1985 was Coronation Street's twenty-sixth year.
Main characters[]
Ranking | Character | Played by | Duration | Number of Episodes | Running total | Previous year's ranking |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bet Lynch | Julie Goodyear | Full year | 83 | 1134 | 1 |
2 | Ivy Tilsley | Lynne Perrie | Full year | 82 | 538 | 15 |
2 | Vera Duckworth | Elizabeth Dawn | Full year | 82 | 396 | 9 |
4 | Deirdre Barlow | Anne Kirkbride | Full year | 78 | 807 | 6 |
5 | Terry Duckworth | Nigel Pivaro | Full year | 76 | 145 | 15 |
6 | Hilda Ogden | Jean Alexander | Full year | 74 | 1480 | 4 |
7 | Ken Barlow | William Roache | Full year | 72 | 1664 | 12 |
7 | Jack Duckworth | William Tarmey | Full year | 72 | 211 | 1 |
9 | Alf Roberts | Bryan Mosley | Full year | 70 | 947 | 8 |
9 | Mavis Riley | Thelma Barlow | Full year | 70 | 752 | 6 |
11 | Betty Turpin | Betty Driver | Full year | 69 | 1146 | 3 |
12 | Mike Baldwin | Johnny Briggs | Full year | 68 | 547 | 14 |
12 | Brian Tilsley | Christopher Quinten | Full year | 68 | 367 | 20 |
12 | Kevin Webster | Michael Le Vell | Full year | 68 | 130 | 15 |
15 | Emily Bishop | Eileen Derbyshire | Full year | 67 | 1413 | 19 |
15 | Gail Tilsley | Helen Worth | Full year | 67 | 639 | 15 |
17 | Curly Watts | Kevin Kennedy | Full year | 64 | 120 | 22 |
18 | Percy Sugden | Bill Waddington | Full year | 63 | 141 | 11 |
19 | Rita Fairclough | Barbara Knox | Full year | 59 | 925 | 4 |
20 | George Wardle | Ron Davies | From March | 52 | 52 | - |
21 | Phyllis Pearce | Jill Summers | Full year | 40 | 85 | 28 |
22 | Gloria Todd | Sue Jenkins | January to February and from September | 35 | 35 | - |
22 | Connie Clayton | Susan Brown | January to September | 35 | 35 | - |
22 | Harry Clayton | Johnny Leeze | January to September | 35 | 35 | - |
25 | Martin Platt | Sean Wilson | From January | 30 | 30 | - |
26 | Andrea Clayton | Caroline O'Neill | January to August | 29 | 29 | - |
27 | Sue Clayton | Jane Hazlegrove | January to August | 27 | 27 | - |
28 | Audrey Potter/Roberts | Sue Nicholls | April and from September | 26 | 82 | 31 |
29 | Shirley Armitage | Lisa Lewis | January to February, May to July and September to November | 24 | 46 | 26 |
30 | Nick Tilsley | Warren Jackson | From March | 22 | 161 | 24 |
31 | Ida Clough | Helene Palmer | January to February, May to July and October to November | 21 | 165 | 26 |
32 | Tracy Langton | Holly Chamarette | From July | 16 | 254 | - |
33 | Susan Barlow | Wendy Jane Walker | From October | 15 | 49 | - |
34 | Bill Webster | Peter Armitage | January only | 3 | 66 | 12 |
34 | Debbie Webster | Sue Devaney | January only | 3 | 34 | 23 |
36 | Derek Wilton | Peter Baldwin | March only | 2 | 55 | 24 |
Production[]
Bet rises to the top[]
With the chaos of 1983 and 1984 behind it, Coronation Street re-asserted itself. The changes began at the Rovers Return, vacated by Billy Walker in December 1984. After much deliberation, producers chose Bet Lynch as the new licensee. Though not seen as an obvious candidate, Bet proved highly popular and influential in the role, establishing the brassy pub landlady as an archetype of British soap.
Bet's promotion resulted in the first staff shake-up at the pub since 1976. While the ever-faithful Betty Turpin and Hilda Ogden remained, Sue Jenkins joined the cast as barmaid Gloria Todd, with Jim Bywater as cellarman Wilf Starkey. Wilf was swiftly replaced by Bet's boyfriend Frank Mills, who she met during a Blackpool sojourn with Rita Fairclough and Mavis Riley in July. Frank too was written out at the end of the year, leaving the field open for Jack Duckworth to become potman in January 1986. Also making her first appearance was Stella Rigby, Bet's friend and rival from the White Swan.
