Coronation Street in 1997

1997 was Coronation Street's thirty-eighth year.

New broom sweeps clean
1997 marked one of the key turning points in Coronation Street history.

After being the producer since 1994, Sue Pritchard left the programme in January. Executive producer Carolyn Reynolds appointed Brian Park as Pritchard's replacement, in one of her last acts before departing the series herself.

Unlike most producers, Park was given a very specific brief by ITV. Since the introduction of the Sunday episode, it had continually rated lower than the rest of the week by several million viewers, dragging Coronation Street's ratings average below that of EastEnders. The fall in ratings was concentrated in the London area, and as such Carlton and LWT threatened to move the programme out of peak viewing hours. Additionally, ITV was concerned about a PR bias against Coronation Street, with The Sun and The Mirror attacking the programme for being old-fashioned compared with EastEnders. Granada took their complaints to heart and instructed Park to target younger viewers, a demographic which was singled out as not being interested in the programme.

Having not been a regular viewer of Coronation Street since the 1960s, Park was sympathetic to the tabloid press' "fuddy-duddy" impression of it. Upon discovering that writers were reluctant to let go of characters despite not having any storylines for them, Park insisted that they get rid of them. On his first day in the job, he dismissed actors Peter Baldwin, Geoff Hinsliff, Lee Warburton, Emily Aston, Maggie Norris, Nicholas Cochrane, Peter Armitage, Frank Mills, Sherrie Hewson, Anita Carey, and Eve Steele from their parts. Baldwin's axing came as a particular shock to the cast due to his longevity in the role and the popularity of Derek and Mavis Wilton, but Park - who had the job of implementing a decision which in fact preceded his arrival - believed that it was the correct choice as Thelma Barlow had recently given her resignation after wrestling with the idea for the past two years, and it was felt that Derek on his own wouldn't work. Derek died of a heart attack following a road rage incident six months before the end of Thelma Barlow's contract, giving viewers the opportunity to see Mavis react to his death and begin to adjust to widowhood. His funeral marked the last appearance of Malcolm Hebden in the recurring part of Derek's nemesis Norris Cole until he was brought back as a main cast member in 1999.

News of Coronation Street's biggest cast cull to date gained an immediate reaction from the press, with Daily Mirror columnist Victor Lewis-Smith describing Park as a "smiling axeman" terrorising the Street. The press attention played into ITV's hands, with Park giving interviews for the The Guardian (and the Manchester Evening News) to explain what he wanted to achieve on the programme: "I'm going to fight tooth and nail not to become the TV equivalent of the heritage trail. I suppose the stately home analogy is correct. We have to keep it going into the next millennium, adapt it and attract younger viewers without losing the old ones and destroying what makes it singular."

Clearing the deadwood
By the time Park's first credited episode was shown on 16th March, viewers had already seen the last of several characters, some of whom were not given on-screen exits; Billy Williams was not seen again after 14th February, and died off-screen of a heart attack in November, Anne Malone left Weatherfield in February after trying to frame Samantha Failsworth for shoplifting, Claire and Becky Palmer left Des Barnes's life after Claire caught Des sans trousers outside No.7, and Tony Horrocks vanished soon after accidentally killing Joyce Smedley with his car.

Having considered quitting a number of times, Geoff Hinsliff felt no bitterness about his sacking. For Don's exit, the writers crafted a revenge plot which, while on the surface far-fetched, was consistent with the way the character had progressed since Ivy's death. Continuing to wallow in misery and self-pity, Don kidnapped Alma Baldwin in his taxi and tried to gain her sympathy after Mike sold him the garage which went bust under Don's management. The hour-long episode climaxed with a spectacular scene in which Don's cab plunged into the canal with him and Alma inside. After spending six months in Strangeways, Don re-appeared in October, where he escaped and returned to Coronation Street to kill Mike, only to meet a fiery end himself when he drove Mike's car into the viaduct. From this point onwards, stunt sequences such as this because a more regular staple in Coronation Street's storytelling arsenal.

The three remaining axed actors departed later in the year. Maureen Holdsworth ran off to Germany with Bill Webster in October, less than two weeks after marrying Fred Elliott, while Andy McDonald left to make a new life in Barcelona in November. October also marked Thelma Barlow's final appearance as Mavis, as she left Rita's side to run a B&B in Cartmel, as well as Bill Waddington as Percy Sugden. After complaining to the press about the increase in "raunchy" storylines and announcing his intention to quit, Waddington was dismissed from the show. The intention was for Emily Bishop to find Percy dead from a heart attack, but Waddington refused to film his death scenes and another exit was quickly devised, with Percy leaving the street to live in a flat at Mayfield Court retirement complex. Meanwhile, after three years playing Tricia Armstrong, Tracy Brabin quit the show. After giving birth to son Brad, Tricia and Jamie Armstrong left Weatherfield with Tricia's new partner Ray Thorpe.

