Coronation Street in 2004

2004 was Coronation Street's forty-fifth year.

The big finish
Kieran Roberts bowed out as producer with Episode 5722 on 28th March after two successful years in charge. His replacement was Tony Wood, who had previously worked on Coronation Street as a stopgap producer of six episodes in 1994. Carolyn Reynolds remained executive producer for one more year.

Schedule changes due to Euro 2004 football coverage resulted in three episodes of Coronation Street being shown on the same day for the first time in May. These episodes featured Todd Grimshaw coming out to his fiancée Sarah Platt and confessing to his affair with nurse Karl Foster, and a brawl on the cobbles between a dressing-gowned Gail Platt and Eileen Grimshaw. The first episode shown that evening was Jonathan Harvey's inaugural script for the programme. Bruno Langley quit the show once the storyline had concluded, after three years playing Todd. Rather than leave the programme without a gay character, three weeks before Todd made his on-screen departure Antony Cotton's character Sean Tully was revived and made a regular.

The writing team saw further changes in the course of the year with the addition of Chris Fewtrell and Damon Rochefort and the departures of Ken Blakeson and Peter Mills.

Three episodes were shown on one night on three more occasions, but only the last of these was an addition to schedules. Following the success of the Richard Hillman storyline, writers began cultivating more long-term villains and the first of these was Maya Sharma, Dev Alahan's unstable ex-girlfriend who embarked on a campaign of terror against Dev and his new wife Sunita. The story climaxed in November with an eight-episode week where Maya torched all of Dev's shops, culminating with a blaze in the Corner Shop and the attempted murder of the Alahans. Maya's reign of terror ended when a lorry crashed into her car and she was arrested, although her fate was never properly addressed as Jimmi Harkishin took time off work in early 2005 to beat a cocaine addiction. After the fire, the Corner Shop received a makeover both inside and outside.

The other big storyline of the year was the birth of Tracy Barlow's daughter Amy and Tracy's revelation - at Steve and Karen McDonald's wedding - that Steve was Amy's real father, after months of pretending that it was Roy Cropper. Holly Bowyer played Amy under her original name of Patience Cropper. After 11 episodes, Rebecca Pike took over the part. Beverley Callard made a full-time return as Liz McDonald, arriving for the wedding in February, while Suranne Jones left her role of Karen McDonald at the end of the year, last appearing on Boxing Day after a Christmas Day showdown with Tracy.

Tony Wood
The main family introduced under Tony Wood was a new branch of the Baldwins, consisting of Mike's nephew Danny, Danny's WAG-type wife Frankie, their teenage son Warren, and Danny's older son Jamie from his first marriage. Like Mike, the new Baldwins were originally from London and relocated to Weatherfield, and Danny ran Underworld with Mike after whom his character was styled. The creation of the new family required a retconning of Mike's backstory, with only child Mike given a brother, Harry.

Mike was supported further by the return of his son Adam Barlow in December, recast with Sam Robertson in the role. Sophie Webster also gained a new head, with Brooke Vincent taking over the part from Emma Woodward, while Nick Tilsley appeared for the last time in his Adam Rickitt incarnation. After his year-long comeback, Rickitt once again quit the series.

Other casting included Tupele Dorgu as Underworld machinist Kelly Crabtree and Jenny Platt as new Rovers barmaid Violet Wilson, while Jane Danson returned full-time as Leanne Battersby after a four-year absence and Iain Rogerson as Harry Flagg departed in August.

The year also featured notable cameo appearances by comedians Peter Kay as Shelley Unwin's disastrous date Eric Gartside and Norman Wisdom as jogging pensioner Ernie Crabbe.

Viewing figures
Coronation Street's reign as the UK's No.1 show on most weeks of the year continued for the third year in a row, with 46 episodes reaching top position and only one episode falling outside the top twenty.

After a successful 2003, ratings were back to their 2002 levels, although the year's average of 12.09 million viewers remained above 2002's figure of 11.94m, and the peak rating of 16.33 million viewers for Episode 5694 (16th February 2004) (Steve and Karen's wedding) outrated the peak from 2002. Every month saw its average drop from the same month in 2002, with drops of around two million viewers occurring in March, June, and September.

