campaign to save the Street’s cobbles which the council was threatening to tarmac over. But more than that, the real headline grabber was that this episode would be broadcast live for the first time since February 3rd 1961. The only members of the cast remaining who had ever known what it was like not to be able to redo a fluffed line were Bill Roach and Eileen Derbyshire. There were significant logistical problems with the shoot as well. All the action was taking place on a single day so most outdoor scene had to be crammed in to the first part of the programme before it started to get too dark. The final scene was a major problem too as it took place outside the Rovers after everyone had emptied out of the pub, so the final interior scenes for the Rovers had to be filmed in the shell on the outdoor set. Despite all the problems the programme was a great success and the cobbles were saved when Stan Potter (played by Noddy Holder), turned up with a fake preservation order for them.

Also in 2000: Steve McDonald borrows money off Jez Quigley to start Streetcars; Bethany Platt born; Mike Baldwin marries Linda Sykes; Kevin Webster marries Alison Wakefield; Alison Wakefield commits suicide; Peter Barlow returns; Terry Duckworth sells a kidney for £25k and does a runner; Vera Duckworth donates a kidney to Paul Clayton; Eileen Grimshaw makes her first appearance; Jim McDonald kills Jez; Jim McDonald and Liz remarry; Curly Watts and Emma Taylor get married.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1999

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 39 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

In August 1999 the country was gripped by all things celestial when the population of the UK were to get a chance to see a full solar eclipse. In Weatherfield, Spider Nugent and Toyah Battersby decided to spend a night under canvas on the Red Rec, hoping to catch a glimpse of the event themselves. Instead, something much more earthly happened. Back at Aunty Emily's, she asked them both how the evening had gone. "Er.. cosmic", said Toyah . But Spider wasn't so sure and spent most of the week afterwards trying to avoid her. Leanne told Spider if he didn't do the decent thing with Toyah she would threaten him with Les Battersby but Spider really did seem confused. Finally though, Toyah got her man after she stormed round to see him at Aunty Em's and demanded to know what was going on. After a couple of snogs the pair of them seemed a lot happier.

When Les found out who Toyah's new boyfriend was, he was less than pleased: "You mean that dozy crusty's sleeping wi' our Toyah?" he yelled before storming round to the café, intending to pull the legs off Spider before flushing him down the toilet, no doubt. Fortunately for Spider, all the shouting in the café brought Hayley downstairs and she sorted out the lot of them. Spider managed to sweet talk Aunty Em into letting Toyah stay there for a while after the fall-out with Les. Aunty Em agreed, on the understanding that no hanky panky went on under her roof. They both agreed, well, at least they tried to, but hormones being hormones and all, well Aunty Em was not best pleased when she found out what was going on and threw Toyah out. Curly let the young lovers use his spare room, while worried about incurring the wrath of Les next door.

In October 1999, Spider and Toyah set up home in a tent on the Red Rec but the sanitary arrangements left a lot to be desired, with no toilet or fresh water. When Audrey found out that "Mr Hippy, the armchair anarchist" had set up home in one of the parks she had control over in her role of councillor, she wasn't best pleased. Aunty Em went off on holiday with Maud Grimes and while she was away, Spider and Toyah moved back in to her house. While the two of them were upstairs playing battleships in the bath tub, a candle set fire to Aunty Em's curtains and the living room ended up with serious smoke damage. Spider enlisted Hayley to help out redecorating Aunty Em's front room after the fire, and while she got cracking making new curtains, Spider and Toyah did the wall-papering and the place looked ok again.

Hayley happened to mention that her old bedsit was free and so Spider and Toyah could have a home to call their own. Only one slight problem, they couldn't afford it, so Spider decided it was time he got himself a job. Off he went to the jobcentre and tried to get a job as park keeper but the job had already gone. However, Ernest in the jobcentre tried to find something suitable for him. He offered slaughterhouse work (no - he's vegetarian), pest control (no - he couldn't kill creepy crawlies), car park attendant (no - we all know the damage they do to the environment), baker (no - too many animal fats and GM foods) and canal dredger (no - he couldn't work with Toyah's dad). "Principles don't put bread on the table", Gail told him, so there was only one thing for it - he went for an interview with the establishment - the Benefits Agency itself. A bit nervous before the interview, he started talking to a guy who worked there, only to find it was fellow crusty, Ganja Tim. "There's something I should tell yer" said Spider, "I'm an anarchist". "So am I" replied Ganja Tim. It was a done deal, he got the job and planned to make the system work to help claimants with their benefits rather than becoming one of the establishment himself.