The new generation
In their place came a horde of new characters, including a new family to take over No.5, which had been sold to the council after Don went to prison. Les and Janice Battersby, and their teenager daughters Leanne and Toyah, arrived in the street in July. The Battersbys were a new creed of character; loud, obnoxious, thieving, and self-centred, they were referred to in the press as a "problem family", designed to upset the other street residents. For maximum impact, their early storylines showed them at their worst, with Les headbutting Curly Watts when a sleep-deprived Curly threw the girls' CD player out the window. Anticipating accusations of dragging the programme downmarket (despite the idea for the family preceding him), Park told the Manchester Evening News: "People don't like innovation and change and they have selective memories - they thought the Ogdens were pretty rough at first - but the Battersbys follow in the Ogden's great tradition. After a while, familiarity breeds contempt." The first member of the family to appear was Janice, played by Vicky Entwistle, as a member of Mike Baldwin's workforce.

Other new characters included hunky mechanic Chris Collins played by Matthew Marsden, and troubled teen Zoe Tattersall, and Joanne Froggatt as teenager Zoe. In February, Denise Welch joined the cast as Natalie Horrocks, mother of Tony, who replaced her son as Kevin Webster's partner at the garage. Welch was immediately brought to the forefront of the programme in a storyline which came about when Brian Park noticed that neither Kevin nor Sally Webster had ever had an affair; Park decided that Kevin would find himself in the arms of older woman Natalie. Sally Whittaker took maternity leave during the storyline; upon her return Sophie Webster was recast, with Emma Woodward replacing original actress Ashleigh Middleton.

Actors joining in the latter half of the year included Holly Newman as Lorraine Brownlow, Martin Hancock as Emily Bishop's eco-warrior nephew and new lodger Geoffrey "Spider" Nugent, and Adam Rickitt as Nick Tilsley, who re-appeared on the programme for Don Brennan's funeral in October. Warren Jackson had planned to come back as Nick after completing his GCSEs, but Park took the opportunity to recast with someone more photogenic who could attract the elusive teen audience who watched Home and Away and Neighbours. Lastly, Deborah McAndrew was brought back full-time as Angie Freeman.

Bryan Mosley was absent for most of the year after suffering a major heart attack on 3rd February, shortly after recording his scenes for Episode 4159. He returned eight months later in Episode 4294. In consideration for Mosley's health, Alf's role was much reduced.

Structural changes
As well as shaking up the cast and characters, Park pushed for bolder and longer storylines, prioritising telling compelling storylines over the writing of individual scripts in order to weave more intricate plots. Story conferences were halved in length, with greater responsibility placed on the story associates which increased in number from three to five, with Ann McManus acting as story/script editor. Some writers were upset at this transfer of power away from them, and the team lost Tom Elliott, Julian Roach, Barry Hill and its longest-serving writer Adele Rose, all of whom resigned, Rose after disagreeing with Park on a storyline.

Despite not previously being a fan of the programme, two of Park's biggest changes harkened back to the show's past. The Rovers Return changed hands, with Jack and Vera Duckworth selling half of the pub to Alec Gilroy to settle a huge VAT bill, while, after Baldwin's Sportswear was gutted in a fire, Mike Baldwin went into business with Angie Freeman, opening lingerie factory Underworld in the empty unit in Coronation Street. Firman's Freezers continued to appear, with Park keen to maintain the amount of comedy in scripts.

A small change to the title sequence was made in Episode 4168 (30th March 1997). After a few years without a regular title caption (with the title instead appearing over various shots of activity in the street), the sequence was standardised, now ending with its fifth shot which showed a cat relaxing in the back yards (shown at the top of the page).

Viva Las Vegas
Following the success of 1995's direct-to-video spin-off entitled Coronation Street - The Feature Length Special, the experiment was repeated, with a different set of characters having an overseas adventure. Written by former story associate Russell T. Davies, Coronation Street: Viva Las Vegas! focused on the Duckworths as they flew to Las Vegas to renew their wedding vows. Hairdressers Maxine Heavey and Fiona Middleton featured in a story of their own, as their attempts to find fun in Vegas often backfired. Neville Buswell - by 1997 working as a bank manager in Vegas - was tracked down and made a cameo appearance as his old character Ray Langton (although this was ignored when the character returned to the main show in 2005). The events of the special, as well as the set up within Coronation Street, took place in late May but the VHS wasn't released until 17th November of that year.

