Coronation Street in 1992

1992 was Coronation Street's thirty-third year.

Production
Carolyn Reynolds assumed the role of producer at the start of the year. Reynolds came to the job having just produced Granada's daytime soap opera Families, which shared its executive producer David Liddiment with Coronation Street. Liddiment remained at the Street until November, when he was appointed Director of Programmes at ITV. Reynolds was the programme's main creative force over the following thirteen years, working as both producer and executive producer in much the same manner as Bill Podmore had (except for two notable periods in 1997 and 2000-2001).

After six years playing Alec Gilroy, Roy Barraclough quit the programme to return to the stage. Barraclough wished for Alec to be killed off but writers instead chose to have him leave Bet. Meanwhile, Nigel Pivaro made a return as Terry Duckworth for a major storyline which ran over two years. Caroline Milmoe was cast as Lisa Horton, Terry's fiancée and eventual wife, and Darryl Edwards as Tom Duckworth, who was born while Terry was in prison for GBH, with Jack and Vera taking care of Lisa and Tom.

Other new cast members included Brian Hibbard as bankrupt mechanic Doug Murray, and Denise Black as Denise Osbourne, a hair stylist in the Elsie Tanner mould who converted No.2 into its familiar form as a salon. Her assistant there was Fiona Middleton, a character played by Angela Griffin whose role would grow significantly over the next few years. Lastly, Mike Baldwin's illegitimate son Mark Redman returned, now played by Chris Cook. Mark was aged up by two years as storylines required that he be the same age as Nicky Platt.

The third and last ITV Telethon was held, and again Coronation Street was featured. This time, a full-length episode was made specially for the event: a comedic piece centring around a Bettabuy staff outing, at which Brendan Scott tries to thwart Reg Holdsworth's attempts to impress Bettabuy supremo Lord Walter Morgan.

In October, the Broadcasting Standards Council attacked the Street for its lack of ethnic faces compared with rival soaps EastEnders and Brookside. The press defended Coronation Street from the claim, referring to the figures from the 1991 census showing that Manchester was 97.8% white, while David Liddiment replied, in the official response from ITV: "The idea that serial drama is there to directly reflect real life is a false one. It is there to entertain, not provide a demographic reflection of Britain."

Viewing figures
By the beginning of the year, only Granada and UTV were showing the omnibus edition of Coronation Street. Only BARB's combined ratings are available for this year.

With 21.6 million viewers, Episode 3329 on 8th January was the highest-rated episode of 1992. The average was 18.34 million viewers, an increase of over a million viewers on the aggregated figure from 1991. 27 episodes reached number one, while no episodes dropped out of the top twenty.

On 6th July, for the first time in its history Coronation Street transmitted an hour-long episode. This was in fact two separate episodes edited together to be shown opposite the premiere of the BBC's new soap opera Eldorado. The move was ordered by ITV executives, determined to kill the competition at birth. In any case, Eldorado was a commercial and critical disaster for the BBC, and was cancelled after one year.

Who lives where
Coronation Street Rosamund Street Others
 * Rovers Return Inn - Bet Gilroy and Victoria Arden. Alec Gilroy (until September). Raquel Wolstenhulme (from May onwards).
 * 1 Coronation Street - Deirdre and Tracy Barlow.
 * 2a Coronation Street - Denise Osbourne (from December onwards).
 * 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop and Percy Sugden.
 * 4 Coronation Street - Derek and Mavis Wilton.
 * 5 Coronation Street - Ivy Brennan. Don Brennan (until July, then October onwards).
 * 6 Coronation Street - Des Barnes. Raquel Wolstenhulme (from January to May). Steph Barnes (May only).
 * 7 Coronation Street - Angie Freeman and Curly Watts.
 * 8 Coronation Street - Martin, Gail, Nicky, Sarah Louise and David Platt. Carmel Finnan (from October to December).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Jack and Vera Duckworth. Lisa Duckworth (from May to November). Tommy Duckworth (from September to November).
 * 10a Coronation Street - Rita Fairclough/Sullivan. Ted Sullivan (from June to September).
 * 11 Coronation Street - Jim, Liz, Andy and Steve McDonald.
 * 12 Coronation Street - Reg Holdsworth.
 * 13 Coronation Street - Kevin, Sally and Rosie Webster.
 * Corner Shop flat - Ken Barlow.
 * Jim's Cafe flat - Alma Sedgewick (until July).
 * 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Turpin.
 * No. 4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Mike Baldwin. Alma Sedgewick/Baldwin (from July onwards).
 * 4 Gorton Close - Phyllis Pearce.
 * 5 Grasmere Drive - Alf and Audrey Roberts.
 * Wentworths Guest House, Ashdale Road - Don Brennan (from July to September).
 * 33 Atlee Place - Don Brennan (from September to October)