Coronation Street in 2010

2010 was Coronation Street's fifty-first year.

Kim Crowther goes out with a bang
Kim Crowther became the fourth consecutive Coronation Street producer to relinquish the role after two years. It had been announced the previous November that Crowther would be departing in the Spring, ahead of the 50th anniversary celebrations. Her replacement was named as Phil Collinson, fresh from producing the revival of Doctor Who on the BBC since 2005. Collinson was new to Coronation Street in a behind-the-scenes capacity but had appeared in it as an actor, playing Bob Wright in one episode in 1997.

An eventful final few months under Crowther's watch saw a number of major storylines come to a climax. Newly married Gail McIntyre lost a third husband in February when Joe was drowned at Lake Windermere while attempting to fake his own death. The decision to kill off Joe was made after actor Reece Dinsdale quit the show after less than two years over fears of typecasting. The storyline took inspiration from the real-world insurance fraud case of John Darwin. Following the discovery of Joe's body, Gail was charged with first-degree murder. The moment where Gail is found 'not guilty' was shown online on the programme's official website ahead of transmission, along with a clip in which a 'guilty' verdict is reached which was recorded as a red herring.

The trial was aired in May, during a week of post-watershed episodes scheduled at 9.00pm on successive days between two episodes of Britain's Got Talent. The move was intended by ITV as a promotional tool to boost two of its biggest properties. The other dominant storyline that week was Tony Gordon's jailbreak and factory siege, with Carla Connor and Hayley Cropper taken hostage. Tony's reign of terror came to an end when he set the factory alight and perished in the fire, with Carla escaping in the nick of time. The action-packed episodes incurred a cost of £1 million to the production, between the special effects, stuntwork and expense of rebuilding the factory. On Wednesday 2nd June, due to the Cumbria shootings ITV pulled that evening's episode, which would have depicted Tony shooting dead his accomplice Robbie Sloane, played by James Fleet. Out of respect for the victims, the three remaining episodes were postponed until the following week. Four double bills were aired in order to catch up.

Aside from writing out Tony Gordon, the siege storyline re-introduced Maria Connor, with Samia Smith returning from maternity leave. Maria was accompanied by her son Liam, now played by twins Ollie and Elliott Barnett.

Despite the problems with transmission, the episodes attracted high enough ratings for ITV to repeat the pattern during the Britain's Got Talent finals in each subsequent year.

Blanche Hunt passed away off-screen in Portugal on 3rd May, five months after the death of actress Maggie Jones. Her send-off featured two returning cast members and a cameo by June Whitfield as Blanche's friend May Penn, who revealed to Ken and Deirdre that Blanche had found happiness with a new man in her last days.

The death of Blanche coincided with a new head for Amy Barlow. After four years in the part, Amber Chadwick was replaced by Elle Mulvaney, as producers wanted a better actress for upcoming storylines. Mulvaney would go on to play the character into adulthood. The first returnee for Blanche's funeral was undertaker Archie Shuttleworth, a former lover of Blanche's again played by Roy Hudd, making his final appearance in the programme. More significantly, Kate Ford returned as Tracy Barlow after a three-year absence. Still serving a life sentence for the murder of Charlie Stubbs, Tracy's appearance at Blanche's funeral led to her becoming embroiled in Gail's storyline, attempting to extract a confession from her former neighbour. It was planned from the outset that a full-time return would follow later in the year, however this would be implemented by Phil Collinson.

Setting the stage
Much like the rest of Kim Crowther's tenure, the early months of 2010 featured a high cast turnover. Michael Byrne made the last of his infrequent appearances as Ted Page in January, as the actor moved onto other projects, though the door was kept open. Jesse Chadwick left the Street in March, when it was decided that the character wasn't working, while Teresa Bryant, the last remaining member of the Morton clan, was written out in May. The main casualty of this period was Kelly Crabtree, who was sacked from the factory after helping Nick Tilsley undercut Carla. Tupele Dorgu chose to leave the programme after a six-year run, feeling that the role wasn't developing as she'd liked.