Storylines
To be added.

Who lives where
Coronation Street
 * Rovers Return Inn - Shelley Unwin. Bev Unwin (until June). Liz McDonald (June to November). Charlie Stubbs (from September).
 * 1 Coronation Street - Ken Barlow. Deirdre Rachid. Blanche Hunt (from June). Tracy Barlow. Amy Barlow (both June to September and October onwards). Liz McDonald (part of November).
 * 2a Coronation Street - Maria Sutherland (until February). Fiz Brown. Candice Stowe. Claire Casey (May to November).
 * 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop. Norris Cole.
 * 4 Coronation Street - Fred Elliott. Ashley Peacock. Joshua Peacock. Claire Casey/Peacock (from November).
 * 5 Coronation Street - Les Battersby. Kirk Sutherland. Cilla Brown (until May and from August). Chesney Brown (until June and from August). Janice Battersby (June to July).
 * 6 Coronation Street - Tommy Harris. Angela Harris Katy Harris (May to July). Craig Harris.
 * 7 Coronation Street - Blanche Hunt. Tracy Preston/Barlow. Amy Barlow (all until May) Danny Baldwin. Frankie Baldwin (both from June). Jamie Baldwin (from July). Warren Baldwin (from August).
 * 8 Coronation Street - Gail Platt. David Platt. Nick Tilsley (until March). Maria Sutherland (February to March). Sarah Platt. Bethany Platt. (both from May).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Jack Duckworth. Vera Duckworth. Tyrone Dobbs.
 * 10a Coronation Street - Rita Sullivan.
 * 11 Coronation Street - Eileen Grimshaw. Todd Grimshaw (May to September). Jason Grimshaw. Sean Tully (from September).
 * 12 Coronation Street - Steve McDonald. Karen McDonald (until December). Liz McDonald (February to March and part of November).
 * 13 Coronation Street - Sally Webster. Kevin Webster. Rosie Webster. Sophie Webster.
 * Corner Shop flat - Sunita Parekh (until November).

Victoria Street
 * 14a Victoria Street - Janice Battersby (until June and from August). Leanne Battersby (from June).
 * 15a Victoria Street - Nick Tilsley (from March to July). Maria Sutherland (from March). Liz McDonald (end of November onwards).
 * 16a Victoria Street - Roy Cropper. Hayley Cropper. Patience Cropper (part of February only).
 * 17a Victoria Street - Todd Grimshaw. Sarah Platt. Bethany Platt. (all until May).
 * 18a Victoria Street - Martin Platt. Katy Harris (until May and from August).
 * 19a Victoria Street - Ciaran McCarthy. Tracy and Amy Barlow (September to October).

Others
 * 5 Grasmere Drive - Audrey Roberts.
 * 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Williams.
 * No. 4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Mike Baldwin.
 * No. 6 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Dev Alahan. Maya Sharma (until August). Sunita Alahan (from November).
 * Nightingale Terrace - Harry Flagg.
 * 26 Palmer Street - Charlie Stubbs (until September).

Awards and nominations
National Television Awards Royal Television Society BAFTA TV Quick Awards The Celebrity Awards
 * Most Popular Serial Drama: Coronation Street (Winner)
 * Most Popular Actress: Suranne Jones (Winner) Tina O'Brien (Nominee)
 * Most Popular Newcomer: Sam Aston (Winner)
 * Most Popular Actor: Bruno Langley (Nominee)
 * Soap Coronation Street (Winner)
 * Best continuing drama Coronation Street (Winner)
 * Best soap Coronation Street (Winner)
 * Best Actress: Tina O'Brien (Winner)
 * Best storyline: Todd Grimshaw/Jason Grimshaw/Sarah Platt triangle (Winner)
 * Best newcomer: Sam Aston (Winner)
 * Best newcomer: Sam Aston (Winner)
 * Woman of the year: Suranne Jones (Nominee)
 * TV cast of the year: The cast of Coronation Street (Winner)
 * Sexist female of the year: Tina O'Brien, Nikki Sanderson, Suranne Jones (Nominees)
 * Sexiest male of the year: Ryan Thomas (Nominee)