Viewing figures
In a crucial year for the programme, Coronation Street logged its lowest average of the decade, with an aggregated figure of 14.93 million viewers, representing a loss of 800,000 viewers from 1996. The drop is mostly due to the poor performance of the Sunday episode, introduced the previous November; the last three months of 1997 were up on the same months in 1996, while the biggest drops all occurred in the first half of the year. June was the only month outside the last quarter up on 1996, rising by 700,000 viewers.

The highest-rated episode of the year was Episode 4301 (17th November 1997), which gained an audience of 18.03 million viewers (again, an aggregated figure including the omnibus repeat). This was the lowest peak in any year since the omnibus began in 1989.

Meanwhile, Coronation Street's strangehold on the charts continued, with 43 episodes reaching number one - a drop of only two episodes, while no episodes fell outside the top twenty for the sixth time of the decade.

Storylines
To be added.

Who lives where
Coronation Street
 * Rovers Return Inn - Jack and Vera Duckworth. Tricia and Jamie Armstrong (January to May). Brad Armstrong (February to May).
 * 1 Coronation Street - Ken Barlow.
 * 2a Coronation Street - Fiona Middleton. Alan McKenna (May to November).
 * 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop. Percy Sugden (until October). Spider Nugent (December onwards).
 * 4 Coronation Street - Derek Wilton (until April). Mavis Wilton (until September). Fred Elliott (September to October). Maureen Elliott (September only). Ashley Peacock (from November). Maxine Heavey (November only). Zoe Tattersall (from November). Shannon Tattersall (from December).
 * 5 Coronation Street - Don Brennan (until May). Ashley Peacock (until May). Les, Janice, Leanne and Toyah Battersby (all from July)
 * 6 Coronation Street - Des Barnes (until March, then from June onwards). Claire and Becky Palmer (both until March). Angie Freeman (March to October). Chris Collins (April to October). Samantha Failsworth (October onwards).
 * 7 Coronation Street - Curly Watts. Samantha Failsworth (until October). Angie Freeman (October onwards).
 * 8 Coronation Street - Martin, Gail, Sarah Louise and David Platt. Nick Tilsley (October onwards).
 * 9 Coronation Street - Gary and Judy Mallett. Zoe Tattersall (July to September). Shannon Tattersall (August to December).
 * 10a Coronation Street - Rita Sullivan. Mavis Wilton (September to October).
 * 11 Coronation Street - Jim McDonald. Andy McDonald (January to November). Steve McDonald (June to November).
 * 12 Coronation Street - Alec Gilroy.
 * 13 Coronation Street - Kevin Webster (until July and from December onwards). Sally, Rosie and Sophie Webster.
 * Corner Shop flat - Bill Webster (February to October). Chris Collins (October onwards).

Rosamund Street
 * Jim's Cafe flat - Roy Cropper (from February)

Victoria Street
 * 17a Victoria Street - Deirdre Rachid (June to November).

Others
 * Chepstow Road - Deirdre Rachid (March to June)
 * 5 Crimea Street - Deirdre Rachid (until March). Tricia and Jamie Armstrong (January only). Roy Cropper (until February). Bill Webster (until February).
 * 2 Douglas Road - Maxine Heavey (until November, then from December onwards).
 * 5 Grasmere Drive - Alf and Audrey Roberts.
 * 37 Hillside Crescent - Billy Williams (until November). Betty Williams.
 * Mayfield Court - Maud Grimes. Percy Sugden (both from October onwards).
 * No. 4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Mike and Alma Baldwin.
 * 7 Nightingale Street - Maud Grimes and Maureen Holdsworth (both until September).
 * 9 Oak Grove, Didsbury - Jon Lindsay and Deirdre Rachid (both from November onwards).
 * 16 Orchard Close - Anne Malone. Andy McDonald (January only). Curly Watts (first part of January only).
 * 170 Park Street - Liz McDonald.
 * 23 Seymour Drive, Oakhill - Fred Elliott (until September and from November).

Awards and nominations
Bafta Awards TV Quick Awards National Television Awards Mental Health Media Awards Royal Television Society (North West) Awards
 * The Lew Grade Award for Significant and Popular Programme
 * Best Newcomer: Tina Hobley (Winner)
 * Best Soap Actor: William Tarmey (Nominee)
 * Best Soap: Coronation Street (Nominee)
 * Most Popular Newcomer: Matthew Marsden (Winner), Tina Hobley (Nominee)
 * Soap Opera Storyline: Don Brennan's mental breakdown (Nominee)
 * Best Actress: Sally Whittaker (Nominee)
 * Best Actor: Michael Le Vell (Nominee)