At the other end of the street, the Corner Shop received its first major makeover since 1960 as Alf Roberts transformed it into a self-service mini-mart. Such a change had been mooted before, notably by Maggie Clegg in 1974, but writers had resisted the idea on the basis that it would reduce the interactions between the customers and the shopkeeper. The revamp saw the shop's living quarters removed and the upstairs bedsit expanded into a one-bedroom flat, numbered 15a.
New starts and non-starters[]
With the Websters moving to Southampton in January following the wedding of Bill and Elaine Prior, the regular cast was reduced to twenty. Seven new characters were introduced in the first two months of the year to bring some new faces to the programme, four of whom belonged to the new Clayton family who took over No.11. The Claytons were a carefully crafted "normal family" - milkman dad Harry, dressmaker mum Connie, and their teenage daughters Andrea and Sue. However, they failed to resonate with viewers and in September, just eight months after their debut, they were written out in their entirety. Their axing occurred while a major storyline was airing in which Andrea got pregnant with Terry Duckworth's baby; this was swept under the carpet with a quick mention of Andrea giving birth dropped into Episode 2596 in February 1986.
A more successful addition to the cast in the same month was teenager Martin Platt, a new recruit at Jim's Cafe played by Sean Wilson. Wilson's role began as a two-episode guest spot, steadily growing over the years.
More appointments followed John G. Temple's arrival as producer. A storyliner on the programme in the early 1970s, Temple replaced Mervyn Watson with Episode 2496 on 4th March, with Bill Podmore remaining executive producer. Susan Barlow moved back to Weatherfield, soon to become romantically involved with Mike Baldwin, reigniting Mike's feud with Ken Barlow. Wendy Jane Walker returned as Susan, a role she last played as a child in 1974. Also on the Barlow front, Tracy Langton re-appeared after a 20-month gap, now played by Holly Chamarette. Her "return" was entirely a behind the scenes one, as Tracy was supposed to have been living at No.1 during her absence. Meanwhile, after six years of occasional appearances, Sue Nicholls signed full-time as Audrey Potter, who became Audrey Roberts in December. Her marriage to penny-pinching Alf gave the writers fertile ground for comedy over the next decade.
Also appearing were Derek Wilton for another two-episode stint and Sam Tindall, a new recurring OAP and sparring partner for Percy Sugden.
Coronation Street's 25th anniversary took place in December. As was normal practice in this period, no fanfare took place within the programme itself, though its second VHS release, The Jubilee Years, was released in August, containing many archive clips. December also saw the first festive edition of the programme since 1972; from this point on, Coronation Street would be transmitted on Christmas Day if it fell on a Monday or Wednesday.
On 4th September, Granada launched their new sitcom, The Brothers McGregor, which chronicled the misadventures of brothers Wesley and Cyril McGregor. The characters had debuted in Coronation Street in Episode 2203 (12th May 1982), but in order to avoid viewers prejudging what the series would be like, this fact was not played up in pre-publicity for The Brothers McGregor, which ran for four seasons.
Viewing figures[]
The upwards surge in ratings experienced in the last quarter of 1984 continued in 1985, with Coronation Street gaining some of its highest audience figures to date in January and February. The first six episodes of the year all crossed the 20 million mark, and the first of those - at 21.4 million viewers - was the highest-rated episode of the year, and, on a single viewing, the highest-rated episode of Coronation Street of all time.
The average figure for the year was 16.49 million viewers, the highest since 1966. All months except September, November and December gained year-on-year, with four months gaining more than 20% and two by more than three million viewers on 1984. Though the last two months of the year saw a significant drop-off from 1984, all Autumn averages remained above 15 million viewers.
32 episodes reached the top of the viewing charts, a fall of six from 1984. Coronation Street's performance in the charts was affected by the launch of the BBC's London-based soap EastEnders on 19th February, whose BARB viewing figures included those of its Sunday omnibus. Having been unsuccessful in their previous attempts to create a soap with the popularity of Coronation Street, the BBC launched EastEnders to maximum publicity, and its profile - and audience - rose steadily throughout the year. Episode 2548 was the last episode of the year to chart at 1st place, with EastEnders displacing Coronation Street thereafter.
Although not transmitted opposite the Street, EastEnders was treated as its direct competitor in the media (a situation which has remained since 1985), and when it took over the number one position in the charts, its victory over Coronation Street was reported with no mention of the fact that without its omnibus figures, it would still be behind the Street. EastEnders' dominance of the charts continued until 1989, when Coronation Street launched its omnibus. BARB discontinued this method of recording viewing figures at the beginning of 2002, adopting a policy of recording individual ratings for each showing of a programme.
