Christmas in the Street

Christmas in the Street was a Christmas-themed Coronation Street clip show transmitted on Saturday 28th December 1968 from 6.15pm to 7.05pm.

The special features archive clips of previous Christmas editions of the programme. Arthur Leslie and Doris Speed appear in linking scenes set entirely in the Rovers Return Inn, playing their usual characters Jack and Annie Walker.

H.V. Kershaw was the Executive Producer (and possible writer) while Tim Jones directed the linking sequences.

The clips featured in the special (in order) are from:
 * Episode 5 (23rd December 1960)
 * Episode 108 (25th December 1961)
 * Episode 317 (25th December 1963)
 * Episode 212 (24th December 1962)
 * Episode 630 (26th December 1966)
 * Episode 733 (25th December 1967)
 * Episode 421 (23rd December 1964)

Plot
Jack and Annie Walker are clearing up after a long evening's post-Christmas opening in the Rovers. Jack adjusts a piece of hanging mistletoe which Annie dislikes because it's artificial, reminding her too much of Elsie Tanner, and because it's now eight years old, Jack having bought it the same Christmas that Ena Sharples spent in hospital. He remembers the following year when a depressed Elsie had made no preparations and had to get Florrie Lindley to specially open up the Corner Shop while Annie recalls Ena, Minnie Caldwell and Martha Longhurst sharing a bad-tempered Christmas dinner together on the same day. An amused Jack thinks his most unforgettable Christmas moment was when Dennis Tanner sprung a special This Is Your Life surprise on Annie in 1963, including her humiliation at being reminded of appearing as Lady Godiva in a parade in 1930 by guest George Stubbins. An annoyed Annie prefers to remember her triumph in Lady Lawson Loses the year before that. A mention of Jack playing bowls makes Annie think of Sir Francis Drake and her appearance as Elizabeth I at the street's 1966 fancy dress ball. As the two have their evening cocoa, they think of children at the festive season and Jill Morris spending last year with David and Irma Barlow. They then remember 1964's version of the Cinderella pantomime before remembering that in the seasonal rush they haven't wished a "Merry Christmas" to each other. They make up for lost time and retire to bed.

Cast
(The cast are credited in alphabetical order by their actor name only and not the characters they play.)
 * Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson
 * Florrie Lindley - Betty Alberge
 * Hilda Ogden - Jean Alexander
 * Edgar Nuttall - Michael Barrington
 * Joan Davies - June Barry
 * Harry Hewitt - Ivan Beavis
 * Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant
 * Martha Longhurst - Lynne Carol
 * Ena Sharples - Violet Carson
 * Jill Morris - Linda Cook
 * Jed Stone - Kenneth Cope
 * Linda Cheveski - Anne Cunningham
 * Miss Nugent - Eileen Derbyshire
 * Billy Walker - Kenneth Farrington
 * Dot Greenhalgh - Joan Francis
 * Irma Barlow - Sandra Gough
 * Jerry Booth - Graham Haberfield
 * Christine Appleby - Christine Hargreaves
 * Vera Lomax - Ruth Holden
 * Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth
 * Concepta Hewitt - Doreen Keogh
 * Alf Chadwick - Eddie King
 * Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie
 * Leonard Swindley - Arthur Lowe
 * Dennis Tanner - Philip Lowrie
 * Lucille Hewitt - Jennifer Moss
 * Esther Hayes - Daphne Oxenford
 * Frank Barlow - Frank Pemberton
 * Elsie Tanner - Patricia Phoenix
 * Valerie Barlow - Anne Reid
 * Kenneth Barlow - William Roache
 * Charlie Moffitt - Gordon Rollings
 * David Barlow - Alan Rothwell
 * Day Nurse - Christine Shaw
 * Annie Walker - Doris Speed
 * Ivan Cheveski - Ernst Walder
 * George Stubbins - William Wymar
 * Stan Ogden - Bernard Youens
 * Myra Booth - Susan Jameson (Uncredited)

Notable dialogue
Annie Walker: "You know, if I were Prime Minister I would abolish extensions at Christmas time. They are just not fair to the trade." Jack Walker: "Yes love." Annie Walker: "What would you abolish, Jack?" Jack Walker (mutters): "Women." Annie Walker: "What was that, love?" Jack Walker "I said, er, I don't know love. I'm just thinking about it."