Some quite interesting things to know ...
The first episode of Tony Warren’s gritty northern drama Coronation Street aired on December 9th 1960 … that means next Thursday it’s going to be 50 years old.
We all know that a nasty tram crash is going to cause all manner of bother on the streets of Weatherfield during the 50th anniversary week, and at least three of the major characters (maybe four, the fourth might be someone we don’t care about) will be killed off … but just how many useless facts do you know about ITV’s long running soap?
As it’s the time of year for nostalgic list shows, I thought I’d come up with fifty fascinating (and not so fascinating) facts about Coronation Street for those of you with too much time on your hands.
Feel free to chip in with your own interesting factoids - should you wish to – in the comments section below … but I’ve got no more time for waffle, I’ve now got to come up with fifty Corrie-things to tell you … erm …
1. Everyone should know this, but it’s good to start with a loosener. Tony Warren originally named the show Florizel Street, named after a picture of Prince Florizel in his office. In fact the programme had already gone into pre-production before finally Granada bosses agreed the name should be changed … some say because it sounded too much like a washing powder.
2. Corrie was only initially commissioned for 13 episodes.
Tony Warren in the Rovers
3. From December 1960-March 1961, the show was broadcast twice a week on Wednesday and Friday. The Friday episode was transmitted live, and the Wednesday episode was pre-recorded immediately after the Friday output.
4. A Daily Mirror columnist wrote after the first broadcast that they doubted the show would last three weeks. They said: ‘The programme is doomed from the outset…. For there is little reality in this new serial, which apparently, we have to suffer twice a week’.
5. The first people to appear on screen on the show were two girls playing with a ball in the yard. Initially a cat had been decided to be the first character, but it went missing before transmission.
6. William Roache (Ken Barlow) is the only actor to have appeared in the first episode of Coronation Street who remains 50 years later.
6.Episode 928 was the first episode to be transmitted in colour, shown on November 17th 1969.
7. Episode 5,191, was the first Corrie episode to be broadcast in widescreen, shown on January 7th 2002. Coronation Street was the last major UK soap to make the switch to the 16:9 format.
A recent picture of William Roache
8. Episode 7,351 broadcast on May 31st 2010 was the first Corrie to be shown in high definition (HD). The titles and theme music were re-recorded especially.
9. Speaking of the theme tune, it was composed by Eric Spear … apparently he got paid a flat fee of six quid to write it.
10. Show creator, Tony Warren wrote the initial baker’s dozen of episodes, and continued to write full episodes for the show until 1976. He still advises on storylines.
11. Corrie moved from two episodes a week to three episodes a week in 1989.
12. In 1996, the soap began broadcasting four episodes a week.
13. Since 2003 The Street has regularly broadcast five episodes a week.
14. The show has in its history been syndicated to over 70 countries around the globe
15. When Granada sold 1,144 episodes of Corrie to Canadian TV station CBKST in 1971, it became the largest number of TV shows ever purchased in one transaction.
By 'eck - things have changed
16. Pardon My Expression became the first spin-off of Corrie when it was launched in 1965. The show followed the fortunes of Leonard Swindley (played by Arthur Lowe) as he left Weatherfield to work in a department store. The show ran for two series and ended in 1966.
17. In 1985, Granada produced Albion Market, a Corrie spin-off with similar sensibilities to the BBC’s new EastEnders soap. Based in a Salford Street market, the show ran for 100 episodes until 1986.
18. German soap Lindenstrabe launched in 1985, using Coronation Street as its inspiration. 1,300 episodes later, and after a cameo by Larry Hagman in 2006, the show is still going strong.
19. As of today (December 2nd 2010) there have been 7,480 episodes of Coronation Street broadcast.
20. An episode of Coronation Street is only 22 minutes without the adverts.
21. Elsie Lappen spoke the first words in Corrie, they were: ‘Now the next thing you’ve got to do is get a sign writer in’.
