Coronation Street in 1996

1996 was Coronation Street's thirty-seventh year.

Production
Sue Pritchard spent her third year as Coronation Street's producer, with Carolyn Reynolds continuing as (often uncredited) executive producer.

In response to the channel's declining share of the audience, ITV ordered an increase in Coronation Street's weekly output to four episodes. To achieve this, rehearsal and studio days were dropped and a system adopted whereby individual scenes would be rehearsed and immediately recorded. Generally, scenes set in one location would be shot in bulk, in the same manner as location scenes such as those set in Firman's Freezers had been recorded since 1989. This resulted in reduced rehearsal time for the actors but allowed recording to take place on multiple episodes at the same time, with different camera crews.

The new installment was scheduled on Sundays at 7.30pm and the first episode was screened on 24th November. The main storyline saw Ken Barlow - recently reconciled with Deirdre Rachid after seven years - rush to No.1 to stop Denise Osbourne snatching their son Daniel. Denise Black returned to the programme after nine months for a custody battle between Ken and Denise over Daniel, before leaving again in January 1997.

In September, confectionery giant Cadbury become Coronation Street's first official sponsor. Starting with Episode 4062, the top and tail end of each episode carried adverts for Cadbury products, usually with a Coronation Street theme.

Roy Barraclough returned full-time as Alec Gilroy, four years after he quit the series. As Jack and Vera Duckworth were now running the Rovers, writers created another outlet for Alec's talents; Sunliners Travel Agency in Rosamund Street, a new fixture of the programme which also employed Deirdre Rachid as well as cleaner Joyce Smedley, Judy Mallett's mother played by Anita Carey. Meanwhile, Alec's previous appearance in Coronation Street - The Feature Length Special was given an airing on television on 24th March, thus breaking a promise to consumers that the VHS release would not be transmitted within a specified time period. Although it was an abridged version, ITV was criticised for the move and later gained a fine for not keeping to this promise.

Other cast additions included Tina Hobley as barmaid Samantha Failsworth, Sarah Moffett as Daniel Osbourne's child minder Kelly Thomson, Glenn Hugill as detective Alan McKenna, boyfriend of Fiona Middleton, and Maggie Norris and Emily Aston as mother and daughter Claire and Becky Palmer, who formed a family with Des Barnes. Meanwhile, Steven Arnold and John Savident's roles of Ashley Peacock and his uncle (later revealed to be father) Fred Elliott were expanded, Deborah McAndrew returned as Angie Freeman for three episodes before coming back full-time in 1997, and Helene Palmer's role of Ida Clough became recurring in much the same manner as during the 1980s. Ida once again worked for Mike Baldwin at his new factory Baldwin's Sportswear.

Sarah Lancashire was the main departee, quitting the programme after five years as Raquel Watts. The episode in which Raquel told Curly she was leaving Weatherfield to take a modelling job in Kuala Lumpur was hour-long and also featured the wedding of Tracy Barlow and Robert Preston, with Dawn Acton making a short return as Tracy and Maggie Jones appearing as Blanche Hunt for the first time in 15 years.

Jill Summers played Phyllis Pearce for the last time in Episode 4007 on 1st May. Despite ill-health, she had refused to leave the programme but her appearances had become sporadic in recent months and she passed away on 11th January 1997. After Summers's death, Phyllis's fate was left ambiguous, and the character was simply no longer mentioned.

Other departures included Chloe Newsome as Vicky McDonald, Ellie Haddington as Josie Clarke and Warren Jackson as Nick Tilsley. Jackson intended to return as Nick the following year, but the part was recast with Adam Rickitt instead. Lastly, Nigel Pivaro made a short return as Terry Duckworth, his first for three years.

Viewers were given a chance to watch old episodes of Coronation Street starting with Episode 1588, originally shown on 5th April 1976, on the new satellite channel Granada Plus. Shown under the title Classic Coronation Street, the repeats continued until the channel went defunct in 2004. Jean Alexander reprised the role of Hilda Ogden in a special trailer advertising the repeats.

