Coronation Street in 1984

1984 was Coronation Street's twenty-fifth year.

Main characters

Ranking	Character	Played by	Duration	Number of Episodes	Running total	Previous year's ranking
1	Jack Duckworth	William Tarmey	Full year	83	139	24
1	Bet Lynch	Julie Goodyear	Full year	83	1051	1
3	Betty Turpin	Betty Driver	Full year	81	1077	4
4	Hilda Ogden	Jean Alexander	Full year	75	1406	9
4	Rita Fairclough	Barbara Knox	Full year	75	866	13
6	Deirdre Barlow	Anne Kirkbride	Full year	69	729	3
6	Mavis Riley	Thelma Barlow	Full year	69	682	13
8	Alf Roberts	Bryan Mosley	Full year	68	877	7
9	Vera Duckworth	Elizabeth Dawn	Full year	66	314	4
10	Billy Walker	Kenneth Farrington	March and May to December	65	405	-
11	Percy Sugden	Bill Waddington	Full year	64	78	32
12	Ken Barlow	William Roache	Full year	63	1592	11
12	Bill Webster	Peter Armitage	From February	63	63	-
14	Mike Baldwin	Johnny Briggs	Full year	60	479	11
15	Ivy Tilsley	Lynne Perrie	Full year	59	456	9
15	Terry Duckworth	Nigel Pivaro	January to February and from April	59	69	33
15	Gail Tilsley	Helen Worth	Full year	59	572	15
15	Kevin Webster	Michael Le Vell	From February	59	62	36
19	Emily Bishop	Eileen Derbyshire	Full year	57	1346	19
20	Brian Tilsley	Christopher Quinten	Full year	55	299	15
21	Fred Gee	Fred Feast	January to April and July to November	51	561	2
22	Curly Watts	Kevin Kennedy	January, April and from July	39	56	31
23	Debbie Webster	Sue Devaney	From June	31	31	-
24	Nick Tilsley	Warren Jackson	Full year	17	139	22
24	Derek Wilton	Peter Baldwin	July to September	17	53	-
26	Shirley Armitage	Lisa Lewis	January to February, July and October	14	22	34
26	Ida Clough	Helene Palmer	January to February, July and October	14	144	29
28	Phyllis Pearce	Jill Summers	August to October and December	13	45	30
29	Stan Ogden	Bernard Youens	Until March	12	1226	17
30	Linda Cheveski	Anne Cunningham	May to June	11	107	-
31	Audrey Potter	Sue Nicholls	July and October	8	56	-
32	Albert Tatlock	Jack Howarth	Until January	3	1304	21
33	Elsie Tanner	Patricia Phoenix	Until January	2	1606	4
33	Sharon Gaskell	Tracie Bennett	Until January	2	53	35

Production

The Street says a final goodbye to Patricia Phoenix as Elsie Tanner at the start of another trying year

1984 was a pivotal year in Coronation Street history. With the programme having lost several members of its principal cast the year before, the writing team faced the task of creating believable off-screen exits, filling the void with new characters, as well as coping with a slew of further misfortunes. As producer Mervyn Watson put it, "It became a matter of course. Each weekend brought with it another illness, revelation or death." (The Coronation Street Story, Boxtree Ltd, 1995)

Patricia Phoenix's final scenes as Elsie Tanner aired in the first week of January after the actress handed in her notice the previous August. Elsie had a fairytale exit, flitting to Portugal to be with her old flame Bill Gregory. The sale of No.11 was entrusted to Elsie's daughter Linda Cheveski, with Anne Cunningham making her first appearance in the role since 1968. Viewed as a possible replacement for Elsie, Linda was paired with new arrival Bill Webster (who, not coincidentally, was a builder in the vein of Len Fairclough), widowed father of teenagers Kevin and Debbie. However, her comeback was not considered a success and she left a month later.

Installed in No.11, the Websters were envisioned as the programme's next long-term family, and Peter Armitage was hired to play Bill on the understanding that he would commit to the programme for at least six or seven years. However, Armitage then turned down a new contract, quitting after just one year. A decision was made to spare Kevin, making him Emily Bishop's lodger, but Debbie was written out with Bill early in 1985 as writers crafted yet another family to replace them.

Doris Speed's retirement left the field open for someone new to run the Rovers Return. Due to a lack of future planning, writers didn't have a replacement for Annie Walker in mind. In February, Fred Gee was appointed temporary manager, but after two months a stand-in was needed as Fred Feast had fallen ill. Last seen in 1979, Billy Walker was brought back and took over the pub's licence. The experience was an unhappy one for actor Kenneth Farrington, as Billy had returned as a nastier character who attempted to split up Ken and Deirdre Barlow and blackmail Emily Bishop. Farrington's concerns over how his character was being written caused him to leave at the end of the year, leaving the post of Rovers landlord vacant once again.

