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.

Backstage staff

• Bill Podmore was the show's longest serving producer. By the time he stepped down in 1988 he had completed 13 years at the production helm. Nicknamed the "godfather" by the tabloid press, he was renowned for his tough, uncompromising style and was feared by both crew and cast alike. He is probably most famous for sacking Peter Adamson, the show's Len Fairclough, in 1983.
• Paul Abbott was a script editor on the programme in the 1980s, the youngest ever person to hold such a position on the show at the time, and in 1989 began writing episodes. He left in 1993 to produce Cracker, for which he later wrote before creating his own highly-acclaimed dramas such as Touching Evil, Clocking Off, State of Play and Shameless.
• Russell T. Davies was briefly a storyliner on the programme in the mid-1990s, also writing the script for one of the direct-to-video specials. He too has become a noted writer of his own high-profile television drama programmes, including Queer as Folk, The Second Coming, Casanova and the 2005 revival of Doctor Who.