Spider uncovered evidence that showed Les Battersby was working while claiming benefits. He and Toyah decided to get rid of the incriminating evidence but he was caught by his boss, Miss Finch and had some explaining to do. Spider settled into a more responsible lifestyle, wearing a suit and tie for work each day, looked after Toyah and the pair of them entertained friends with vegetarian dinner parties in their bedsit. However, working at the Benefit Agency became too much for Spider when he had to refuse a single mother her benefits - and he walked out.

He headed home to sit around a candle and went 'um' in an unconvincing Buddhist way and told Toyah he'd booked them both on a spiritual journey. "Were not going to the Millennium Dome, are we?" she asked. “No, Toyah, you're going to India.” Well, Spider would have liked her to have gone to India with him, he'd bought two tickets after all, but it was too much for Toyah to take in, too sudden. She couldn't just up and leave, so in the end, finally, and tearfully she decided her own destiny, remaining in Weatherfield without him. And so he went, just like that. He said goodbye to Aunty Em, paid a month's rent in advance and left £100 in the bank for Toyah.

(With many thanks to Flaming Nora for her profile of Geoffrey ‘Spider’ Nugent. To read the whole profile click here.)

Also in 1999: Ashley Peacock finds out that Fred Elliott is not his uncle but his father; Ashley marries Maxine Heavey; Alf Roberts dies; Judy Mallett dies; the Desai family buy the corner shop; Rita Sullivan gives Sharon Gaskell the Kabin and then buys it back; Mike Baldwin is blackmailed by Julia Stone; Norris Cole returns and starts working at Kabin; Ken and Deirdre reconciled by Tracy; Nicky Tilsley bullies Leanne into having an abortion; Nicky leaves for Canada; Leanne gets involved with Jez Quigley and develops a cocaine habit.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1998

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 38 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

With two failed marriages and a third husband dead, Deirdre Rachid hadn’t had much luck in the love stakes over the years. So, when she was on a girl’s night out with Liz McDonald and she met a handsome, courteous and dashing pilot called Jon Lindsay who seemed interested in her, she thought her luck had changed. He lavished extravagant gifts on her, in a way that she’d never experienced before and she soon became besotted with this straightforward charmer. But all was not as it seemed as by chance Ken saw him working in a tie shop at Manchester Airport.

When Deirdre confronted him Jon told her that he’d only deceived her to try to impress her and she believed him as they continued to live the high life, which he paid for with for with forged credit cards. She gave him five thousand pounds to use as a deposit on a home for them and when he proposed she was over the moon. They bought a luxury house in Didsbury but joy soon turned to sadness as on Christmas Day she found out that rather than being away on business trips, Jon was still living with his wife and children.

After confronting Jon over the fact that he was married, she refused to believe he still loved her and set about trying to recover the money she’d given him. Using a credit card he’d given her she started to withdraw money from their joint account only to be arrested as the account was in the name of a Captain Jenkins. She told the police all about Jon but they refused to believe her as he had disappeared. When Jon eventually turned up he portrayed himself as an innocent accessory to the deception and told the police that Deirdre had been the mastermind behind it all. Unfortunately for Deirdre, the jury believed him and Deirdre was sentenced to 18 months in prison and Jon got away with a suspended sentence.

Back on the Street the residents were shocked by the verdict and despite their differences, Ken and Mike got together with Emily to prove Deirdre’s innocence and campaign for her release. In the meantime, Deirdre was stuck sharing a cell with gobby Jackie Dobbs who tried to show her the ropes of prison life but her constant assertions of innocence annoyed inmates and warders alike and she was sedated. Eventually Ken and Mike’s tireless investigations into Jon’s life bore fruit when another woman who had been tricked by him came forward and after spending three weeks in gaol, Deirdre was released.

The other big story of the year was the introduction of transsexual Hayley Patterson and her subsequent romance with Roy Cropper. Hayley started working at Firman’s Freezers and whilst slightly gauche she had a very sweet nature. Though initially portrayed as rather creepy and sinister, Roy had developed into a nice, quirky but harmless character who was a bit of an outsider. Roy and Hayley were attracted to each other though because of their shyness some matchmaking of the pair had to be undertaken by Alma Baldwin before they got together. The courtship ended suddenly when Hayley broke the news that she was a transsexual and confused, Roy refused to have anything to do with her anymore. Further intervention was required from Alma to make him understand that if he really cared for Hayley, then nothing else mattered. Hayley was delighted when Roy flew out to Amsterdam, where she’d gone for her final operation to become a woman, tracked her down and asked her to return to Weatherfield with him.

