Coronation Street in 1966



1966 was Coronation Street's seventh year. Storylines from this year included Ena Sharples being arrested for shoplifting, the refurbishment of Elliston's Raincoat Factory, the returns of Jed Stone and Sheila Birtles and the first appearances of Bet Lynch and Ray Langton, both of whom were short-lived characters who later returned with greater success. Emily Nugent was absent for most of the year after Eileen Derbyshire left the series in February to go on maternity leave.

The characters of Elsie Tanner, Annie and Jack Walker were absent from the programme from 23rd March to 25th April as Patricia Phoenix, Doris Speed and Arthur Leslie went on a promotional tour of Australia with Executive Producer H.V. Kershaw.

104 new episodes were broadcast on ITV in 1966.

Main cast

 * Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson
 * Hilda Ogden - Jean Alexander
 * Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant
 * Ray Langton - Neville Buswell (February to April)
 * Ena Sharples - Violet Carson
 * Jed Stone - Kenneth Cope (January to September)
 * Linda Cheveski - Anne Cunningham (October to November)
 * Miss Nugent - Eileen Derbyshire (until February)
 * Lionel Petty - Edward Evans (until January)
 * Bet Lynch - Julie Goodyear (May to July)
 * Irma Barlow - Sandra Gough
 * Jerry Booth - Graham Haberfield
 * Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth
 * Dennis Tanner - Philip Lowrie
 * Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie
 * Sheila Birtles - Eileen Mayers (May to December)
 * Lucille Hewitt - Jennifer Moss
 * Elsie Tanner - Patricia Phoenix
 * Valerie Barlow - Anne Reid
 * Kenneth Barlow - William Roache
 * David Barlow - Alan Rothwell
 * Annie Walker - Doris Speed
 * Ivan Cheveski - Ernst Walder (October to November)
 * Stan Ogden - Bernard Youens

January

 * Telephone engineer Jim Mount returns to the Street to look for Elsie Tanner. She agrees to go on a date with him and the two start a relationship.
 * Dennis Tanner borrows Emily Nugent's camera and secretly takes pictures of Jerry Booth when he is undressed as a joke but the photographs get into circulation and Dennis is forced to apologise for his prank.
 * Stan Ogden intervenes in David Barlow's sacking when he confronts his former boss, Sid Lambert who offers David a job in his engineering factory as recompense but David turns down the offer.
 * The local paper investigates David's sacking but this only leads to Ken Barlow taking an interest in their journalist Jackie Marsh. The two begin what is at first a platonic friendship but it soon develops into an affair. Elsie sees the two of them together, kissing.
 * Dave Smith's business affairs become entangled in the life of the Street again when he decides to open a new betting shop in the locality, a deal having fallen through to open a branch on Waterloo Road. Ena Sharples soon hears of Dave's plans and starts to oppose them. Dave approaches Lionel Petty about buying the Corner Shop but as he refuses to purchase the stock as part of the transaction, Lionel refuses to sell although he tells Ena to mind her own business when she tries to influence his decision. She is further annoyed when she finds Minnie Caldwell laying on bets in another of Dave's shops.
 * Albert Tatlock has problems when kids play on his allotment and when Clara starts to take a romantic interest in him. He does his best to avoid her.
 * Lucille Hewitt finishes with Kenny Stevens.
 * Valerie Barlow obtains an old piano through Len Fairclough and takes up lessons from Ena.
 * David falls into a drunken depression. Knowing that Lionel is interested in selling the Corner Shop, Irma Barlow suggests buying it. David doesn't want to know and Irma walks out on him. This brings David to his senses and they are reconciled. They buy the shop from Lionel who moves to Wales after a farewell party in the Rovers.
 * Minnie finds that she is short of money and can't afford coal to keep her warm. Ena and Clara Midgeley blame each other for Minnie's predicament. Her financial situation worsens and she finds herself under undue pressure from clubman Fred Nuttall who threatens her with court for an unpaid debt she owes him. The situation is saved when Jed Stone turns up on Minnie's doorstep and pays her a month's rent in advance. Jed discovers that Nuttall is adding extortionate interest to the loan and he and Dennis con money out of him so that the debts can be repaid.
 * A misunderstanding between Stan and Hilda Ogden causes Stan to think he's had a major pools win. He celebrates drunkenly with a party in the Rovers and is livid when Hilda explains the mix-up, threatening to kill her. He calms down and finds himself saddled with a large drinks bill for the party.
 * Emily announces that she's moving to Majorca to work in a friend's souvenir shop.

