Coronation Street - The First Twenty-Five Years

Coronation Street – The First Twenty-Five Years was the first major programme ever broadcast about the history of the show. It was transmitted on 26th December 1985 at 7.45pm

The one-hour programme featured an extensive interview with Tony Warren, filmed on the streets of Salford in which he spoke about the genesis of both Coronation Street itself and his thoughts on the motivations behind the characters introduced in the early episodes. Liberally intercut with clips from the archives, it also featured “voxpops” of viewers interviewed on the street as well as people at home who had been regular viewers over the years. These people had responded to the production team’s request for their memories in adverts such as the one which appeared in The Times personal column of 2nd November which spoke of the upcoming programme and asked “What characters and incidents have a special place in your memory?”.

Future executive producer of the Street David Liddiment acted as producer and director of the special while Bill Podmore, the then executive producer of Coronation Street, performed the same task on this programme.