Coronation Street in 2003

2003 was Coronation Street's forty-fourth year.

Hillmania
Kieran Roberts and Carolyn Reynolds continued as producer and executive producer respectively for a second year.

The Richard Hillman serial killer storyline continued to deliver very strong ratings for Coronation Street as it reached its climax. In January, Maxine Peacock was murdered by Richard in order to silence her while his intended victim, Emily Bishop, survived a blow to the head and recovered. Over the coming weeks, Richard's web of lies collapsed and Gail forced a confession from him in an episode which was mostly a two-hander between Richard and Gail (though Sarah and David Platt made a short appearance). Richard was rejected by Gail but, after spending a few weeks on the run, he returned and tried to drown the family by driving their people carrier into Weatherfield Canal. Richard was the only casualty, with Brian Capron making his final appearance in the series as Richard's corpse.

Tracy Shaw hadn't wanted to leave the programme but, despite an order coming from Granada to spare her, Reynolds ran the storyline regardless. Richard's murders had repercussions for many Coronation Street residents; as well as Maxine and Richard, Maxine's mother Doreen Heavey and rebellious schoolboy Aidan Critchley, who Richard framed for the murder, were written out, while Julia Haworth joined the cast as Claire Casey, Joshua Peacock's new nanny who eventually fell for Ashley. Martin Hancock made a brief return as Spider Nugent, visiting Weatherfield due to the attack on Emily, before reuniting with Toyah Battersby and leaving for London with her to open a juice bar; after playing Toyah for six years, Georgia Taylor left to pursue other acting roles.

By this point, Coronation Street's Monday night double-bills were a regular feature, with five episodes shown on most weeks. The programme reverted to four per week between June and August before going back up to five, now permanently, with the fifth episode fixed at 8.30pm on Monday evenings.

First gay kiss
Todd Grimshaw began to struggle with his sexuality in October, marking the beginning of his coming out storyline which had been in the pipeline since the character debuted in 2001. In Episode 5596, after getting to know his girlfriend Sarah's brother Nick Tilsley, Todd instinctively leaned in for a kiss, leading to the latter storming out and informing Sarah. Adam Rickitt agreed to return full-time in preparation for the storyline. Carefully plotted by Daran Little, Todd's confusion over his sexual identity continued into 2004 and the first consensual gay kiss, between Todd and nurse Karl Foster, occurred in Episode 5733 in April.

Although Todd was promoted as Coronation Street's first gay character (with some newspapers incorrectly assuming that he was initially meant to be straight), homosexuals had appeared in minor roles before Todd kissed Nick. One of them was Sean Tully, a clubber at the hospital disco who was seen in one episode in July. Antony Cotton reprised Sean full-time the following year.

Other cast changes
The Watts family were axed in their entirety in September, marking the departure of Kevin Kennedy as Curly after twenty years and Angela Lonsdale as Emma after three. Curly was written out at the reluctance of Kieran Roberts, who liked the character but conceded that turning him into a family man - a decision taken by his predecessor Jane Macnaught - had been the wrong direction for him. The door was left open, with the Watts moving to Newcastle.

Chris Gascoyne left at the conclusion of Peter Barlow's bigamy storyline. The story saw the birth of Peter's son Simon. Adam Barlow appeared between May and July, in Iain De Caestecker's last stint in the role. Meanwhile, Roy Hudd, Ian Gain and Jonathan Wrather - who had joined the cast in 2002 as, respectively, Archie Shuttleworth, Mick Hopwood and Joe Carter - departed during the summer, with the former quitting and the latter two axed.

Fiz Brown's self-absorbed mother Cilla and younger brother Chesney were introduced. Together with Cilla's partner Les Battersby, the newcomers filled the "neighbours from hell" void left by Les, Janice, Leanne and Toyah, who had softened since 1997. Rovers landlady Shelley Unwin's central role begat the introduction of her mother Bev Unwin and a new builder, Charlie Stubbs, who was her next love after Peter. Dev Alahan and Mike Baldwin also gained new love interests in the form of Maya Sharma and Penny King, while Underworld recruited Sonia Marshall as a machinist.

Blanche Hunt was absent between May and November due to Maggie Jones falling ill. She returned in Episode 5630, the episode in which Julie Goodyear began a seven-episode stint as Bet Lynch. Although Goodyear's 2002 comeback had been a failure, with Goodyear quitting due to exhaustion, her willingness to return led writers to consider short storylines featuring Bet which would not overwork the actress. All of Goodyear's scenes were shot on location in Blackpool, with Steve, Karen, Liz and Jim McDonald and Fred Elliott travelling from Weatherfield. Beverley Callard and Charles Lawson returned especially for the storyline which saw Jim escape from prison to confront Liz - now living in Blackpool - about her lover Laurie Dyson. Despite Goodyear's continued interest in returning, these are her final appearances in Coronation Street to date.