As regards returns, Mary Taylor made a comeback as a regular in January, continuing her infatuation with Norris Cole. Barbara Knox returned after a period of illness, with Rita coming back to work at The Kabin under Norris's ownership. Margi Clarke reprised the role of Jackie Dobbs again in February, making five appearances. This would be the last time she played Jackie as the character later died off-screen in 2018. Another notable returnee was Keith Duffy as Ciaran McCarthy, who made a full return after a five-year absence.

An attempt was made to build a family around Craig Charles's Lloyd Mullaney, with the introduction of lap dancer Cheryl Gray and her young son Russ. While pursuing a romantic relationship, Lloyd and Cheryl had to contend with her abusive husband Chris, who began working on the Street as a builder.

The programme's first disabled regular was cast in the role of Izzy Butterfield, renamed Izzy Armstrong by the time of filming. After Cherylee Houston was given the part, writers decided to give Izzy the same condition as the actress, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Izzy was the first of the new family to appear, followed by her father Owen in June and fifteen-year-old sister Katy in July. Owen was another attempt at a Len Fairclough-type character, who was overly protective of his daughters. Owen took over the Builder's Yard in August, buying the premises from Bill Webster. Katy was played by Georgia May Foote, who was cast on the strength of an earlier appearance in the programme in January as Jess Burrows.

Peter Armitage, who played Bill, was not expecting to be written out, but the character's retirement continued the gradual reduction of his role and at the end of the year Bill and his partner "Auntie Pam" Hobsworth disappeared entirely, returning only for a short stint in late 2011.

Two other debuts were Steve Jackson as bin-man Trevor Dean and Peter Gunn as teacher Brian Packham. Brian was originally a bit part character who was part of John Stape's identity fraud storyline, with stints in April and October before becoming a regular the following year, while Trevor was brought in as Carla's new boyfriend only to be swiftly axed by Phil Collinson, leaving the show in October.

The Collinson revolution
Phil Collinson became the credited producer with Episode 7388 on 26th July. Collinson initiated stricter rules on script access in an attempt to clamp down on plot leaks, especially with regards to the upcoming anniversary. In terms of his vision for Coronation Street, Collinson favoured longer stories, with a strong sense of community. During his time, writers would dip in and out of storylines in order to keep the programme fresh and eventful.

In particular, Collinson shelved plans to conclude the Kevin Webster and Molly Dobbs affair storyline, which had been dominant since the previous summer. The story had already been extended due to a six-month leave of absence by Sally Whittaker while the actress battled breast cancer. After her character Sally Webster was diagnosed with the condition, Whittaker had been inspired to have a lump checked which turned out to be cancerous. Before embarking on her break at the end of 2009, Whittaker recorded scenes depicting Sally battling and eventually beating cancer. The actress's real-life struggle was not revealed to the public until Whittaker returned to filming cancer-free in the spring. With her on-screen return on 14th July, Whittaker was credited with the surname Dynevor, her married name since 1995.

The usual cast changes followed Collinson's arrival, as pieces started to be put into place for the anniversary. Ryan Connor and Natasha Blakeman were axed, while Nigel Havers left at the end of his contract, with conman Lewis Archer getting away with his crimes for the time being. Paula Lane joined the cast as Becky McDonald's estranged half-sister Kylie Turner, with Harry McDermott as her four-year-old son Max, adding another twist to Becky and Steve McDonald's adoption storyline. Meanwhile, Molly Dobbs gave birth to a son, Jack, and the medical centre was given a regular GP for the first time since 2002 when Oliver Mellor began appearing on a recurring basis as Dr Carter.

William Tarmey gave notice that he was quitting the programme, having played Jack Duckworth for 31 years. Tarmey had wanted to leave earlier to spend more time with his family after his son Carl was diagnosed with a brain tumour, but was persuaded to stay until the 50th anniversary. Jack's on-screen death came just shy of the anniversary on 8th November, when he succumbed to the effects of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In a break from Coronation Street''s usual style, Elizabeth Dawn appeared as Vera Duckworth's ghost in Jack's final scene, indicating that the Duckworths were being reunited in the afterlife.

