Coronation Street in 2005

2005 was Coronation Street's forty-sixth year.

The headline makers
Carolyn Reynolds completed her third and final run as executive producer with Episode 6027, leaving Coronation Street in the hands of producer Tony Wood. Wood also moved on at the end of the year, to be replaced by former Emmerdale producer Steve Frost at the beginning of 2006. Reynolds' successor, Kieran Roberts, was appointed at the same time as Frost.

Three members of the Harris family were written out in a dark storyline in which diabetic Katy Harris bludgeoned her father Tommy to death with a wrench and then committed suicide by drinking water mixed with sugar. Angela Harris took the blame for her daughter's crime at first and went to prison for perverting the course of justice when the truth emerged. Only Craig remained, now in the care of his grandfather Keith Appleyard. Wood had decided to axe Craig's family when he joined Coronation Street in 2004. The plan was for Martin Platt to fall for another teenage girl only to find out after they got together that she was under sixteen. Sean Wilson refused to perform the storyline, and after discussions between Wilson and the producers the plot was scrapped and Wilson left the programme by mutual agreement. Martin last appeared in November when he went to live with his girlfriend Robyn in Liverpool.

Ray Langton returned from Holland to rekindle his relationship with Tracy before succumbing to terminal stomach cancer. Discounting a cameo appearance in the 1997 VHS-exclusive spin-off Viva Las Vegas! (the events of which were ignored), Ray hadn't appeared since 1978. Neville Buswell returned to the country and the profession to record his scenes, having given up acting when he left the series. Ray's return coincided with Ken Barlow and Deirdre Rachid getting re-married and he passed away during their wedding reception in April.

The celebrity cameos continued. Film actor Ian McKellen appeared in ten episodes as author and conman Mel Hutchwright while Les Battersby met his idols Status Quo who beat him up as payback for overzealously attacking Francis Rossi at a gig in the 1980s. The band then played at Les and Cilla Brown's wedding for free as compensation.

New faces
Aside from Sean Wilson, the main departing cast members were Keith Duffy as Ciaran McCarthy and Nikki Sanderson as Candice Stowe. The actors decided to leave after three and six years with the soap respectively. Warren Baldwin, Patrick Tussel and Sonia Marshall were written out over the course of the year.

The old hardware shop unit at 18 Victoria Street which had lain empty since 2002 became Compton's Bakery, owned by Diggory Compton, a pompous baker in the vein of Fred Elliott. Diggory's daughter Molly, played by Vicky Binns, was introduced in September. Meanwhile, Gail Platt and Liz McDonald gained new love interests in reflexologist Phil Nail and drummer Vernon Tomlin respectively, and Underworld and Websters' Auto Centre boosted their ranks with the introductions of "identical twins" (in actuality cousins) Joanne and Jessie Jackson as machinists and Nathan Harding as mechanic.

Five actresses played Amy Barlow over the course of 2005: Rebecca Pike continued to appear as the character following on from the previous year until Episode 6052 on 19th June, and was replaced by Louisa Morris for 15 episodes until September, with twins Rachel & Sarah Corker appearing for two episodes in the same time period. Madison Hampson took over the part on 28th September and remained until February 2006.

The void in Steve McDonald's life following Karen's departure was filled by Lloyd Mullaney and Ronnie Clayton, the former as cabbie and eventual partner at Street Cars and the latter romantically. Ex-Red Dwarf actor Craig Charles made his debut appearance as Lloyd in June.

The last of the new main cast members was Nikki Patel as Dev Alahan's teenage daughter Amber Kalirai. Amber's introduction formed part of Sunita Alahan's exit storyline, in which Sunita left Dev after discovering that he'd fathered children with the women who ran his shops. Shobna Gulati decided to leave Coronation Street after five years and her final scenes aired in February 2006.

Viewing figures
266 episodes were broadcast in 2005, of which 47 made number one in BARB's weekly charts, the most since 1993. Episode 5966 shown on 21st February was the highest-rated episode of the year with 14.36 million viewers.