Also in 1998: Nicky Tilsley and Leanne Battersby elope to Gretna Green and get married; Anne Malone freezes to death; Des Barnes and Natalie Horrocks marry; Des Barnes is killed; Gary and Judy Mallett have twins; Emily Bishop protests up a tree with Spider Nugent; Jim McDonald ends up in a wheelchair; Sally Webster has an affair with Greg Kelly; Zoe Tattersall joins the Cult of Nirab.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1997

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 37 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

‘The Street is currently being terrorised by a smiling axeman.’ So wrote Victor Lewis-Smith in The Daily Mirror about the arrival of new producer Brian Park. Over the years various producers had come in and set about rejuvenating the Street after it had become stale and complacent but none had carried out such a large scale restructuring of cast and storylines as Park was about to. Coronation Street was losing the ratings war with Eastenders and it had gone from a programme that your mother watched to one that your grandmother did. Park also thought that it was facing bias from the press which perceived the programme as being old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy.

On his first day he sacked Peter Baldwin (though credit for this decision has to go to his predecessor Sue Pritchard), who played dopey Derek Wilton, causing outcry across the globe but he’d only just started. Other casualties of Park’s cull were Don Brennan, Percy Sugden, Andy McDonald, Anne Malone, Bill Webster, Billy Williams, Maureen Holdsworth and Scamper the dog and new arrivals included Zoe Tattersall, neighbours from hell The Battersbys and a new look Nicky Tilsley, played by Adam Rickitt. As well as making changes to the cast he also tried to introduce bigger, bolder and longer storylines and move power away from the script writers and more towards the storylining team, feeling that they took a more long-term view towards the stories than script writers who just dealt with one episode at a time.

The Battersbys arrived on the Street with a bang, They were loud, brash, inconsiderate and the sort of people who think that the world revolves around them. They weren’t popular with the residents and Percy Sugden got up a petition to have them forcibly removed, while life became unbearable for next door neighbour Curly Watts who had to suffer loud music blaring out from no. 5 at all hours of the day and night. At the end of his tether he broke into their house and threw their CD player out of the window onto the cobbles below. In response, and much to the amusement of Leanne and Toyah, Les head butted Curly, smashing his glasses.

Toyah took a part-time job at the café and Leanne joined her mother at Underworld, only to get the sack for smoking and setting off the fire alarm. Nick Tilsley returned from Canada to study PE at the local technical college and much to his mother’s horror, started a relationship with Leanne who took his virginity. Meanwhile Toyah fell for Emily Nugent’s eco-warrior nephew, Geoffrey ‘Spider’ Nugent who had moved into his auntie’s spare room. Together they liberated Teresa the turkey that Les was planning to eat for Christmas dinner but the bird wandered out on to the cobbles and was run over by Les.

Also in 1997: Brad Armstrong is born in the back room at the Rovers, delivered by Betty; Fred Elliott marries Maureen Holdsworth but she runs off to Germany with Bill Webster, Don Brennan dies crashing Alma’s car into the viaduct; Mavis Wilton moves to Cartmel to open a B & B; Alec Gilroy bails out Jack and Vera over their VAT bill; Alec opens Golden Years dating agency; Kevin Webster leaves Sally and moves in with Natalie Horrocks; Deirdre starts seeing airline pilot Jon Lindsay; Fiona Middleton is jilted at the altar after she admits to Alan McKenna to having slept with Jim McDonald; Flaming Nora and Sunny Jim meet for the first time, on the set of Coronation Street.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1996

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 36 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

With its ratings share declining, ITV decided that they needed to spread their most successful programmes further and insisted on a fourth episode of Coronation Street being produced, to be shown on Sunday evenings. With only so many hours in a day and with weekend shooting already having become commonplace since the switch to three episodes per week a way had to be found of accommodating the extra episode into production schedules. The result was that it was decided to do away with the producer/technical rehearsal that had been a feature of the Street from day one. This technique of rehearsing immediately before shooting a scene was already a feature of location shooting but now it would be brought to the studio.