Episodes[]
# | Ep. No. |
Date | Writer | Director | Viewing Figures |
Chart Position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2479 | Wednesday 2nd January | John Stevenson | Nicholas Ferguson | 21,400,000 | 1 |
2 | 2480 | Monday 7th January | H.V. Kershaw | Brian Mills | 20,100,000 | 2 |
3 | 2481 | Wednesday 9th January | Leslie Duxbury | Brian Mills | 20,600,000 | 1 |
4 | 2482 | Monday 14th January | Barry Hill | John Michael Phillips | 20,150,000 | 2 |
5 | 2483 | Wednesday 16th January | John Stevenson | John Michael Phillips | 20,600,000 | 1 |
6 | 2484 | Monday 21st January | H.V. Kershaw | Malcolm Taylor | 20,200,000 | 1 |
7 | 2485 | Wednesday 23rd January | Tony Perrin | Malcolm Taylor | 19,550,000 | 2 |
8 | 2486 | Monday 28th January | Julian Roach | Brian Mills | 19,300,000 | 1 |
9 | 2487 | Wednesday 30th January | Adele Rose | Brian Mills | 18,850,000 | 2 |
10 | 2488 | Monday 4th February | Leslie Duxbury | Ron Francis | 18,700,000 | 3 |
11 | 2489 | Wednesday 6th February | Peter Whalley | Ron Francis | 18,950,000 | 1 |
12 | 2490 | Monday 11th February | Barry Hill | John Michael Phillips | 19,550,000 | 1 |
13 | 2491 | Wednesday 13th February | John Stevenson | John Michael Phillips | 17,650,000 | 3 |
14 | 2492 | Monday 18th February | Bob Mason | Malcolm Taylor | 18,350,000 | 1 |
15 | 2493 | Wednesday 20th February | H.V. Kershaw | Malcolm Taylor | 18,250,000 | 2 |
16 | 2494 | Monday 25th February | Julian Roach | Mary McMurray | 18,050,000 | 1 |
17 | 2495 | Wednesday 27th February | Leslie Duxbury | Mary McMurray | 16,550,000 | 3 |
18 | 2496 | Monday 4th March | Adele Rose | Nicholas Ferguson | 17,900,000 | 2 |
19 | 2497 | Wednesday 6th March | John Stevenson | Nicholas Ferguson | 18,050,000 | 1 |
20 | 2498 | Monday 11th March | Peter Whalley | Gareth Morgan | 17,700,000 | 2 |
21 | 2499 | Wednesday 13th March | Bob Mason | Gareth Morgan | 18,250,000 | 1 |
22 | 2500 | Monday 18th March | Barry Hill | Bill Gilmour | 16,950,000 | 2 |
23 | 2501 | Wednesday 20th March | Tony Perrin | Bill Gilmour | 19,400,000 | 1 |
24 | 2502 | Monday 25th March | H.V. Kershaw | Nicholas Ferguson | 17,213,000 | 2 |
25 | 2503 | Wednesday 27th March | John Stevenson | Nicholas Ferguson | 16,964,000 | 3 |
26 | 2504 | Monday 1st April | Peter Whalley | Matthew Robinson | 18,319,000 | 1 |
27 | 2505 | Wednesday 3rd April | H.V. Kershaw | Matthew Robinson | 17,751,000 | 2 |
28 | 2506 | Monday 8th April | Julian Roach | Bill Gilmour | 16,711,000 | 3 |
29 | 2507 | Wednesday 10th April | John Stevenson | Bill Gilmour | 18,867,000 | 1 |
30 | 2508 | Monday 15th April | Stephen Mallatratt | Nicholas Ferguson | 17,518,000 | 1 |
31 | 2509 | Wednesday 17th April | Leslie Duxbury | Nicholas Ferguson | 16,273,000 | 3 |
32 | 2510 | Monday 22nd April | Barry Hill | Gareth Morgan | 15,650,000 | 2 |
33 | 2511 | Wednesday 24th April | Julian Roach | Gareth Morgan | 16,400,000 | 1 |
34 | 2512 | Monday 29th April | Adele Rose | Patrick Lau | 16,550,000 | 2 |
35 | 2513 | Wednesday 1st May | John Stevenson | Patrick Lau | 17,400,000 | 1 |
36 | 2514 | Monday 6th May | Leslie Duxbury | Nicholas Ferguson | 15,750,000 | 2 |
37 | 2515 | Wednesday 8th May | H.V. Kershaw | Nicholas Ferguson | 15,900,000 | 1 |
38 | 2516 | Monday 13th May | H.V. Kershaw | Gareth Morgan | 16,150,000 | 1 |
39 | 2517 | Wednesday 15th May | Tony Perrin | Gareth Morgan | 15,750,000 | 2 |
40 | 2518 | Monday 20th May | Peter Whalley | Patrick Lau | 16,100,000 | 2 |