Viewing figures
Overall aggregated ratings were down for the fourth year in a row, by a slightly smaller factor than the previous two years. The average for 1996 was 15.76 million viewers, a drop of 300k on 1995. February, March, May and August saw increases year-on-year, though none significant. The biggest drops occurred in October and December, each of almost two million viewers. The latter drop was the result of the new Sunday episode struggling to build an audience and a disastrous performance by the Christmas Day episode, whose audience was 10.32 million viewers and which only reached 30th place for the week, despite being an aggregated figure.

The highest-rated episode of the year was Episode 3980 on 28th February, which was seen by 19.8 million viewers - the highest peak in a year since 1993. Meanwhile, the programme continued to rate excellently in the charts, with 45 episodes reaching number one.

Who lives where
Coronation Street Rosamund Street Victoria Street
 * Rovers Return Inn - Jack and Vera Duckworth.
 * 1 Coronation Street - Ken Barlow. Denise Osbourne (January only). Daniel Osbourne (until November). Kelly Thomson (May to November).
 * 2a Coronation Street - Fiona Middleton (from March).
 * 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop. Percy Sugden.
 * 4 Coronation Street - Derek and Mavis Wilton.
 * 5 Coronation Street - Don Brennan. Josie Clarke (until June). Ashley Peacock (from October).
 * 6 Coronation Street - Des Barnes. Andy McDonald (until May). Claire and Becky Palmer (both from August).
 * 7 Coronation Street - Curly Watts. Raquel Watts (until November). Samantha Failsworth (from December).
 * 8 Coronation Street - Martin, Gail, Sarah Louise and David Platt. Nick Tilsley (until September).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Gary and Judy Mallett.
 * 10a Coronation Street - Rita Sullivan.
 * 11 Coronation Street - Jim McDonald (January to April and from August onwards). Liz McDonald (until August). Andy McDonald (May to September).
 * 12 Coronation Street - Maureen Holdsworth (April only). Alec Gilroy (from July).
 * 13 Coronation Street - Kevin, Sally, Rosie and Sophie Webster.
 * 15a Coronation Street - (Empty).
 * Jim's Cafe flat - Fiona Middleton. Maxine Heavey (both until March).
 * 17a Victoria Street - Claire and Becky Palmer (first week of November only).

Others
 * 5 Crimea Street - Deirdre Rachid. Tricia and Jamie Armstrong. Roy Cropper. Bill Webster. Jim McDonald. (April to August).
 * 2 Douglas Road - Maxine Heavey (from March).
 * Gable Street - Joyce Smedley.
 * 5 Grasmere Drive - Alf and Audrey Roberts.
 * 37 Hillside Crescent - Billy and Betty Williams.
 * Mayfield Court - Phyllis Pearce.
 * No. 4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Mike and Alma Baldwin.
 * No. 6 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Steve and Vicky McDonald (both until May).
 * 7 Nightingale Street - Maud Grimes. Maureen Holdsworth (except April).
 * 16 Orchard Close - Andy McDonald. Anne Malone (both from September onwards).
 * B&B, 15 Park Road - Alec Gilroy (April to June). Vicky McDonald (May to June).
 * 170 Park Street - Liz McDonald (from August).
 * 23 Seymour Drive, Oakhill - Fred Elliott.

Awards and nominations
National Television Awards Royal Television Society (North West) Awards CITV Awards
 * Most Popular Serial Drama: Coronation Street (Nominee)
 * Most Popular Newcomer: Tracy Shaw (Nominee)
 * Most Popular Actress: Sarah Lancashire (Nominee)
 * Best Network Programme: Coronation Street (Nominee)
 * Best Actress in a Network Programme made in the region: Sarah Lancashire (Nominee)
 * Best Actor in a Network Programme made in the region: William Tarmey (Nominee)
 * Best Other ITV Show: Coronation Street (Nominee)