Coronation Street in 1991

1991 was Coronation Street's thirty-second year. 157 episodes were broadcast. Mervyn Watson and David Liddiment spent their third year in their respective positions of producer and executive producer.

Storylines included Gail Tilsley marrying Martin Platt, Don Brennan turning to Julie Dewhurst as Ivy Brennan's opposition to Martin adopting Nicky and Sarah takes its toll on their marriage, Mike Baldwin and Jackie Ingram's week-long marriage ending with Jackie threatening Mike with a shotgun, Reg Holdsworth pursuing a horrified Rita Fairclough, Alf Roberts standing against Deirdre Barlow in the council elections, Ken Barlow competing with Mike for Alma Sedgewick's affections, Alec and Bet Gilroy taking in Vicky Arden after the death of her parents in a car crash, Steph Barnes leaving Des for Simon Beatty and Des setting fire to his boat as a symbol of the death of his marriage, Jenny Bradley leaving after having an affair with married Robert Weston, and Vera Duckworth taking in her "father" Joss Shackleton.

Production
In their third year as producer and executive producer, Mervyn Watson and David Liddiment completed their long game as the last of the new houses and shops became occupied. Phil Jennings took over the factory unit for PJ Leisure, Mike Baldwin started MVB Motors in the garage unit with Kevin Webster running it, No.2 became a charity shop with Emily Bishop in charge, the Platts bought No.8, and Reg Holdsworth moved into No.12, bringing his waterbed with him.

Watson stood down as producer at the end of the year, and was replaced by Carolyn Reynolds. Liddiment remained in his role.

Compared with 1989 and 1990, 1991 was quiet on the casting front, with the most notable signing being Sarah Lancashire as dipsy Raquel Wolstenhulme. Lancashire - daughter of 1960s writer Geoffrey Lancashire - appeared initially for three months before being brought back as a regular in the last episode of the year. Chloe Newsome played a recast Vicky Arden, now an orphan after the deaths of Sandra and Tim Arden. With her Handforth background and private schooling, Vicky was another character who typified the intention to broaden the scope of Coronation Street's characters. Also, after leaving the BBC One sitcom ''Allo! Allo!, Ken Morley increased his commitment to the Street'', more than doubling his appearances as Reg Holdsworth from 1990.

Departures were more numerous. After one year as Steph Barnes, Amelia Bullmore decided to quit. Philip Middlemiss was kept on, with Des becoming the Street's romeo. Sally Ann Matthews left the role of Jenny Bradley after five years, Stuart Wolfenden departed as Mark Casey, and Tommy Boyle, Shirin Taylor and Suzanne Hall, respectively playing Phil Jennings, Jackie Baldwin and Kimberley Taylor, left when their characters' storylines wrapped up. Meanwhile, Bryan Mosley suffered a heart attack, resulting in Alf Roberts being off-screen for five months while he recovered.

For the first time, two episodes of Coronation Street were shown on the same day. This occurred on Christmas Day, when in addition to the episode shown at the usual time of 7.30pm, an extra installment was broadcast at 2.50pm. The episode both preceded and followed the Queen's speech, with no adverts or continuity announcements dividing the programmes - instead, the speech directly followed a scene in the Roberts household in which Alf Roberts sat down to watch it.

Viewing figures
Ratings for every episode are available, making up partial sets of data for single-showing and aggregated figures. As a result, it is not possible to determine a yearly average or the highest/lowest rated episodes for 1991. From the data available, the initial-showing ratings were down year-on-year from January to July by an average of one million viewers, and up year-on-year by two million viewers in August and September.

20 episodes reached number one in the ratings, compared with 45 in 1989 and 1990, while two episodes dropped out of the top twenty.

Who lives where
Coronation Street Rosamund Street Others
 * Rovers Return Inn - Bet and Alec Gilroy. Vicky Arden (from July onwards). Mike Baldwin (from October to November).
 * 1 Coronation Street - Deirdre and Tracy Barlow.
 * 2a Coronation Street - (Empty).
 * 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop. Percy Sugden (until July and August onwards).
 * 4 Coronation Street - Derek and Mavis Wilton.
 * 5 Coronation Street - Ivy and Don Brennan.
 * 6 Coronation Street - Des Barnes. Steph Barnes (until August).
 * 7 Coronation Street - Jenny Bradley (until March). Angie Freeman. Curly Watts (from March onwards).
 * 8 Coronation Street - Martin, Gail, Nicky, Sarah Louise and David Platt (from December onwards).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Jack and Vera Duckworth. Curly Watts (until March). Joss Shackleton (from February until March).
 * 10a Coronation Street - Rita Fairclough
 * 11 Coronation Street - Jim, Liz, Andy and Steve McDonald.
 * 12 Coronation Street - Reg Holdsworth (from September onwards).
 * 13 Coronation Street - Kevin, Sally and Rosie Webster.
 * Corner Shop flat - Ken Barlow.
 * Jim's Cafe flat - Alma Sedgewick.
 * 17 Elmgate Gardens - Jackie Ingram/Baldwin. Mike Baldwin (from January to July)
 * Fernwood Place, Handforth - Tim, Sandra and Vicky Arden (until July).
 * 4 Gorton Close - Phyllis Pearce.
 * 5 Grasmere Drive - Alf and Audrey Roberts.
 * 33 Hammond Road - Martin Platt, Gail Tilsley/Platt, Nicky Tilsley/Platt, Sarah Louise Tilsley/Platt and David Tilsley/Platt (until December).
 * 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Turpin.
 * No. 4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Mike Baldwin (from November onwards).
 * NorWin, Seedley Close - Winnie Dyson. Percy Sugden (July only).
 * No. 6 Quebec House, Weatherfield Quays - Mike Baldwin (until January).