Coronation Street in 1977

1977 was Coronation Street's eighteenth year. Bill Podmore produced 98 of the 104 transmitted episodes, with June Howson and Leslie Duxbury taking over as relief for the remaining six.

Storylines included Len Fairclough and Rita Littlewood finally making it to the altar, Janet Barlow committing suicide by overdose, Bet Lynch co-habiting with Mike Baldwin and then finding out he'd lied about being married, the birth of Tracy Langton to Deirdre and Ray, Deirdre being assaulted under the viaduct, the Street's Silver Jubilee celebration, Hilda and Stan Ogden's second honeymoon, Ena Sharples having a fall while baby-sitting Tracy, the death of Mavis Riley's Auntie Edie, and Betty Turpin threatening to sue Annie Walker for slander.

Production
After being appointed the programme's producer in 1976, Bill Podmore spent his first full year in the role. Two former producers, June Howson and Leslie Duxbury, served as relief for Podmore for episodes 1738 to 1739 and 1744 to 1747, respectively. The other episodes were produced by Podmore, who would remain in the role until Episode 2269, broadcast on 29th December 1982 - a record-breaking run which has been unmatched since.

Three new younger characters were introduced. One was Tracy Langton, daughter of Ray and Deirdre. Tracy was the first baby born in Coronation Street since 1965, and actress Christabel Finch the first child in the cast since the Barlows twins were written out in 1971. Unlike the twins whose appearances in the late 1960s were kept to a minimum, a conscious decision was made to feature Tracy as much as possible. The other arrivals were Suzie Birchall and Steve Fisher, who along with Gail Potter made up the programme's trio of teenagers.

Alongside the programme's on-screen celebration of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, almost all of the main cast appeared in a skit written by John Stevenson in a Jubilee variety show at Manchester's Palace Theatre.

Viewing figures
TAM/AGB (see Viewing Figures) changed their publishing method on 1st August. On that date, they abandoned their previous system of measuring viewers in terms of number of homes watching, and went over to number of viewers.

The early part of the year saw ratings climb to their highest levels since 1965, with five episodes gaining over twenty million viewers. The last of these - seen by 20.85 million viewers, the biggest audience of the decade - was Episode 1697 on 20th April, which saw Len Fairclough and Rita Littlewood finally tie the knot after a five-year on-again/off-again relationship. Six months gained on the same intervals in 1976, all but one of which were in the first half of the year. The last quarter of the year was over a million down on 1976 but the strong performance in the early months were enough to elevate the yearly average to 15.88 million viewers, the second-highest of the 1970s after 1970 and an increase of nearly 500,000 viewers on 1976.

Nine episodes reached number one in the viewing charts, the most since 1971 and an increase of eight from 1976. This number would steadily increase over the next few years as Coronation Street regained its position as the UK's top-rated programme for the majority of the year.

Who lives where
Coronation Street Rosamund Street Victoria Street Others
 * Rovers Return Inn - Annie Walker and Fred Gee.
 * 1 Coronation Street - Albert Tatlock and Ken Barlow.
 * 3 Coronation Street - Ernest and Emily Bishop.
 * 5 Coronation Street - Mike Baldwin and Bet Lynch (until March). Ray, Deirdre and Tracy Langton (from March).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Len Fairclough. Rita Fairclough (from April).
 * 11 Coronation Street - Elsie Tanner and Gail Potter. Suzie Birchall (from February).
 * 13 Coronation Street - Stan and Hilda Ogden.
 * Corner Shop (No.15) - Renee Bradshaw.
 * Corner Shop Flat (No.15a) - Bet Lynch (from March).
 * Community Centre Flat - Ena Sharples
 * The Kabin - Rita Littlewood (until April). Mavis Riley (from May).
 * 20 Victoria Street - Ray and Deirdre Langton (until March). Tracy Langton (from January to March).
 * 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Turpin.
 * Inkerman Street - Ivy Tilsley, Vera Duckworth.
 * 23 Jubilee Terrace - Mavis Riley (until May).