Most of the cast had no real problem with the new process as despite the extra scenes required for the fourth episode, the rejigging of the schedule would actually mean they had more free time. The writers were more concerned however. By holding a technical rehearsal some days prior to the actual filming they were able to watch the rehearsal and make adjustments to the script if a line could be improved or if an actor had taken something the wrong way. Also there was a loss of continuity as the scenes were no longer filmed in transmission order, so actors would sometimes lose their knowledge of where a scene was going and how it all sat within the overall story. This was especially true if an actor had a heavy workload and only bothered to read their own scenes and so didn’t really understand how they fitted with everybody else’s.

Furthermore, the amount of story material had to increase and consequently, as we have seen over the years, the stories move further from the viewers’ own reality, which initially drove the programme, to a point where suspension of disbelief is stretched to breaking point. Finally, the extra episode didn’t sit well with the audience. Viewing figures for the new Sunday episode were always lower than the Monday, Wednesday and Friday programmes. Despite Friday regularly ending with a major cliff-hanger to try to draw the audience in on Sunday, people never really got used to the weekend scheduling.

One cast member who was uncomfortable with the switch was Sarah Lancashire who played Raquel Watts. As a popular character she was much in demand on screen and had been carrying long running storylines for months without a break. She announced her decision to move on and left a week before the first Sunday episode was transmitted in November. Raquel took up aromatherapy and hired the back room at the salon to work with clients. Then she decided to enrol on a course in Maidenhead and shocked Curly when she returned much more confident that when she left. She had an interview with an international firm and was offered a job in Kuala Lumpur. Curly put on a brave face when she broke the news in floods of tears but inside he was heartbroken. Before leaving she left Curly a pile of ironed shirts with her wedding ring sitting on top and after giving the Street one last sentimental look, turned to Judy Mallett and said: ‘Look after him.’

Also in 1996: Jim McDonald hits Liz; Steve McDonald gets sent to the big house for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice; Liz catches the eye of Frazer Henderson; Alec Gilroy returns and opens Sunliners travel agency; Fiona Middleton buys the salon; Terry Duckworth sells Tommy again; Terry gets Tricia Armstrong pregnant; Audrey Robert’s estranged son, Stephen Reid, turns up; Norris Cole buries Angela’s golf clubs in the Wilton’s allotment; Don Brennan attempts suicide.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1995

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 35 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

As first barmaid and later landlady, Bet Gilroy was part of the Rovers’ furniture but it was all to come to an end. Newton and Ridley announced that they no longer wished to keep the Rovers as a tenancy and put the pub up for sale. The brewery at least gave her first refusal and a slightly reduced price tag of £66000 but with no savings it was never a sum she could hope to raise through normal channels. She approached her good friend Rita Sullivan for a loan and for a while she contemplated the deal and starting up a partnership with Bet but it was clear that Bet had little business sense and as an investment it didn’t look like a good prospect. She approached Vicky McDonald as well but she too saw the deal as a bad risk and turned her down. Rita’s refusal soured relations between the two who had been good friends and Bet felt like she didn’t have a friend in the world. Dejected, she packed her bags and disappeared into the night leaving no forwarding address.

The brewery decided that the Rovers would go to whoever came up with the asking price of £68000 first. Two couples were interested, Jim and Liz McDonald and Jack and Vera Duckworth. Unfortunately the McDonalds were late getting to the brewery as Jim couldn’t get away from work as Mike Baldwin’s chauffeur, though he tried so hard that he lost his job. The Duckworths had come into some money with the death of Jack’s brother Cliff. They’d considered using the windfall to buy the corner shop and had then arranged to buy Des Barnes’ house on the other side of the road as they fancied having a garden. They’d agreed the sale of no. 9 to Gary and Judy Mallet but the sale stalled when Des decided he didn’t want to move after all. And then the Rovers came on the market and they snapped it up.

With Vera Duckworth’s name over the door, they settled into life in the licensed trade but struggled hard to make a success of it. They enjoyed the idea of being mein hosts but they had little business sense and matters weren’t helped by constantly borrowing money from the till and by drinking so much of the profits. Terry turned up hoping to profit from his parents’ new venture though even he soon realised that he wasn’t going to get anything out of it and left but not before getting Tricia Armstrong pregnant. Andy McDonald helped them with their book-keeping but they were soon in trouble with the VAT and were presented with a huge tax bill. In order to pay it they had to sell half the pub to Alec Gilroy who had returned to the area having been made redundant by Sunliners.