February

 * As part of their changes in the Corner Shop, the Barlows close the loss-making Post Office section.
 * Jed and Dennis use the money from Fred Nuttall to repay all of Minnie's debts with some to spare left over. Nuttall realises he's been swindled and confronts Dennis who spins him a yarn that the police are interested in the socks that are now in his possession an Nuttall backs off.
 * James Nugent, Emily's father has a stroke and one of her sisters, Joan Corrie, pressures her to move to Harrogate to nurse him. Feeling put upon by her family she initially refuses to abandon her dream of moving to Majorca but eventually sadly gives in. The residents hold a leaving party for her, none-the-wiser as to where she is really going. She tells everyone that her father is going into a home but Jerry realises the truth. Emily leaves Weatherfield.
 * Elsie warns Ken to be careful but he tells her to mind her own business. She prevaricates as to whether to tell Val or not but in the meantime Ken and Jackie become more serious to each other and Ken recklessly tells Elsie that she can inform whoever she likes. He plans to spend a weekend away with Jackie, supposedly at a teacher's NUT conference but has a last minute change of heart and finishes with Jackie.
 * Jed pursues his latest get-rich-quick schemes; wanting to put a fruit machine in Gamma Garments, running a market stall (with Lucille's help) selling junk, starting a waxworks business by trying to remold figures such as Ghandi and Charlie Chaplin into the Beatles. All of these go wrong and Dennis, heavily involved in some of them, becomes depressed and takes to his bed. After a short time feeling sorry for himself (and following some nursing from Ena and Minnie) he starts to come round when Jed talks of taking up selling by auction but falls into a depression again when he realises that they need premises to be able to go ahead with the plan. Dennis realises that Ena can write music down and the two start writing songs together using his lyrics. Jed hires arches under the viaduct to expand his "business".
 * Clara gets Albert to go to Cleveleys with her to help run her niece's hotel.
 * Len is delighted when Jack Walker fixes up a job for him at his spiritual home - Newton & Ridley's brewery. In view of the workload, Jerry takes on an apprentice – ex-borstal boy Ray Langton, although Len is distrustful of the young man. The job goes badly when Len spends more time drinking than working and he and Jerry start to fall out. Jerry carries on working diligently and falls off some scaffolding while Len is playing cards with the brewery workers. He is taken to hospital and Len's contract is terminated as the scaffolding was unsafe.
 * Ray asks a smitten Lucille out and they start dating.
 * Stan agrees that Jim Mount can lodge at No. 13 although Hilda isn't pleased at the extra work that a lodger brings her. She is brought round when Jim pays his rent direct to her instead of Stan.
 * The Walkers and Lucille are invited to Ireland for a holiday by the Hewitts.

March

 * Jerry recovers and Len apologises to him for his behaviour and the two business partners are reconciled but Elsie still rows with Len for his over-drinking.
 * Jed and Dennis open their auction rooms under the name of the "Viaduct Bargain Boutique". One of the items on sale is a framed photograph of Hilda's mother that Stan sold them for ten shillings. Hilda snatches it back when Jed offers it to her for £1. Jed and Dennis open a bank account for the business and Dennis avoids his proper job with the novelty toy company and is sacked. The two entrepreneurs advertise that a celebrity will officially open the auction rooms - it is Minnie Caldwell. The business gets off to a bad start when no one buys anything and they discover they need planning permission. Within a week they have to close. Undaunted, Jed converts the premises into boarding kennels but the dog's barking keeps the residents awake and disaster strikes when they lose a dog belonging to a local villain, "Big" Arthur Johnson.
 * Ena is concerned for Lucille and how her relationship with Ray will end up. Ray offers to do a foreigner job for Jack but he angrily rejects it as the young man is going behind Len's back. Lucille babysits for the Barlows and Ray joins her but steals £5 from a £30 school fund that Ken was looking after. Not knowing that Ray was with her, Ken suspects Lucille of the theft. Lucille tackles Ray when she finds out that she is under suspicion but he lets on that he's not interested. Without telling him what the money is for, Lucille obtains £5 from Jack and gives it to the Barlows. Ray then cons Lucille into thinking that he took the money for his mother. Ena finds out about the incident and threatens the two with court action if they don’t clean up their act.
 * Sick of him being distant with her, Val leaves Ken and goes back to her family in Glasgow. After several weeks Ken phones and asks her to return. She does so and Ken tries to show her that he's changed his ways by decorating No. 9 and buying a car but she's more unsure than ever as to whether or not he really loves her.
 * Clara returns from Cleveleys but not with Albert. She reveals to Minnie that she got nowhere with him. Albert returns a week later but avoids Clara. After several weeks she proposes to him but he refuses as he's too set in his ways to change his life now. Clara becomes temporary Rovers cleaner when Hilda goes away for a few weeks.
 * Partly under pressure from Ray, Lucille refuses to go to Ireland with the Walkers. They leave without her and the brewery installs Brenda Riley as a relief manager. She is an ex-girlfriend of Jim Mount. He and Elsie row when she sees him chatting up another woman and Jim hits her. Len attacks Jim in Elsie's defence but Jim easily beats him down. When Jim refuses to commit himself to Elsie in any way she finishes with him. Len and Jim then compete for Brenda.