A key throughline from Kim Crowther to Phil Collinson's eras was the exploration of Sophie Webster's sexuality. In April, the programme aired its first lesbian kiss, between Sophie and her best friend Sian Powers. The teenagers began dating in secret before being outed at Roy and Hayley Cropper's wedding in August. The wedding in question was also noteworthy. Although they were already married, the Croppers' first union in 1999 wasn't recognised legally as the Gender Recognition Act was not passed until 2004, granting trans people such as Hayley full legal status in their acquired sex.

50th anniversary: Tram week and other storylines
The viaduct collapse and tram crash that marked the 50th anniversary was announced by Phil Collinson in a live web chat on Coronation Street's official website on 7th July. Speaking with fans, Collinson teased the biggest disaster ever to hit the Street. The storyline was a modern retelling of the 1967 train crash, a plot which had been limited by the lack of an outdoor set and the inability to show the actual crash. For the 2010 storyline, Collinson hired special effects company The Mill, with whom he had worked on Doctor Who, to produce the crash effects with CGI. On 1st September, ITV confirmed that a live episode would be aired at some point during tram week; this was ultimately broadcast on the anniversary itself, 9th December, and like the 40th anniversary it was an hour-long episode.

A number of major storylines came to a head as tram week began, with Molly Dobbs revealing to Tyrone that he wasn't Jack's true father, Nick Tilsley preparing to tell Peter Barlow about his affair with Peter's fiancee Leanne Battersby, Charlotte Hoyle stalking John Stape and threatening to expose his identity fraud, and the Peacocks getting ready to make a fresh start in France. The initial explosion which triggered the crash occurred at The Joinery, Nick's new bar situated directly underneath the viaduct where Peter's stag night was taking place. The unit had previously been Turners Joinery, a part of the set unused since the closure of Jim's Bike Shop in 1992. The damage caused by the derailed tram included the destruction of The Kabin and Corner Shop, the flats above, and a fire at No.13. Due to the logistics of staging this destruction in the pre-recorded episodes and re-creating it weeks later for the live episode, the total cost of the stunt came to £4.23 million.

During the run-up to the anniversary, trailers bore the tagline "Four Funerals and a Wedding". Ashley Peacock was the first character to die, failing to make it out of The Joinery when the roof collapsed. Ashley had been axed along with Claire, Joshua and Freddie when Collinson arrived as producer, with the family's mooted move to the continent written in to throw viewers off. The remainder of the family continued into 2011. The next death was Molly Dobbs, who after receiving severe injuries in the tram crash was killed off in the live episode whilst making a deathbed confession of her affair with Kevin to Sally Webster. In the ruckus which followed, Sally finished with Kevin and Kevin claimed responsibility for his son Jack, whose surname was changed to Webster in December 2011. Charlotte Hoyle was also killed although her death was not a result of the tram crash, rather John Stape bludgeoned her with a hammer in order to silence her and then blamed her injuries on the tram.

Ultimately, no other named characters were killed off, and the fourth death was later revealed by Collinson as a red herring meant to keep viewers guessing. To keep the tagline accurate, the death of a passing taxi driver was mentioned in dialogue. The wedding it referred to was Peter and Leanne's, which took place at the climax of the live episode as Peter lay dying in hospital.

Tram week also featured the birth of Hope Stape, daughter of Fiz and John. Although she debuted in the live episode, Hope was initially played by a prosthetic baby as she was born three months prematurely. Also notable is the first appearance of future regular Paul Kershaw, who appeared in a minor role as a firefighter before being brought back full-time in October 2011.

Nearly all of the contracted regulars participated in tram week. Beverley Callard was one of the few not to appear, due to the actress taking time off a month before shooting. Her disappearance at short notice resulted in a planned storyline involving Jim McDonald being dropped although as Charles Lawson had already been booked Jim did appear, briefly tangling with Owen Armstrong before departing just ahead of the anniversary.

