Coronation Street

Coronation Street is Britain's longest-running television soap opera, and the UK's consistently highest-rated show. It was created by Tony Warren and first broadcast on the ITV network on Friday December 9, 1960. The working title of the show was Florizel Street, but Agnes, a tea lady at Granada Television, Manchester, (where Coronation Street is produced) remarked that "Florizel" sounded too much like a disinfectant. Jubilee Street was another option considered.

1960s kitchen-sink drama

The serial began on December 9th 1960 and was not initially a critical success. Granada commissioned only 13 episodes and many people inside the company doubted the show would last its planned production run. However it caught the imagination of viewers, not least because of its location in the North of England, which was becoming a highly fashionable and visible centre of 1960s Britain, thanks in part to movies such as Billy Liar and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, the "kitchen-sink" dramas of the BBC's The Wednesday Play and the rise of Merseybeat and especially the Beatles, from nearby Liverpool. Like kitchen-sink dramas, Coronation Street focused on the plight of "ordinary folk", often making use of Northern English language and dialect. Affectionate local terms like "eh, chuck", "nowt" and others became widely heard on British TV for the first time.

Related Topics:
December 9th - 1960 - 1960s - Billy Liar - Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - BBC - The Wednesday Play - Merseybeat - The Beatles - Liverpool

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The storylines focus on the experiences of families and their interaction, and on relationships between people of different ages, classes and social structures. In some ways Coronation Street has charted the changes in public attitudes towards religion, politics, community, family breakdown, the gentrification of working class areas, etc.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For example, in the first decade one of the central social points on the street was the 'Glad Tidings' Mission Hall, where religious services were held and social contacts, parties, etc took place. By the start of the 21st century, no religious 'set' exists, with the only particularly religious resident on the street being the 70-year-old widow, Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire). Religion, if it features at all, is mentioned in weddings and funerals, though here too, matching contemporary society, registry office weddings and non-religious funerals are increasingly common.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Early storylines featured self-appointed moral voice Ena Sharples (Violet Carson), and her friends: timid Minnie Caldwell (Margot Bryant) and bespectacled Martha Longhurst. When Martha was killed off the programme, Albert Tatlock (Jack Howarth) was allowed to be the unofficial third friend in the group. Ena and Albert had many differences, which they aired regularly, and Albert and Minnie were supposed to be married in the early 1970s. The marriage was eventually called off.

Related Topics:
Ena Sharples - Violet Carson - Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant - Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Headstrong Ena frequently clashed with Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix), whom she believed espoused a rather disgusting set of morals. Elsie believed in the right to let each person live life according to how they see fit, and resented Ena's gossip, which, most of the time, didn't have much of a basis in reality.

Related Topics:
Elsie Tanner - Pat Phoenix

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most of the stories in the early days (and, to an extent, still today) addressed how working-class people made a caste system in their own mini-society and excommunicated others they did not wish to associate with. In reality, many of the people deemed too common (like Elsie Tanner, Hilda and Stan Ogden, played by Jean Alexander and Bernard Youens) were of the exact same stock as the people who were judging them.

Related Topics:
Jean Alexander - Bernard Youens

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~