One person who wasn't in the running to replace Billy was Fred Gee. Fred Feast took himself out of contention when he refused to sign a new contract for the programme, stating in the press that he didn't want to become another "Coronation Street cabbage." He also refused to extend his contract in order to film a departure storyline and so Fred was simply never seen again.

Jack Howarth - the oldest member of the original cast - passed away on 31st March aged 88, while Bernard Youens died from a heart attack aged 69 on 27th August after a sharp decline in health. Their characters Albert Tatlock and Stan Ogden passed away after an appropriate amount of time had passed. Their funerals marked the final appearances of their children Beattie Pearson and Trevor Ogden respectively. Jean Alexander's performance in scenes following Stan's death won her the Royal Television Society's Best Performance Award in 1985. Bert Tilsley also had an off-screen death, due to the passing of actor Peter Dudley in October 1983.

With the death of Jack Howarth, William Roache became the last remaining member of the original cast, a position in which he remains to this day.

Also making appearances in 1984 were Audrey Potter, Sharon Gaskell, and Derek Wilton, with the latter making the most appearances in a single year to date as he finally proposed to Mavis Riley only for the pair to jilt each other on their wedding day. The love triangle between Mavis, Derek and Victor Pendlebury, a favourite of the writers in the early 1990s, was also set up. Jill Summers also reprised the role of Phyllis Pearce as the character joined the staff of Jim's Cafe, establishing her as a regular part of the programme outwith her connection to Chalkie Whitely.

Viewing figures

Ratings chart for the year

Coronation Street countered its troubles behind the scenes with a very strong performance in the ratings. The average figure for 1984 was 15.10 million viewers, a 500k increase on 1983, despite the fact that six months fell from the same months the year before. All but one of the months which saw gains were in the second half of the year, with December building on 1983's audience by over three million viewers and November by four million.

The highest-rated episode of the year was Episode 2465 on 14th November, with 20.45 million viewers. This was one of three episodes in 1984 to gain an audience of over 20 million viewers, the most in any year since 1978.

38 episodes reached number one in the viewing charts, a fall of ten from 1983, while one episode fell outside the top twenty.