41 | 2519 | Wednesday 22nd May | Leslie Duxbury | Patrick Lau | 16,300,000 | 1 |
42 | 2520 | Monday 27th May | Adele Rose | Nicholas Ferguson | 15,450,000 | 1 |
43 | 2521 | Wednesday 29th May | Bob Mason | Nicholas Ferguson | 10,010,000 | n/k |
44 | 2522 | Monday 3rd June | John Stevenson | Gareth Morgan | 14,300,000 | 3 |
45 | 2523 | Wednesday 5th June | Barry Hill | Gareth Morgan | 15,750,000 | 2 |
46 | 2524 | Monday 10th June | Tony Perrin | Howard Baker | 14,700,000 | 2 |
47 | 2525 | Wednesday 12th June | H.V. Kershaw | Howard Baker | 15,850,000 | 1 |
48 | 2526 | Monday 17th June | Leslie Duxbury | Ron Francis | 15,900,000 | 2 |
49 | 2527 | Wednesday 19th June | Peter Tonkinson | Ron Francis | 15,950,000 | 1 |
50 | 2528 | Monday 24th June | Leslie Duxbury | Howard Baker | 15,250,000 | 2 |
51 | 2529 | Wednesday 26th June | Bob Mason | Howard Baker | 16,200,000 | 1 |
52 | 2530 | Monday 1st July | Adele Rose | Nicholas Ferguson Gareth Morgan |
13,950,000 | 3 |
53 | 2531 | Wednesday 3rd July | H.V. Kershaw | Nicholas Ferguson Gareth Morgan |
14,550,000 | 2 |
54 | 2532 | Monday 8th July | Peter Whalley | Bill Gilmour | 14,650,000 | 2 |
55 | 2533 | Wednesday 10th July | Julian Roach | Bill Gilmour | 15,100,000 | 1 |
56 | 2534 | Monday 15th July | Leslie Duxbury | Gareth Morgan | 16,400,000 | 1 |
57 | 2535 | Wednesday 17th July | H.V. Kershaw | Gareth Morgan | 12,800,000 | 4 |
58 | 2536 | Monday 22nd July | Tony Perrin | Brian Mills | 16,850,000 | 1 |
59 | 2537 | Wednesday 24th July | John Stevenson | Brian Mills | 14,900,000 | 2 |
60 | 2538 | Monday 29th July | Barry Hill | Bill Gilmour | 16,700,000 | 1 |
61 | 2539 | Wednesday 31st July | Adele Rose | Bill Gilmour | 16,100,000 | 2 |
62 | 2540 | Monday 5th August | H.V. Kershaw | Nicholas Ferguson | 15,000,000 | 3 |
63 | 2541 | Wednesday 7th August | Barry Hill | Nicholas Ferguson | 16,450,000 | 1 |
64 | 2542 | Monday 12th August | John Stevenson | Brian Mills | 14,200,000 | 3 |
65 | 2543 | Wednesday 14th August | Leslie Duxbury | Brian Mills | 15,650,000 | 1 |
66 | 2544 | Monday 19th August | Peter Whalley | Howard Baker | 14,050,000 | 3 |
67 | 2545 | Wednesday 21st August | Julian Roach | Howard Baker | 14,900,000 | 1 |
68 | 2546 | Monday 26th August | Tony Perrin | Bill Gilmour | 14,250,000 | 5 |
69 | 2547 | Wednesday 28th August | Barry Hill | Bill Gilmour | 15,050,000 | 4 |
70 | 2548 | Monday 2nd September | Bob Mason | Gareth Morgan | 16,450,000 | 1 |
71 | 2549 | Wednesday 4th September | Leslie Duxbury | Gareth Morgan | 15,300,000 | 5 |
72 | 2550 | Monday 9th September | Peter Whalley | Brian Mills | 15,450,000 | 2 |
73 | 2551 | Wednesday 11th September | H.V. Kershaw | Brian Mills | 13,900,000 | 5 |
74 | 2552 | Monday 16th September | H.V. Kershaw | Malcolm Taylor | 15,650,000 | 2 |
75 | 2553 | Wednesday 18th September | Peter Whalley | Malcolm Taylor | 15,000,000 | 5 |
76 | 2554 | Monday 23rd September | Adele Rose | Howard Baker | 15,950,000 | 2 |
77 | 2555 | Wednesday 25th September | Stephen Mallatratt | Howard Baker | 14,950,000 | 5 |
78 | 2556 | Monday 30th September | Julian Roach | Gareth Morgan | 15,950,000 | 5 |
79 | 2557 | Wednesday 2nd October | John Stevenson | Gareth Morgan | 15,550,000 | 6 |
80 | 2558 | Monday 7th October | John Stevenson | Bill Gilmour | 16,200,000 | 5 |
81 | 2559 | Wednesday 9th October | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 16,700,000 | 3 |
82 | 2560 | Monday 14th October | Tony Perrin | Howard Baker | 15,850,000 | 5 |
