1987 was Coronation Street's twenty-eighth year.
Main characters[]
| Ranking | Character | Played by | Duration | Number of Episodes | Running total | Previous year's ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alf Roberts | Bryan Mosley | Full year | 77 | 1086 | 14 |
| 2 | Mavis Riley | Thelma Barlow | Full year | 73 | 890 | 8 |
| 3 | Ivy Tilsley | Lynne Perrie | Full year | 71 | 674 | 8 |
| 4 | Rita Fairclough | Barbara Knox | Full year | 67 | 1059 | 4 |
| 4 | Hilda Ogden | Jean Alexander | Until December | 67 | 1614 | 4 |
| 6 | Mike Baldwin | Johnny Briggs | Full year | 66 | 678 | 8 |
| 6 | Alec Gilroy | Roy Barraclough | From March | 66 | 96 | 30 |
| 6 | Bet Lynch/Gilroy | Julie Goodyear | Until May and from August | 66 | 1271 | 2 |
| 9 | Ken Barlow | William Roache | Full year | 64 | 1789 | 15 |
| 9 | Emily Bishop | Eileen Derbyshire | Full year | 64 | 1532 | 21 |
| 9 | Gloria Todd | Sue Jenkins | From April | 64 | 166 | 4 |
| 12 | Sally Webster | Sally Whittaker | Full year | 63 | 121 | 19 |
| 12 | Vera Duckworth | Elizabeth Dawn | Full year | 63 | 523 | 12 |
| 14 | Deirdre Barlow | Anne Kirkbride | Full year | 62 | 919 | 25 |
| 15 | Gail Tilsley | Helen Worth | Full year | 61 | 761 | 15 |
| 15 | Audrey Roberts | Sue Nicholls | Full year | 61 | 202 | 18 |
| 15 | Kevin Webster | Michael Le Vell | Full year | 61 | 256 | 8 |
| 18 | Alan Bradley | Mark Eden | Full year | 58 | 110 | 23 |
| 18 | Curly Watts | Kevin Kennedy | Full year | 58 | 236 | 19 |
| 20 | Jack Duckworth | William Tarmey | Until March and from July | 57 | 339 | 2 |
| 21 | Susan Baldwin | Wendy Jane Walker | Until November | 54 | 169 | 7 |
| 22 | Percy Sugden | Bill Waddington | Full year | 50 | 252 | 15 |
| 22 | Brian Tilsley | Christopher Quinten | Full year | 50 | 472 | 21 |
| 24 | Betty Turpin | Betty Driver | Full year | 46 | 1256 | 12 |
| 25 | Jenny Bradley | Sally Ann Matthews | Full year | 40 | 91 | 24 |
| 25 | Martin Platt | Sean Wilson | January to April, June and from August | 40 | 107 | 26 |
| 27 | Terry Duckworth | Nigel Pivaro | Until June | 29 | 246 | 1 |
| 28 | Tracy Barlow | Holly Chamarette | March to May and July to November | 28 | 306 | 30 |
| 29 | Sarah Louise Tilsley | Leah & Lynsay King | February to July and December | 26 | 26 | - |
| 30 | Phyllis Pearce | Jill Summers | January to June, August to September and December | 23 | 145 | 26 |
| 30 | Nicky Tilsley | Warren Jackson | January to July and December | 23 | 205 | 32 |
| 32 | Derek Wilton | Peter Baldwin | February and November to December | 15 | 84 | 33 |
| 33 | Shirley Armitage | Lisa Lewis | February to August and December | 14 | 87 | 28 |
| 34 | Don Brennan | Geoff Hinsliff | September and from December | 9 | 9 | - |
| 35 | Ida Clough | Helene Palmer | May and July | 5 | 195 | 29 |
| 36 | Eddie Yeats | Geoffrey Hughes | November and December | 2 | 511 | - |
Production[]
The Street gains a record audience for Hilda Ogden's Christmas Day swansong
John G. Temple's run as producer ended with Episode 2755 on 26th August. After five years as executive producer, Bill Podmore returned to the producer's chair, bringing with him his usual flair for comedy.
The main event of the year was the last appearance of Hilda Ogden. Jean Alexander quit her role after 23 years as she wanted to play other parts. After so long toiling away for little reward, Hilda got a happy ending, moving into a flat attached to her employer Doctor Lowther's cottage in Derbyshire. Her last appearance was in the Christmas Day episode, where the residents saw her off with a surprise party in the Rovers. This was the first time Coronation Street went out on Christmas Day when it didn't fall on one of the programme's normal transmission days, a trend which has continued until the present day (with the exception of 1993).
Sarah Louise Tilsley, the latest Coronation Street baby, was born in February. She was played by twins Leah and Lynsay King, and by Lynsay alone after the sad death of Leah from SIDS.