Viewing figures
For the first time since 1998, the BARB ratings average of the year was higher than the year before. In Coronation Streets strongest year of the decade ratings-wise, the overall figure was 13.23 million viewers', an increase of 1.3m viewers on 2002. This was the biggest jump from year-to-year since 1963.

All months except December were up on the equivalent months in 2002, with the biggest rises - the latter of nearly four million viewers - occurring in February and March as the Richard Hillman storyline reached its climax. Richard's confession to Gail, transmitted on 24th February, gained Coronation Street's highest audience of the decade, with 19.43 million viewers. Only three episodes had audiences below ten million viewers, down from 16 in 2002.

37 episodes reached number one, an increase of three from 2002. No episodes fell outside the top twenty.

Storylines
To be added.

Who lives where
Coronation Street
 * Rovers Return Inn - Fred Elliott (until February). Ashley and Joshua Peacock (both part of January and February). Peter Barlow (March to September). Shelley Unwin (from March). Bev Unwin (from March). Adam Barlow (May only).
 * 1 Coronation Street - Ken Barlow. Deirdre Rachid. Blanche Hunt. Tracy Preston (January and from May). Adam Barlow (July only). Peter Barlow (September to November).
 * 2a Coronation Street - Toyah Battersby (until February). Maria Sutherland. Fiz Brown. Candice Stowe (from September). Chesney Brown (from November).
 * 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop. Norris Cole (part of January and from mid-February). Spider Nugent (January to February).
 * 4 Coronation Street - Ashley Peacock (early January and from March). Maxine Peacock (until January). Joshua Peacock (early January and from March). Doreen Heavey (until January). Fred Elliott (from March).
 * 5 Coronation Street - Les Battersby. Kirk Sutherland. Norris Cole (January to February). Cilla Brown (from November).
 * 6 Coronation Street - Tommy Harris (until November and from late-December). Angela Harris. Katy Harris (until September). Craig Harris.
 * 7 Coronation Street - Curly Watts. Emma Watts and Ben Watts (all until September).
 * 8 Coronation Street - Gail Hillman/Platt. Richard Hillman (until February). Sarah Platt (until August). David Platt. Bethany Platt (until August). Nick Tilsley (from September).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Jack Duckworth. Vera Duckworth and Tyrone Dobbs.
 * 10a Coronation Street - Rita Sullivan.
 * 11 Coronation Street - Eileen Grimshaw. Jason Grimshaw. Todd Grimshaw (until June). Steve McDonald (April to May). Tony Stewart (July to September).
 * 12 Coronation Street - Steve McDonald (until April and from July). Karen McDonald. Joe Carter (May to June).
 * 13 Coronation Street - Kevin Webster. Sally Webster. Rosie Webster and Sophie Webster.
 * Corner Shop flat - Sunita Parekh (until July). Ciaran McCarthy (February only).

Victoria Street
 * 14a Victoria Street - Janice Battersby. Mick Hopwood (April to September).
 * 15a Victoria Street - Joe Carter (January to May). Steve McDonald (May to July). Tommy and Craig Harris (both December only).
 * 16a Victoria Street - Roy Cropper. Hayley Cropper. Ciaran McCarthy (January to February).
 * 17a Victoria Street - Todd Grimshaw (from June). Sarah and Bethany Platt (both from August).
 * 18a Victoria Street - Martin Platt. Katy Harris (from September).
 * 19a Victoria Street - Peter Barlow and Shelley Unwin (both until March). Ciaran McCarthy (from June). Sunita Parekh (July to December).

Others
 * 2 Douglas Road - Derek Heavey. Doreen Heavey (from January).
 * 5 Grasmere Drive - Audrey Roberts.
 * 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Williams.
 * No. 4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Mike Baldwin.
 * No. 6 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Dev Alahan. Tracy Preston (January to April). Maya Sharma (from December).
 * Nightingale Terrace - Harry Flagg.
 * 26 Palmer Street - Charlie Stubbs.
 * 5 Tile Street - Archie Shuttleworth.

Awards and nominations
Royal Television Society BAFTA National Television Awards
 * Soap Coronation Street (Winner)
 * Soap Coronation Street (Winner)
 * Most Popular Serial Drama Coronation Street (Nominee)
 * Most Popular Actor Brian Capron (Nominee)
 * Most Popular Actress Suranne Jones (Nominee)
 * Most Popular Newcomer Kate Ford (Nominee)