83 | 2561 | Wednesday 16th October | Barry Hill | Howard Baker | 15,900,000 | 4 |
84 | 2562 | Monday 21st October | Adele Rose | Gareth Morgan | 16,150,000 | 3 |
85 | 2563 | Wednesday 23rd October | Peter Tonkinson | Gareth Morgan | 15,400,000 | 4 |
86 | 2564 | Monday 28th October | Adele Rose | Bill Gilmour | 16,750,000 | 3 |
87 | 2565 | Wednesday 30th October | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 16,350,000 | 4 |
88 | 2566 | Monday 4th November | Barry Hill | Howard Baker | 17,400,000 | 3 |
89 | 2567 | Wednesday 6th November | H.V. Kershaw | Howard Baker | 15,550,000 | 4 |
90 | 2568 | Monday 11th November | Peter Whalley | Gareth Morgan | 16,800,000 | 3 |
91 | 2569 | Wednesday 13th November | Bob Mason | Gareth Morgan | 16,800,000 | 3 |
92 | 2570 | Monday 18th November | H.V. Kershaw | Bill Gilmour | 17,900,000 | 3 |
93 | 2571 | Wednesday 20th November | Tony Perrin | Bill Gilmour | 15,150,000 | 4 |
94 | 2572 | Monday 25th November | Barry Hill | Patrick Lau | 16,900,000 | 3 |
95 | 2573 | Wednesday 27th November | John Stevenson | Patrick Lau | 16,650,000 | 4 |
96 | 2574 | Monday 2nd December | Leslie Duxbury | Gareth Morgan | 16,100,000 | 4 |
97 | 2575 | Wednesday 4th December | Peter Whalley | Gareth Morgan | 15,450,000 | 5 |
98 | 2576 | Monday 9th December | John Stevenson | Bill Gilmour | 16,100,000 | 3 |
99 | 2577 | Wednesday 11th December | Peter Whalley | Bill Gilmour | 15,800,000 | 4 |
100 | 2578 | Monday 16th December | Barry Hill | Malcolm Taylor | 14,650,000 | 5 |
101 | 2579 | Wednesday 18th December | Leslie Duxbury | Malcolm Taylor | 15,300,000 | 3 |
102 | 2580 | Monday 23rd December | H.V. Kershaw | Gareth Morgan | 16,200,000 | 6 |
103 | 2581 | Wednesday 25th December | Julian Roach | Gareth Morgan | 12,450,000 | 8th in ITV top ten |
104 | 2582 | Monday 30th December | Tony Perrin | Bill Gilmour | 15,900,000 | 7 |
Storylines[]
Who lives where[]
Coronation Street
- Rovers Return Inn - Bet Lynch (from February onwards). Frank Mills (from August onwards)
- 1 Coronation Street - Ken and Deirdre Barlow. Tracy Langton. Susan Barlow (from November onwards).
- 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop and Curly Watts. Kevin Webster (from January to May).
- 5 Coronation Street - Ivy Tilsley. Brian, Gail and Nicky Tilsley (until April).
- 7 Coronation Street - Rita Fairclough
- 9 Coronation Street - Jack, Vera and Terry Duckworth.
- 11 Coronation Street - Bill, Kevin and Debbie Webster (until January). Harry, Connie, Andrea and Sue Clayton (from January to August).
- 13 Coronation Street - Hilda Ogden. Henry Wakefield (from January to February). Kevin Webster (from May onwards).
- Corner Shop (No.15) - Alf Roberts (until September. After this date the shop and storeroom were extended to include the old living quarters).
- Corner Shop bedsit/flat (No.15a) - Bet Lynch (until February). Alf Roberts (from September onwards). Audrey Roberts (from December onwards).
- Community Centre flat - Percy Sugden
Others
- 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Turpin.
- 46b, St. Mary's Place - Mike Baldwin
- 33 Hammond Road - Brian, Gail and Nicky Tilsley (from June onwards).
- 4 Gorton Close - Phyllis Pearce.
- Nelson Street - Shirley Armitage.
Awards and nominations[]
Royal Television Society Awards
- Best Television Performance of the Year for 1984: Jean Alexander
Coronation Street in the 1980s |
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