The Rovers lost two of its staff for some of the year as William Tarmey took a four-month break for heart surgery, while Julie Goodyear was absent for three months to look after her seriously ill mother. Bet re-appeared as Bill Podmore was taking over as producer and deciding the future of several characters; Bet's relationship with Alec Gilroy blossomed into marriage, their sparring re-establishing the Rovers as a centre for comedy. To bring Bet back into the fold in an interesting way, overseas location filming took place in Torremolinos, with Alec tracking Bet down after three months and popping the question.
Podmore also decided to write out Susan Baldwin after two years. Podmore blamed the failure of Susan and Mike Baldwin's marriage on the casting of Susan, and dismissed Wendy Jane Walker from her role. Also, Nigel Pivaro left the programme in June to join a touring production, but was planning to return. Meanwhile, Geoff Hinsliff joined the cast as Don Brennan, who was initially a short-term character who was kept on when writers saw potential in his romance with Ivy Tilsley.
Viewing figures[]
Ratings chart for the year
According to most sources, including BARB, Episode 2790 (25th December 1987) is the second highest-rated episode of Coronation Street of all time, with an audience of 26,629,000 viewers. This episode, along with Episode 2789, was given a special omnibus repeat on Sunday 27th December, and the figures from each showing were added together to form the above aggregated figure. Without the omnibus showing, the episode gained an audience of 17,973,000 viewers, and the highest-rated episode of the year was Episode 2691 (14th January 1987) with 19.75 million viewers.
The average audience for the year was 15.16 million viewers (or, including the Christmas omnibus, 15.31 million viewers). The yearly average was 400,000 viewers down on 1986, with eight months experiencing drops year-on-year. The biggest falls occurred in April and May, which fell by more than 1.5 million viewers, while the biggest gain, of nearly a million viewers, was in December.
Due to EastEnders having a weekly omnibus and therefore taking the two top spots most weeks, Coronation Street was again absent from the top of the charts except for the Christmas Day episode. However, every episode charted inside the top twenty, with the Street outperforming its direct competition including Doctor Who.
Episodes[]
| # | Ep. No. |
Date | Writer | Director | Viewing Figures |
Chart Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2688 | Monday 5th January | Tony Perrin | Bill Gilmour | 17,371,000 | 4 |
| 2 | 2689 | Wednesday 7th January | Barry Hill | Bill Gilmour | 17,858,000 | 3 |
| 3 | 2690 | Monday 12th January | Stephen Mallatratt | Eva Kolouchová | 19,087,000 | 4 |
| 4 | 2691 | Wednesday 14th January | John Stevenson | Eva Kolouchová | 19,735,000 | 3 |
| 5 | 2692 | Monday 19th January | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 17,939,000 | 3 |
| 6 | 2693 | Wednesday 21st January | Brian Finch | Bill Gilmour | 17,688,000 | 4 |
| 7 | 2694 | Monday 26th January | H.V. Kershaw | Malcolm Taylor | 16,832,000 | 4 |
| 8 | 2695 | Wednesday 28th January | Peter Whalley | Malcolm Taylor | 17,368,000 | 3 |
| 9 | 2696 | Monday 2nd February | Peter Whalley | Howard Baker | 18,554,000 | 4 |
| 10 | 2697 | Wednesday 4th February | Barry Hill | Howard Baker | 17,822,000 | 5 |
| 11 | 2698 | Monday 9th February | H.V. Kershaw | Eva Kolouchová | 16,240,000 | 4 |
| 12 | 2699 | Wednesday 11th February | Bob Mason | Eva Kolouchová | 18,381,000 | 3 |
| 13 | 2700 | Monday 16th February | Adele Rose | Bill Gilmour | 17,472,000 | 4 |