Episodes

#	Ep. No.	Date	Writer	Director	Viewing Figures	Chart Position
1	2374	Monday 2nd January	Leslie Duxbury	Sebastian Graham-Jones	14,883,000	3
2	2375	Wednesday 4th January	H.V. Kershaw	Sebastian Graham-Jones	15,796,000	2
3	2376	Monday 9th January	Barry Hill	Patrick Lau	16,903,000	2
4	2377	Wednesday 11th January	John Stevenson	Patrick Lau	16,912,000	1
5	2378	Monday 16th January	H.V. Kershaw	Eugene Ferguson	17,416,000	2
6	2379	Wednesday 18th January	Bob Mason	Eugene Ferguson	17,815,000	1
7	2380	Monday 23rd January	Leslie Duxbury	Stephen Butcher	17,067,000	1
8	2381	Wednesday 25th January	Julian Roach	Stephen Butcher	16,876,000	2
9	2382	Monday 30th January	John Stevenson	Gareth Morgan	15,663,000	3
10	2383	Wednesday 1st February	Peter Tonkinson H.V. Kershaw	Gareth Morgan	16,566,000	1
11	2384	Monday 6th February	H.V. Kershaw	Ron Francis	15,307,000	2
12	2385	Wednesday 8th February	Tony Perrin	Ron Francis	17,659,000	1
13	2386	Monday 13th February	Barry Hill	Patrick Lau	15,200,000	3
14	2387	Wednesday 15th February	Leslie Duxbury	Patrick Lau	16,750,000	1
15	2388	Monday 20th February	Peter Whalley	Gareth Morgan	16,077,000	2
16	2389	Wednesday 22nd February	Adele Rose	Gareth Morgan	17,233,000	1
17	2390	Monday 27th February	Bob Mason	Nicholas Ferguson	14,843,000	1
18	2391	Wednesday 29th February	H.V. Kershaw	Nicholas Ferguson	14,524,000	2
19	2392	Monday 5th March	Tony Perrin	Patrick Lau	15,033,000	5
20	2393	Wednesday 7th March	Leslie Duxbury	Patrick Lau	15,472,000	2
21	2394	Monday 12th March	Adele Rose	Matthew Robinson	15,760,000	4
22	2395	Wednesday 14th March	John Stevenson	Matthew Robinson	16,333,000	2
23	2396	Monday 19th March	Adele Rose	Ron Francis	15,777,000	3
24	2397	Wednesday 21st March	Tony Perrin	Ron Francis	16,583,000	1
25	2398	Monday 26th March	Julian Roach	Patrick Lau	15,788,000	2
26	2399	Wednesday 28th March	Peter Whalley	Patrick Lau	14,408,000	4
27	2400	Monday 2nd April	Barry Hill	Gareth Morgan	15,436,000	3
28	2401	Wednesday 4th April	Leslie Duxbury	Gareth Morgan	15,607,000	2
29	2402	Monday 9th April	Bob Mason	Ron Francis	15,516,000	1
30	2403	Wednesday 11th April	Adele Rose	Ron Francis	15,296,000	2
31	2404	Monday 16th April	Leslie Duxbury	Patrick Lau	14,725,000	1
32	2405	Wednesday 18th April	Peter Whalley	Patrick Lau	14,297,000	3
33	2406	Monday 23rd April	John Stevenson	Ric Mellis	10,922,000	8
34	2407	Wednesday 25th April	Peter Tonkinson	Ric Mellis	13,360,000	1
35	2408	Monday 30th April	H.V. Kershaw	Ron Francis	15,060,000	1
36	2409	Wednesday 2nd May	Tony Perrin	Ron Francis	11,887,000	3
37	2410	Monday 7th May	Barry Hill	Brian Mills	11,422,000	4
38	2411	Wednesday 9th May	Adele Rose	Brian Mills	13,636,000	1
39	2412	Monday 14th May	Peter Whalley	Ric Mellis	13,353,000	2
40	2413	Wednesday 16th May	Leslie Duxbury	Ric Mellis	14,134,000	1
41	2414	Monday 21st May	Bob Mason	Matthew Robinson	15,845,000	1
42	2415	Wednesday 23rd May	Leslie Duxbury	Matthew Robinson	12,964,000	5
43	2416	Monday 28th May	Barry Hill	Brian Mills	11,969,000	9
44	2417	Wednesday 30th May	Adele Rose	Brian Mills	12,551,000	6
45	2418	Monday 4th June	Tony Perrin	Ric Mellis	12,956,000	3
46	2419	Wednesday 6th June	Peter Whalley	Ric Mellis	13,679,000	2
47	2420	Monday 11th June	Tony Perrin	Brian Mills	12,630,000	2
48	2421	Wednesday 13th June	John Stevenson	Brian Mills	14,333,000	1
49	2422	Monday 18th June	Adele Rose	Ron Francis	11,871,000	3
50	2423	Wednesday 20th June	Leslie Duxbury	Ron Francis	12,084,000	1
51	2424	Monday 25th June	Barry Hill	Malcolm Taylor	12,582,000	1
52	2425	Wednesday 27th June	Peter Whalley	Malcolm Taylor	11,260,000	2
53	2426	Monday 2nd July	H.V. Kershaw	Ric Mellis	13,225,000	1
54	2427	Wednesday 4th July	Barry Hill	Ric Mellis	11,325,000	3
55	2428	Monday 9th July	John Stevenson	Brian Mills	13,694,000	1
56	2429	Wednesday 11th July	Leslie Duxbury	Brian Mills	12,622,000	3
57	2430	Monday 16th July	Leslie Duxbury Keith Hutson	Malcolm Taylor	13,086,000	1
58	2431	Wednesday 18th July	Peter Whalley	Malcolm Taylor	12,561,000	2
59	2432	Monday 23rd July	H.V. Kershaw	Ric Mellis	12,935,000	1
60	2433	Wednesday 25th July	Barry Hill	Ric Mellis	12,485,000	2
61	2434	Monday 30th July	Tony Perrin	Brian Mills	12,772,000	1
62	2435	Wednesday 1st August	John Stevenson	Brian Mills	12,464,000	2
63	2436	Monday 6th August	Peter Whalley	Gareth Morgan	13,537,000	1
64	2437	Wednesday 8th August	Leslie Duxbury	Gareth Morgan	12,129,000	2
65	2438	Monday 13th August	John Stevenson	Ric Mellis	12,499,000	1
66	2439	Wednesday 15th August	Peter Whalley	Ric Mellis	11,560,000	2
67	2440	Monday 20th August	Barry Hill	Brian Mills	12,071,000	1
68	2441	Wednesday 22nd August	Tony Perrin	Brian Mills	11,824,000	3
69	2442	Monday 27th August	Bob Mason	Matthew Robinson	9,037,000	24
70	2443	Wednesday 29th August	Leslie Duxbury	Matthew Robinson	10,972,000	8
71	2444	Monday 3rd September	Peter Whalley	Ric Mellis	13,722,000	3
72	2445	Wednesday 5th September	John Stevenson	Ric Mellis	14,109,000	2
73	2446	Monday 10th September	Barry Hill	Ron Francis	15,902,000	2
74	2447	Wednesday 12th September	Adele Rose	Ron Francis	14,566,000	5
75	2448	Monday 17th September	Tony Perrin	Matthew Robinson	15,842,000	3
76	2449	Wednesday 19th September	Leslie Duxbury	Matthew Robinson	16,055,000	2
77	2450	Monday 24th September	H.V. Kershaw	Brian Mills	17,062,000	1
78	2451	Wednesday 26th September	John Stevenson	Brian Mills	17,000,000	2
79	2452	Monday 1st October	Adele Rose	Ric Mellis	16,508,000	2
80	2453	Wednesday 3rd October	Barry Hill	Ric Mellis	16,856,000	1
81	2454	Monday 8th October	Tony Perrin	Nicholas Ferguson	17,278,000	2
82	2455	Wednesday 10th October	Peter Whalley	Nicholas Ferguson	17,060,000	3
83	2456	Monday 15th October	Bob Mason	Brian Mills	16,676,000	1
84	2457	Wednesday 17th October	John Stevenson	Brian Mills	14,288,000	3
85	2458	Monday 22nd October	Adele Rose	Ric Mellis	14,837,000	2
86	2459	Wednesday 24th October	Peter Whalley	Ric Mellis	16,178,000	1
87	2460	Monday 29th October	Tony Perrin	Nicholas Ferguson	15,658,000	1
88	2461	Wednesday 31st October	Leslie Duxbury	Nicholas Ferguson	14,514,000	3
89	2462	Monday 5th November	Leslie Duxbury	Brian Mills	16,130,000	2
90	2463	Wednesday 7th November	Tony Perrin	Brian Mills	19,189,000	1
91	2464	Monday 12th November	H.V. Kershaw	Ric Mellis	18,939,000	2
92	2465	Wednesday 14th November	Peter Whalley	Ric Mellis	20,449,000	1
93	2466	Monday 19th November	John Stevenson	Nicholas Ferguson	19,135,000	4
94	2467	Wednesday 21st November	Adele Rose	Nicholas Ferguson	20,197,000	3
95	2468	Monday 26th November	Julian Roach	Brian Mills	18,853,000	2
96	2469	Wednesday 28th November	H.V. Kershaw	Brian Mills	20,235,000	1
97	2470	Monday 3rd December	Leslie Duxbury	Ric Mellis	18,900,000	2
98	2471	Wednesday 5th December	Barry Hill	Ric Mellis	19,250,000	1
99	2472	Monday 10th December	John Stevenson	Nicholas Ferguson	18,750,000	1
100	2473	Wednesday 12th December	Tony Perrin	Nicholas Ferguson	18,600,000	2
101	2474	Monday 17th December	H.V. Kershaw	Brian Mills	18,750,000	1
102	2475	Wednesday 19th December	Tony Perrin	Brian Mills	18,250,000	2
103	2476	Monday 24th December	Leslie Duxbury	Patrick Lau	17,400,000	5
104	2477	Wednesday 26th December	Peter Whalley	Patrick Lau	13,650,000	n/k
105	2478	Monday 31st December	Julian Roach	Nicholas Ferguson	16,050,000	5