April

 * Jed finds Arthur Johnson's dog in time but has to pay £5 to the man who has her. Despondent at his latest financial failure, he closes the kennels. Soon afterwards, he receives his belated permission to open an auction room.
 * Peter and Susan Barlow celebrate their first birthday with a party. Ken tries his best to convince Val that he's devoted to her but she makes it clear that she's not interested.
 * Lucille discovers that Ray has stolen a bottle of whisky from the Rovers. Ray threatens her when she tells him that she's going to tell Brenda. Nevertheless Lucille does tell Brenda but finds that the relief landlady appears unconcerned. However she summons Ray and tells him to stop seeing Lucille. He then threatens Brenda but Len stops him, sacks him and sends him on his way, but not before he tells Lucille that he'll catch up with her one day.
 * Hilda returns and discovers that Stan and Jim have attempted to clean No. 13 but in the process have created more of a mess than ever. She tries to get her job back at the Rovers but Clara refuses to give up the position and Brenda refuses to take Hilda back on until she knows what Annie would want. A furious Hilda refuses to let Stan and Jim frequent the Rovers and Brenda gives in.
 * Vera Lomax turns up unexpectedly at Ena's for a stay. She confesses that she has left Bob and that they are in a financial mess and facing eviction. Ena gives her all of her savings - £150 - which is the money Vera needs.
 * Dennis takes on a job as entertainments manager at a holiday camp in Carlisle and leaves the area.
 * The brewery, pleased with Brenda's progress in the Rovers, ask her to stay on after the Walker's return, with the specific task of teaching Annie how to be nice to customers. The Walkers return on the night of an organised betting evening in the pub, over a billiards match between Jed and David. A horrified Annie orders Brenda out. David wins the match, and Stan for one loses his wager. Elsie makes Hilda see that Jim is a bad influence on Stan and, angry with Jed for organising the match and with Elsie for her attitude towards him, he and Brenda leave the Street together.
 * A new Mission worker, Ronald Nesbitt, causes further problems for Ena when he catches her frequenting the Rovers and orders her out of the Vestry while repairs to the building are carried out. No one helps Ena with her accommodation problem until Minnie lets her stay at No. 5. Minnie worries about her depressed state and things look bleaker than ever for Ena when she is caught shoplifting in the Pick-a-Snip Supermarket.

Who lives where
Coronation Street residents Others
 * Rovers Return Inn - Jack and Annie Walker (except March to April). Lucille Hewitt. Brenda Riley (from March to April).
 * 1 Coronation Street - Albert Tatlock
 * 3 Coronation Street - (Empty)
 * 5 Coronation Street - Minnie Caldwell. Jed Stone (from January to September).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Ken, Valerie, Peter and Susan Barlow
 * 11 Coronation Street - Elsie Tanner and Dennis Tanner. Wally Tanner (from April to July). Sheila Crossley (from June to December). Linda and Paul Cheveski (from October to November).
 * 13 Coronation Street - Stan and Hilda Ogden. Jim Mount (from January to April).
 * Corner Shop (No.15) - Lionel Petty (January). David and Irma Barlow (from January onwards).
 * Corner Shop Flat (No.15a) - (Empty)
 * Vestry - Ena Sharples. Vera Lomax (December onwards)
 * Mawdsley Street - Len Fairclough
 * 17 Ackroyd Street - David and Irma Barlow (until January)