Coronation Streets average in 2005 was 11.09 million viewers'. For the second consecutive year, ratings were down by a million viewers on the one before although 2005's figure dropped below the previous low in 2002, making 2005 the lowest-rated year up to that point. As the programme was now being broadcast in an era of increasingly affordable digital TV, this trend continued after 2005 with few exceptions.

June's ratings saw a negligible increase over those of June 2004. Every other month was down on the previous year.

Storylines
To be added.

Who lives where
Coronation Street
 * Rovers Return Inn - Shelley Unwin. Charlie Stubbs (until September). Bev Unwin (from September). Violet Wilson (from October). Sunita Alahan (November to early December).
 * 1 Coronation Street - Ken Barlow. Deirdre Rachid/Barlow. Tracy Barlow. Amy Barlow. Blanche Hunt. Ray Langton (first week of April only).
 * 2a Coronation Street - Fiz Brown. Candice Stowe (until April and May to November). Maria Sutherland (from October).
 * 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop. Norris Cole. Ray Langton (March only).
 * 4 Coronation Street - Fred Elliott. Ashley Peacock. Claire Peacock. Joshua Peacock.
 * 5 Coronation Street - Les Battersby-Brown. Cilla Battersby-Brown. Chesney Brown (until March and from May). Kirk Sutherland.
 * 6 Coronation Street - Tommy Harris (until March). Angela Harris (until March). Katy Harris (February to April). Craig Harris. Keith Appleyard (from April).
 * 7 Coronation Street - Danny Baldwin (until October). Frankie Baldwin. Jamie Baldwin. Warren Baldwin (until July). Candice Stowe (April to May). Leanne Battersby (August to September).
 * 8 Coronation Street - Gail Platt. Sarah Platt. David Platt. Bethany Platt. Scooter Makuna (June to November). Phil Nail (from December).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Jack Duckworth. Vera Duckworth. Tyrone Dobbs.
 * 10a Coronation Street - Rita Sullivan.
 * 11 Coronation Street - Eileen Grimshaw. Jason Grimshaw. Sean Tully. Violet Wilson (January to September and November).
 * 12 Coronation Street - Steve McDonald. Liz McDonald (from October). Ronnie Clayton (from October).
 * 13 Coronation Street - Kevin Webster. Sally Webster. Rosie Webster. Sophie Webster.
 * 15a Coronation Street - Sunita Alahan (mid-December onwards).

Victoria Street
 * 14a Victoria Street - Janice Battersby. Leanne Battersby (until August and from September to December).
 * 15a Victoria Street - Maria Sutherland (until October). Liz McDonald (until October). Lloyd Mullaney (from October).
 * 16a Victoria Street - Roy Cropper. Hayley Cropper.
 * 17a Victoria Street - Bev Unwin (June to September).
 * 18a Victoria Street - Martin Platt (until November). Katy Harris (until February). Danny Baldwin (from November). Leanne Battersby (from December).
 * 19a Victoria Street - Ciaran McCarthy (until July). Charlie Stubbs (from September).

Others
 * 5 Grasmere Drive - Audrey Roberts.
 * 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Williams.
 * No. 4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Mike Baldwin. Penny King (from May). Adam Barlow (from May). Danny Baldwin (October to November).
 * No. 6 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Dev Alahan (until November). Sunita Alahan (until November).
 * 7 Meadow View, Bramhall - Dev Alahan (from November).

Awards and nominations
National Television Awards Royal Television Society BAFTA
 * Most Popular Newcomer: Antony Cotton (Winner)
 * Most Popular Serial Drama: Coronation Street (Nominee)
 * Most Popular Actor: Bradley Walsh (Nominee)
 * Most Popular Actress: Sally Lindsay (Nominee)
 * Television Landmark Award: Tony Warren
 * Soap Coronation Street (Winner)
 * Network newcomer: Sam Aston (Nominee)
 * Continuing drama: Coronation Street (Winner)