Coronation Street in 1986



1986 was Coronation Street's twenty-seventh year. It is chiefly remembered for a storyline in which the Rovers Return Inn caught fire. It was designed to provide an in-story reason for the set to be updated, as it had been largely unchanged since 1960.

In the late 1980s, the writers were wary of the series looking dated compared with BBC's EastEnders, and began writing bigger storylines more likely to attract viewers who otherwise wouldn't watch the series. This year's marriage of Ken Barlow's daughter Susan Barlow with his enemy Mike Baldwin was an example.

105 new episodes were broadcast on ITV in 1986.

Main cast

 * Hilda Ogden - Jean Alexander
 * Derek Wilton - Peter Baldwin
 * Mavis Riley - Thelma Barlow
 * Alec Gilroy - Roy Barraclough
 * Mike Baldwin - Johnny Briggs
 * Vera Duckworth - Elizabeth Dawn
 * Emily Bishop - Eileen Derbyshire
 * Betty Turpin - Betty Driver
 * Alan Bradley - Mark Eden
 * Bet Lynch - Julie Goodyear
 * Gloria Todd - Sue Jenkins
 * Curly Watts - Kevin Kennedy
 * Deirdre Barlow - Anne Kirkbride
 * Rita Fairclough - Barbara Knox
 * Kevin Webster - Michael Le Vell
 * Jenny Bradley - Sally Ann Matthews
 * Alf Roberts - Bryan Mosley
 * Audrey Roberts - Sue Nicholls
 * Ida Clough - Helene Palmer
 * Ivy Tilsley - Lynne Perrie
 * Terry Duckworth - Nigel Pivaro
 * Brian Tilsley - Christopher Quinten
 * Ken Barlow - William Roache
 * Phyllis Pearce - Jill Summers
 * Jack Duckworth - William Tarmey
 * Percy Sugden - Bill Waddington
 * Susan Barlow/Baldwin - Wendy Jane Walker
 * Martin Platt - Sean Wilson
 * Gail Tilsley - Helen Worth

Who lives where

 * 46b, St. Mary's Place - Mike Baldwin