Another notable storyline, airing in September, featured a callback to the first episode in which an old letter to Ken Barlow from his former girlfriend Susan Cunningham was unearthed behind the skirting board at No.3. From the letter, Ken learned that Susan had given birth to his illegitimate son Lawrence in 1961. The short storyline was conceived as a vehicle to have William Roache act opposite his sons Linus and James Roache, who were cast as Lawrence and Ken's grandson James respectively. Although Lawrence did not appear again, James made a longer-term return in 2011.

Tracy Barlow made her dramatic re-appearance on 24th December, released on bail due to the forensics expert from her trial being discredited. As Tracy still had twelve years left until she was eligible for parole, writers were forced to invent a plausible way for her to return to the Street.

50th anniversary: Spin-offs and beyond the screen
The anniversary year was replete with bonus content with the occasion being marked both on- and off-screen. For the first time in the programme's history, material was made available exlusively online. In tandem with tram week, the official website released dramatised news footage from the scene of the crash, featuring news anchor Alastair Stewart and interviews with "witnesses". The website also hosted a three-part spin-off depicting Gary Windass's experiences in Afghanistan. Entitled Gary's Army Diaries, the five-minute shorts were designed to set up Gary's PTSD storyline. Meanwhile, five decades of Ken Barlow were marked with an online video entitled Ken: A Life on the Street, in which Ken tells Simon Barlow about past neighbours while they complete a jigsaw puzzle.

The third DVD spin-off in as many years was produced for release on 1st November. Coronation Street: A Knight's Tale was shot mostly at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, doubling for Tatlock Towers, the setting of a medieval-themed weekend attended by Norris Cole, Mary Taylor, Rosie Webster and Jason Grimshaw, and organised by erstwhile Coronation Street characters Curly Watts and Reg Holdsworth, again played respectively by Kevin Kennedy and Ken Morley. This marked the first occasion since 1995 that the popular double-act of Curly and Reg appeared together. Following the release of this DVD, ITV began to concentrate more on online content, and so this was the last spin-off released in the format.

Two items made in 2010 were performed in-character by the actors, but exist outside the programme's canon. On 18th March, Jack P. Shepherd, Michelle Keegan, Craig Gazey and Ben Price appeared in a special of ''The Jeremy Kyle Show, marking the talk show's 1000th episode. The actors play their familiar Coronation Street roles as they sling insults and accusations at each other in an attempt to hash out their problems. Meanwhile, a crossover between Coronation Street and EastEnders - which had marked its 25th anniversary in February - aired on the BBC's Children in Need on 19th November. East Street was written by the programme's former archivist-turned writer Daran Little, who was now writing for EastEnders, and depicted an exchange visit between the residents of Coronation Street and Albert Square.

The last major part of the on-screen celebration was The Road to Coronation Street, a 75-minute TV movie dramatising Tony Warren's battle to bring Coronation Street (originally Florizel Street) to the screen in 1960, from his initial pitch through to the live transmission of the first episode. The TV movie was a passion project for Daran Little, who wrote the script after it was commissioned by ITV. It was ultimately aired on BBC Four and premiered on 4th October, starring David Dawson as Tony Warren, Jessie Wallace as Patricia Phoenix, Celia Imrie as Doris Speed, Lynda Baron as Violet Carson and James Roache as his father William. The drama was widely acclaimed and won the category of "Best Single Drama" both at the 2011 Royal Television Society and BAFTA awards.

In other media, the Corrie Nation Facebook game went live in November, allowing players to build their own virtual Coronation Street past and current, and to collect characters from the show's fifty years. The game ran for eight months before being taken offline in July 2011.

Corrie! was a Jonathan Harvey-penned stage play chronicling the first fifty years of Coronation Street in a condensed, and often comedic, form, with a cast of five playing many different parts. The play premiered at the Lowry, Salford, on 12th August, with performances until 28th August. The success of this initial run led to a national tour in England, Wales and Ireland in 2011.