| 14 | 2701 | Wednesday 18th February | John Stevenson | Bill Gilmour | 17,536,000 | 3 |
| 15 | 2702 | Monday 23rd February | Tony Perrin | Malcolm Taylor | 17,512,000 | 3 |
| 16 | 2703 | Wednesday 25th February | John Stevenson | Malcolm Taylor | 16,239,000 | 5 |
| 17 | 2704 | Monday 2nd March | Adele Rose | Howard Baker | 16,124,000 | 4 |
| 18 | 2705 | Wednesday 4th March | Barry Hill | Howard Baker | 15,608,000 | 3 |
| 19 | 2706 | Monday 9th March | Brian Finch | Bill Gilmour | 16,473,000 | 3 |
| 20 | 2707 | Wednesday 11th March | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 16,261,000 | 4 |
| 21 | 2708 | Monday 16th March | Leslie Duxbury | Malcolm Taylor | 16,750,000 | 3 |
| 22 | 2709 | Wednesday 18th March | Brian Finch | Malcolm Taylor | 16,503,000 | 4 |
| 23 | 2710 | Monday 23rd March | H.V. Kershaw | Richard Holthouse | 16,089,000 | 4 |
| 24 | 2711 | Wednesday 25th March | Bob Mason | Richard Holthouse | 16,400,000 | 3 |
| 25 | 2712 | Monday 30th March | Peter Whalley | Jonathan Wright-Miller | 15,128,000 | 6 |
| 26 | 2713 | Wednesday 1st April | John Stevenson | Jonathan Wright-Miller | 16,506,000 | 4 |
| 27 | 2714 | Monday 6th April | Barry Hill | Bill Gilmour | 15,618,000 | 4 |
| 28 | 2715 | Wednesday 8th April | Peter Whalley | Bill Gilmour | 16,090,000 | 3 |
| 29 | 2716 | Monday 13th April | Tony Perrin | Richard Holthouse | 15,527,000 | 3 |
| 30 | 2717 | Wednesday 15th April | John Stevenson | Richard Holthouse | 13,374,000 | 5 |
| 31 | 2718 | Monday 20th April | Adele Rose | Howard Baker | 14,174,000 | 3 |
| 32 | 2719 | Wednesday 22nd April | Leslie Duxbury | Howard Baker | 12,169,000 | 4 |
| 33 | 2720 | Monday 27th April | Stephen Mallatratt | Bill Gilmour | 13,236,000 | 3 |
| 34 | 2721 | Wednesday 29th April | H.V. Kershaw | Bill Gilmour | 12,702,000 | 5 |
| 35 | 2722 | Monday 4th May | John Stevenson | Richard Holthouse | 11,906,000 | 6 |
| 36 | 2723 | Wednesday 6th May | Adele Rose | Richard Holthouse | 12,393,000 | 5 |
| 37 | 2724 | Monday 11th May | Tony Perrin | Brian Mills | 15,272,000 | 4 |
| 38 | 2725 | Wednesday 13th May | Brian Finch | Brian Mills | 13,554,000 | 5 |
| 39 | 2726 | Monday 18th May | Brian Finch | Bill Gilmour | 14,271,000 | 3 |
| 40 | 2727 | Wednesday 20th May | Adele Rose | Bill Gilmour | 12,872,000 | 4 |
| 41 | 2728 | Monday 25th May | Tony Perrin | Richard Holthouse | 12,462,000 | 5 |
| 42 | 2729 | Wednesday 27th May | Peter Whalley | Richard Holthouse | 12,534,000 | 4 |
| 43 | 2730 | Monday 1st June | H.V. Kershaw | Malcolm Taylor | 13,423,000 | 4 |
| 44 | 2731 | Wednesday 3rd June | John Stevenson | Malcolm Taylor | 13,630,000 | 3 |
| 45 | 2732 | Monday 8th June | Bob Mason | Bill Gilmour | 14,066,000 | 3 |
| 46 | 2733 | Wednesday 10th June | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 13,732,000 | 4 |
| 47 | 2734 | Monday 15th June | Peter Whalley | Richard Holthouse | 12,966,000 | 5 |
| 48 | 2735 | Wednesday 17th June | John Stevenson | Richard Holthouse | 13,683,000 | 4 |
| 49 | 2736 | Monday 22nd June | Stephen Mallatratt | Brian Mills | 13,784,000 | 3 |
| 50 | 2737 | Wednesday 24th June | Barry Hill | Brian Mills | 12,843,000 | 4 |
| 51 | 2738 | Monday 29th June | H.V. Kershaw | Bill Gilmour | 13,526,000 | 3 |
| 52 | 2739 | Wednesday 1st July | H.V. Kershaw | Bill Gilmour | 12,327,000 | 4 |
| 53 | 2740 | Monday 6th July | John Stevenson | Richard Holthouse | 12,542,000 | 4 |
| 54 | 2741 | Wednesday 8th July | Barry Hill | Richard Holthouse | 13,620,000 | 3 |
| 55 | 2742 | Monday 13th July | Leslie Duxbury | Brian Mills | 12,210,000 | 5 |
| 56 | 2743 | Wednesday 15th July | Peter Whalley | Brian Mills | 14,880,000 | 3 |