Who lives where

Coronation Street

• Rovers Return Inn - Annie Walker (until February). Billy Walker (March and from May to December). Fred Gee (until April and from July to August). Gordon Lewis (May and December)
• 1 Coronation Street - Albert Tatlock (until May). Ken and Deirdre Barlow. Tracy Langton.
• 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop and Curly Watts.
• 5 Coronation Street - Ivy, Brian, Gail and Nick Tilsley .
• 7 Coronation Street - Rita Fairclough. Sharon Gaskell (until January)
• 9 Coronation Street - Jack, Vera. Terry Duckworth (until May and from June onwards).
• 11 Coronation Street - Elsie Tanner (until January). Linda Cheveski (from May to July). Bill, Kevin and Debbie Webster (from July onwards).
• 13 Coronation Street - Stan Ogden (until November). Hilda Ogden. Terry Duckworth (from May to June)
• Corner Shop (No.15) - Alf Roberts.
• Corner Shop bedsit - Bet Lynch.
• Community Centre flat - Percy Sugden

Rosamund Street

• The Kabin flat - Mavis Riley.

Others

• 4 Gorton Close - Phyllis Pearce.
• 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Turpin.
• Nelson Street - Shirley Armitage.
• 46b, St. Mary's Place - Mike Baldwin.
• Trafalgar Street - Fred Gee (September to November)