22. Corrie was first sponsored in 1996 when Birmingham confectionery magnates Cadbury backed The Street.
23. Harvey’s, the furniture store, began sponsoring the show in 2007 … and still do.
24. Corrie has won three Baftas for Best Continuing Drama, in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
25. The original titles sequence was filmed in Archie Street, Salford, an area that was demolished in 1971.
26. In total there have been 14 different full time landlords or landladies at The Rovers Return.
27. A Television Audience Measurement (TAM) made in 1961 reported that 75 per cent of those with a TV in Britain tuned into Coronation Street on a regular basis.
28. In 1981, 24 million viewers tuned in to watch Ken Barlow and Deidre Longton tie the knot – more people than watched Charles and Diana’s wedding on ITV two days later.
29. Hilda Ogden’s departure from The Street on Christmas Day 1987 remains the most watched episode of Corrie ever, attracting an astounding 27 million viewers.
30. Corrie moved from being recorded on film to videotape in 1988.
31. There have been 86 marriages in fifty years in Weathrfield.
Still standing at 90
32. Betty Driver (who plays Betty ‘hotpot’ Williams) is the oldest cast member in Corrie. She joined the soap in 1969 and is now 90-years-old. She once joked that if she gave up the role, she would die ’within a month from sheer boredom.’
33. The full outside set for Corrie was built at Granada Studios in 1982 and updated in 1989.
34. A dedicated magazine for the show, The Street, edited by Bill Hill was published between 1989 and 1993. 23 issues in total were produced.
35. There have been 38 babies born on The Street.
36. In total there have been 124 deaths of major characters in Weatherfield – including 16 murders and six suicides.
37. ITV.com have launched an online spin-off to the show called Gary’s Army Diarywhich shows viewers some of what went on with Gary Windass when he went to serve in Afghanistan.
38. June Brown (famed for playing Dot Cotton in EastEnders) appeared in several episodes of Corrie in the 1970s.
39. Over the years Granada have released a number of straight to video Corrie specials including the 35th anniversary show The Cruiseand the 40th anniversary special Viva Las Vegaswhich saw the Duckworths visit Sin City.
40. Reg Holdsworth and Curly Watts return to Corrie in a 2010 straight to DVD film, Coronation Street: A Knight’s Tale.
East Street - when two super-soaps collide
42. Deidre Barlow’s dog Eccles is played by three different hounds … how about that?
43. Paul Abbott, famed creator of Shameless, was the youngest ever script editor on Corrie in the 1980s.
44. Sir Laurence Olivier was a big fan of the soap and is rumoured to have once scheduled a cameo in Weatherfield that had to be cancelled at the last minute.
45. On only two occasions have celebrities appeared in the soap as themselves. The first occasion was when Prince Charles visited the show on its 40th anniversary, and the second when the rock band Status Quo were involved in a storyline in 2005.
Let's get married, I say, let's get married
46. Fred Elliot proposed marriage to at least six women on Corrie, including Rita and Audrey.
47. When the Rovers Return was put up for sale (as part of a storyline) in 1995. A viewer sent in a cheque for the 67,ooo thousand pounds asking price. It was never cashed, but apparently remains on the production office wall.
48. Industrial action in late 1979 forced most of ITV and Corrie off the air for several weeks. Special catch-up episodes explained what had happened whilst viewers had not been in Weatherfield were screened in December primarily voiced by Len Fairclough and Bet Lynch.
49. Prunella Scales (famed for her portrayal as hotel owner Cybil Fawlty) appeared in the soap as a ‘bus’ (corrected – see below!) conductress in the second year that the show was on air.
50. To watch every episode of Corrie ever made (without adverts) would take you around a year of ‘working’ eight hours a day in front of your telly … are you up for it?
I have been critical of Corrie in recent times, but tonight’s episodes were quite simply brilliant. Congratulations to all concerned. Can’t wait for the next episode. After this, there is no reason why you should not go on for another 50 years!
Rosemary Nickell
Happy Birthday to all at Coronation Street I remember the first episode as it was shown on the day my youngest daughter was born I remember carrying my wife downstairs so that she could watch it on our little black and white TV.
Best wishes to you all long may you carry on.
49: Prunella Scales … bust conductress… freudian slip there … made me titter!