The partnership was fraught with tension and was doomed to failure from the start as Vera could never see eye-to-eye with Alec. Alec bought out the Duckworth’s remaining share of the pub and kept them on as employees but the arguments still raged. Alec tried to throw them out of the pub but they managed to barricade themselves into the upstairs living quarters. In the end Alec couldn’t take any more and when Natalie Horrocks offered to buy the pub he washed his hands of the place and headed off to Brighton to help his granddaughter Vicky run a wine bar. Natalie was left with the problem of getting rid of the Duckworths who eventually moved out and lodged at Eunice Gee’s Bed and Breakfast.

Also in 1995: Raquel and Curly marry in 35th anniversary episode; Daniel Osbourne is born; Tracy Barlow suffers kidney failure; Samir is killed and Tracy receives his kidney; Ivy Tilsley dies and leaves her house to Nicky if he changes his name back from Platt; Roy Cropper makes his first appearance; Alf Roberts receives the OBE; Arthur the gnome goes on his travels; Bill Webster returns; Betty Turpin marries Billy Williams; Steve McDonald and Vicky Arden run away to St. Lucia and get married.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1994

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 34 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

It had been planned for Ken and Deirdre to reunite but when Anne Kirkbride fell ill and had to be written out of the show for six months, storlines had to be rejigged and Ken was paired up with Denise Osbourne instead and got her pregnant. On her return from nursing her sick mother, Deirdre was furious and reminded Ken of the times she’d begged him to let them start a family when they were together. Deirdre flew off on holiday to Morocco where she had a holiday romance with a 21 year old waiter. On her return she borrowed money from Emily and amazed the Street by paying for him to come to the UK. Samir Rachid arrived frightened by the western world but hopelessly in love with Deirdre.

He took a job in a local restaurant and moved into no. 1 with Deirdre, despite the misgivings of her daughter Tracy. When immigration officers started to show an interest, Deirdre proposed to him to keep him in the country and they were married at the register office. Immigration officials refused to believe it was a genuine marriage and they were both faced a fierce interrogation by the authorities. Samir felt like a prisoner and Deirdre felt isolated when her friends refused to believe he loved her. She sold no. 1 to Mike Baldwin and the pair of them used the proceeds to fly back to Morocco to start a new life.

Another unlikely romance blossomed in 1994. Curly Watts had always been interested in barmaid Raquel Wolstenhulme but she’d rejected his advances in the past and he’d come to think of her as unobtainable. He was sacked from Bettabuy after his area manager, Elaine Fenwick, submitted a sexual harassment complaint against him after he kept declaring his love for her. He worked for a week at the bookies but it was a disaster and so he took a job as manager of discount shop, SoopaScoopa. In an attempt to impress his new bosses he pretended to be engaged and managed to talk Raquel into pretending to be his fiancée.

Raquel had been having a hard time of thing, continually being messed around by Des Barnes. She’d moved into no. 6 with him but he was still attracted to the evil Tanya Pooley who was having an affair with Des’s boss, Alex Christie. Things came to a violent conclusion when Des confronted Alex & Tanya in bed. Raquel arrived on the scene in time to hear Des ordering Alex out of ‘my girl’s bed’ and left in floods of tears, searching out Bet Gilroy for comfort.

After such a torrid time, it is no surprise that when Curly decided that he really did love Raquel and proposed to her, she accepted even though she didn’t love him in return. Much to her delight, for Christmas that year Curly named a star after her. She broke off the engagement the following year after Des Barnes begged her to marry him at their engagement party but she eventually realised that she didn’t love him. So, on December 18th 1995, in the programme’s first ever hour-long special to celebrate the programme’s 35th anniversary, Raquel and Curly were married in secret in a register office with strangers as witnesses.

Also in 1994: Ivy Tilsley moves to religious retreat; Reg Holdsworth marries Maureen Naylor; Fred Elliott makes his first appearance, I say, Fred Elliott makes his first appearance; Sophie Webster born; Tony Warren gets an MBE; Reg buys the corner shop; Bet Gilroy teams up with Charlie Whelan but he runs off to Hamburg with the evil Tanya Pooley; Fred Elliott tries to bribe an official in a black pudding contest; Steve McDonald and Fiona Middleton move in together.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1993

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 33 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

While training to be a nurse, Martin Platt befriended fellow student nurse Carmel Finnan. She started to babysit for the family and moved in as a lodger. Little did he know that she had become fixated with him. After getting drunk one night he woke up to find her in his bed and she confessed to being in love with him and told him she knew that he loved her too. He denied he felt anything for her and to Gail’s surprise, he threw Carmel out of the house. Carmel confronted Gail and told her that she loved Martin, that Gail was no good for him and that she was p[regnant with his baby. Martin swore to Gail that there was nothing going on between him and Carmel and she believed him until she found out about the night they had spent in bed together and started to have doubts.

