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~ 1966 ~

Under producer Peter Eckersley, the Glad Tidings Mission Hall and Elliston's Raincoat Factory were revitalised. The factory - which had been ignored since 1963 - re-opened as a manufacturer of PVC hats and coats, with Lucille Hewitt and Irma Barlow securing jobs as welders. Julie Goodyear was cast as Bet Lynch, a colleague who had an affair with manager Jack Benjamin and gave Lucille a black eye. Another member of the workforce was Sheila Birtles, seen for the first time since 1963.

The mission's role was similarly expanded with Ruth Winter installed as community social worker, appointed by the council to transform the establishment into a community centre, much to the chagrin of caretaker Ena Sharples. This was an attempt to reflect modern Britain by reducing the mission's role as a place of worship, paving the way for its eventual demolition in 1968. Colette O'Neil was firmly established in the programme as Ruth, appearing in 21 episodes before writers changed course and wrote the character out, with the community centre moving to Chester Street. With H.V. Kershaw returning as producer, the status quo was quickly restored at the mission and the factory was again relegated to the occasional mention.

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 19th February for 1967!

Bethany Platt

Bethany Platt is the daughter of Sarah Platt and half-sister of Harry. Sarah gave birth to Bethany in 2000 at age thirteen, following a brief sexual encounter with classmate Neil Fearns. Bethany's infancy had plenty of drama; in 2004 she was kidnapped by her unstable paternal grandmother Brenda Fearns, and when she was seven she almost died after taking an ecstasy tablet her uncle David Platt had hidden inside her doll. That same year, Sarah and Bethany left Weatherfield for a new life in Milan, returning in 2015 after Bethany was expelled from her school in Italy. Now a teenager, Bethany was very close to Sarah and at times they behaved more like sisters than mother and daughter. However, she had grown rebellious and difficult to control. In 2016, Bethany was the victim of school bullying which led to self-esteem issues. She then met 35-year-old Nathan Curtis, who was part of a gang in involved in grooming young girls in order to be pimped. Bethany was coerced into having sex with random men and was on the verge of being sold into prostitution abroad when she found the courage to report Nathan and his cohorts to the police. The experience has haunted her ever since.

...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?