For details of related anniversary programmes and merchandise, see 50th anniversary.

Storylines
To be added.

Who lives where
Coronation Street Rosamund Street Victoria Street Victoria Court Others Unknown residence - Kelly Crabtree, Pam Hobsworth, Bill Webster, Julie Carp, Ciaran McCarthy.
 * Rovers Return Inn - Steve McDonald. Becky McDonald. Liz McDonald. Amy Barlow (until December). Kylie (from August) and Max Turner (from September).
 * 1 Coronation Street - Ken Barlow. Deirdre Barlow. Blanche Hunt (until May). Peter Barlow (from December). Leanne Barlow (from December). Simon Barlow (from December). Tracy Barlow (from December) and Amy Barlow (from December).
 * Salon flat (No.2a) - Maria Connor (from July)
 * 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop. Norris Cole.
 * 4 Coronation Street - Kevin Webster (until December). Sally Webster. Rosie Webster (until December) and Sophie Webster. Sian Powers (from September).
 * 5 Coronation Street - Fiz Stape. John Stape. Chesney Brown.
 * 6 Coronation Street - Eddie Windass. Anna Windass. Gary Windass.
 * 7 Coronation Street - Kirk Sutherland (until May). Sunita Alahan (from June). Dev Alahan (from June). Aadi Alahan (from June). Asha Alahan from June).
 * 8 Coronation Street - Gail McIntyre. Joe McIntyre (until February). David Platt. Graeme Proctor (April to July). Nick Tilsley (March to August and October onwards).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Tyrone Dobbs. Molly Dobbs (until December).
 * Kabin flat (No.10a) - Rita Sullivan.
 * 11 Coronation Street - Eileen Grimshaw. Jason Grimshaw (from April). Sean Tully. Jesse Chadwick (until March). Rosie Webster (from December).
 * 12 Coronation Street - Tina McIntyre. Jason Grimshaw (until April).
 * 13 Coronation Street - Ashley Peacock (until December). Claire Peacock. Joshua Peacock. Freddie Peacock.
 * Corner Shop flat - Molly Dobbs (January to July). Tina McIntyre (July to December). Graeme Proctor (July to December).
 * Bookies flat (No.9a) - Peter Barlow. Simon Barlow. Leanne Battersby.
 * 14a Victoria Street - Janice Battersby. Trevor Dean (February to October).
 * Street Cars flat (No.15a) - Lloyd Mullaney. Teresa Bryant (until May).
 * Roy's Rolls flat (No.16a) - Roy Cropper. Hayley Cropper.
 * 18a Victoria Street - Michelle Connor. Ryan Connor.
 * 9 Victoria Court - Dev Alahan (until June). Sunita Alahan. Aadi Alahan. Asha Alahan (all from March to June). Nick Tilsley (August to September). Natasha Blakeman (August to September).
 * 4 Drapers Mill Apartments, Weatherfield Quays - Carla Connor.
 * 5 Grasmere Drive - Audrey Roberts.
 * 28 Grayling Street - Izzy Armstrong.
 * 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Williams.
 * 7 Meadow View, Bramhall - Sunita Alahan. Aadi Alahan. Asha Alahan (all until March)
 * Southport - Sian Powers (until September).
 * The Poplars, Middleton - Connie Rathbone. Jack Duckworth (until September).
 * 5 Tile Street - Archie Shuttleworth.

Awards and nominations
National Television Awards Royal Television Society TV Times Awards
 * Best Serial Drama: Coronation Street (Winner)
 * Best Serial Drama Performance: Simon Gregson (Nominee), Katherine Kelly (Nominee), Gray O'Brien (Nominee)
 * Best Newcomer: Craig Gazey (Winner)
 * Lifetime Achievement Award Tony Warren
 * Top newcomer: Craig Gazey (Nominee)
 * Favourite Soap Star: Katherine Kelly (Nominee)
 * Editor's Programme of the Year: Coronation Street