In a dramatic climax, Carmel tried to kidnap David Platt. Gail tried to warn her off and ended up pushing her downstairs. She broke her leg and Gail worried that she may have damaged the baby but at the hospital the Platts were told that Carmel wasn’t and never had been pregnant. Carmel’s grandfather turned up to take her back to Ireland and confessed to the Platts that this wasn’t the first time that Carmel had become obsessed with a man.

Lisa Horten and her son Tommy moved in with Des Barnes and they were contemplating moving away from the area to start a new life. Unfortunately Lisa was killed on the Street when she was knocked down by a car and young Tommy was taken in by his grandparents, Jack and Vera. Vera was counting the days to Terry’s release from prison with the expectation of them all living together in domestic bliss. Little did she know that Terry was negotiating with Tommy’s other grandparents, Geoff and Doreen Horten, to sell Tommy to them to be brought up in Blackpool. Jack twigged what was going on and thumped his son before disowning him for breaking his mother’s heart again.

Also in 1993: Jenny Bradley tries to fleece Rita; Liz McDonald leaves Jim to run the Queens; Liz has an affair with Colin Barnes; Fiona Middleton and Maureen Naylor make their first Appearances; Tracy Barlow finds out about Deirdre’s affair with Mike; Don Brennan stalks Denise Osbourne; Steve McDonald beds Vicky Arden; Jim calls Liz a whore; Raquel takes French lessons from Ken; the evil Tanya Pooley starts working at the Rovers.

50 Years Of Corrie In 50 Days – 1992

(This post was originally posted by Sunny Jim on the Coronation Street Blog in 2010, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Day 32 of our 50 day countdown of Coronation Street - written by blogger Sunny Jim.

Since his arrival on Coronation Street the character of Jim McDonald had been pretty one-dimensional. He shouted at his sons, hurled insults at other characters and condescended to his wife, Liz. But 1992 saw the culmination of a story that melted the hearts of the viewers as the McDonald family came to terms with the loss of a baby. Liz had been surprised to find out she was pregnant and initially considered an abortion before Jim talked her out of it, pointing out that this was her last realistic opportunity of having another child. Steve had been involved with a gang selling stolen car radios and after Andy was beaten up as a warning to him, he went on the run. Liz was worried that Steve was lying dead somewhere and with the stress of the situation she went into labour prematurely. Baby Katie was born on January 1st 1992 but sadly died the following day. In the aftermath Jim was shown to be caring, sensitive and supportive and at last the viewers started to warm to him.

1992 was a year of weddings with no fewer than three marriages taking place within the space of a month. The first pair to tie the knot was Terry Duckworth and his pregnant girlfriend Lisa Horten. Terry had been allowed out of jail for the day accompanied by two prison officers but Vera persuaded them to remove his handcuffs for a wedding photograph. Seizing the opportunity, Terry did a runner leaving Lisa wondering if he’d only got married so that he could escape from prison. When he was eventually apprehended in Bettabuy’s car park he assured her that the wedding was genuine and he really did love her.

A week later the residents gathered at the register office to witness the wedding of Rita Fairclough and Ted Sullivan. Only one of the guests, Audrey Roberts, knew the real pain behind the smiles of the happy couple. Rita had broken down at her hen party and confessed to Audrey that Ted had a brain tumour and wasn’t long for this world. Three months later Rita found Ted asleep on a bench and realised that he was in fact dead.

Finally we saw the long awaited wedding between Mike Baldwin and Alma Sedgewick. Alma had been cited as co-respondent in the divorce between Mike and Jackie Ingram and she was distraught. After Mike told her that he had her name removed at the cost of thousands of pounds she happily agreed to marry him. However, the day before the wedding Jackie informed her that it had been Mike’s idea all along to cite Alma and she had doubts about going through with the wedding and only made up her mind to go through with it at the last minute: ‘The only sin I’ve committed, Mike, is knowing you. And I’ll be regretting that for the rest of my life.’

Also in 1992: Raquel takes up with Des Barnes; Tommy Duckworth born; Alec Gilroy sails away with Sunliners; Bet back in charge at the Rovers; Denise Osbourne opens salon; Mark Redman ages 2 years; Curly Watts buys no. 7 and puts a telescope in loft; Martin Platt trains as a nurse; Don Brennan attempts suicide.