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~ 1986 ~

The centrepiece of the year was the fire at the Rovers Return. It had previously been decided to modernise the pub's interior, and at first the plan was simply to have the brewery carry out a routine redecoration. Storyliners Tom Elliott and Paul Abbott, when beginning to plot the Rovers-less episodes, pitched the idea of having a fire instead as a way of explaining why the pub was out of bounds for so long.

The blaze was started accidentally by Jack Duckworth, who bodged the fusebox in the Rovers' cellar in the previous episode when the regulars had a sing-song in the pub. In the programme's most elaborate stunt sequence of the decade, Bet Lynch was trapped upstairs while outside the residents mounted a rescue. Julie Goodyear's fire-proofed night-dress caught fire during the recording of the scene, but the actress was unharmed. The sense of occasion was underlined when the episode was given a unique title sequence and was repeated the following evening. In addition, the outdoor scenes were shot on outside broadcast video instead of the usual 16mm film, giving the proceedings a greater sense of immediacy. This practice would be adopted full-time in 1988. When the Rovers re-opened on 13th August, it had lost the select function room, with the public and snug knocked into one and three upholstered seating areas added, along with several more minor changes.

To celebrate 60 years of Coronation Street on television, we're going through the programme's entire history a year at a time. The full version of this article can be found here. Check back on 8th July for 1987!

Amy Barlow

Amy Barlow is the daughter of Steve McDonald and Tracy Barlow, and half-sister to Emma Brooker and Oliver Battersby. As a newborn in 2004, Amy was sold to Roy and Hayley Cropper, who had been fooled by Tracy into believing that Roy was her biological father. However, after handing the baby over Tracy had a change of heart and exposed Steve as the real father at his and Karen McDonald's wedding. Tracy spent the next couple of years pursuing Steve, using Amy as a pawn to sabotage his other relationships. Ultimately Tracy managed to worm her way back into Steve's life. When they became a couple again in 2017, Amy found it hard to get used to them not being at each other's throats. In recent years, Amy has been impregnated at fourteen by Tyler Jefferies, had an abortion, and become close to her half-sister Emma Brooker. Like her mother, Amy doesn't suffer fools gladly, though she is kinder and more sensitive than Tracy. Currently attending Weatherfield High, she is friends with Asha Alahan and Summer Spellman and plays the violin. She lives at 15a Victoria Street with Tracy, Steve and her grandmother Liz McDonald.

...that Anthony Schaeffer holds the current record of most roles in the programme with fifteen credited to date?
...that the first episode of the programme ever transmitted that did not feature any of the original cast members from 1960 was Episode 1428 (23rd September 1974)?
...that Stanley Wood, who wrote Episode 1237 (22nd November 1972), was the father of comedian Victoria Wood?
...that in Episode 1183 (17th May 1972), the character of Rita Bates gave her maiden name as "Foster" and not the later-established "Littlewood"?
...that although the character of Armistead Caldwell had died in 1935, his voice was heard in Episode 1256 (29th January 1973)?
...that the first ever repeat of an episode of Coronation Street was on Friday 10th February 1961 when strike action prevented the transmission of that night's edition and Episode 1 was shown in its place?