| 57 | 2744 | Monday 20th July | Peter Whalley | Malcolm Taylor | 13,796,000 | 4 |
| 58 | 2745 | Wednesday 22nd July | Adele Rose | Malcolm Taylor | 14,345,000 | 3 |
| 59 | 2746 | Monday 27th July | Leslie Duxbury | Jonathan Wright-Miller | 13,347,000 | 4 |
| 60 | 2747 | Wednesday 29th July | Barry Hill | Jonathan Wright-Miller | 14,100,000 | 3 |
| 61 | 2748 | Monday 3rd August | Tony Perrin | Pedr James | 13,519,000 | 4 |
| 62 | 2749 | Wednesday 5th August | John Stevenson | Pedr James | 14,148,000 | 3 |
| 63 | 2750 | Monday 10th August | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 11,986,000 | 4 |
| 64 | 2751 | Wednesday 12th August | John Stevenson | Bill Gilmour | 13,811,000 | 3 |
| 65 | 2752 | Monday 17th August | Adele Rose | Richard Holthouse | 13,423,000 | 4 |
| 66 | 2753 | Wednesday 19th August | Peter Whalley | Richard Holthouse | 13,945,000 | 3 |
| 67 | 2754 | Monday 24th August | Brian Finch | Pedr James | 13,083,000 | 4 |
| 68 | 2755 | Wednesday 26th August | H.V. Kershaw | Pedr James | 14,518,000 | 3 |
| 69 | 2756 | Monday 31st August | H.V. Kershaw | Bill Gilmour | 12,795,000 | 4 |
| 70 | 2757 | Wednesday 2nd September | Tony Perrin | Bill Gilmour | 13,856,000 | 3 |
| 71 | 2758 | Monday 7th September | Bob Mason | Mary McMurray | 14,088,000 | 5 |
| 72 | 2759 | Wednesday 9th September | Leslie Duxbury | Mary McMurray | 14,166,000 | 4 |
| 73 | 2760 | Monday 14th September | Barry Hill | Gerald Blake | 14,294,000 | 3 |
| 74 | 2761 | Wednesday 16th September | Brian Finch | Gerald Blake | 13,302,000 | 6 |
| 75 | 2762 | Monday 21st September | Barry Hill | Paul Bernard | 14,405,000 | 4 |
| 76 | 2763 | Wednesday 23rd September | Adele Rose | Paul Bernard | 13,790,000 | 5 |
| 77 | 2764 | Monday 28th September | Tony Perrin | Ron Francis | 14,943,000 | 3 |
| 78 | 2765 | Wednesday 30th September | John Stevenson | Ron Francis | 14,023,000 | 4 |
| 79 | 2766 | Monday 5th October | Peter Whalley | Gerald Blake | 15,450,000 | 4 |
| 80 | 2767 | Wednesday 7th October | Bob Mason | Gerald Blake | 15,696,000 | 3 |
| 81 | 2768 | Monday 12th October | H.V. Kershaw | Bill Gilmour | 15,373,000 | 3 |
| 82 | 2769 | Wednesday 14th October | Peter Whalley | Bill Gilmour | 15,296,000 | 4 |
| 83 | 2770 | Monday 19th October | Tony Perrin | Ron Francis | 14,874,000 | 6 |
| 84 | 2771 | Wednesday 21st October | Leslie Duxbury | Ron Francis | 15,862,000 | 4 |
| 85 | 2772 | Monday 26th October | Adele Rose | John Michael Phillips | 16,161,000 | 3 |
| 86 | 2773 | Wednesday 28th October | John Stevenson | John Michael Phillips | 15,952,000 | 4 |
| 87 | 2774 | Monday 2nd November | H.V. Kershaw | Bill Gilmour | 16,337,000 | 3 |
| 88 | 2775 | Wednesday 4th November | Adele Rose | Bill Gilmour | 15,693,000 | 5 |
| 89 | 2776 | Monday 9th November | Brian Finch | Ric Mellis | 16,045,000 | 4 |
| 90 | 2777 | Wednesday 11th November | Leslie Duxbury | Tim Sullivan | 16,515,000 | 3 |
| 91 | 2778 | Monday 16th November | John Stevenson | John Michael Phillips | 15,664,000 | 5 |
| 92 | 2779 | Wednesday 18th November | John Stevenson | John Michael Phillips | 16,062,000 | 3 |
| 93 | 2780 | Monday 23rd November | Tony Perrin | Charles Kitchen | 17,074,000 | 4 |
| 94 | 2781 | Wednesday 25th November | Stephen Mallatratt | Charles Kitchen | 16,751,000 | 5 |
| 95 | 2782 | Monday 30th November | Barry Hill | Tim Sullivan | 17,224,000 | 3 |
| 96 | 2783 | Wednesday 2nd December | John Stevenson | Tim Sullivan | 15,982,000 | 4 |
| 97 | 2784 | Monday 7th December | Peter Whalley | Gerald Blake | 16,012,000 | 3 |
| 98 | 2785 | Wednesday 9th December | Adele Rose | Gerald Blake | 15,986,000 | 3 |
| 99 | 2786 | Monday 14th December | Barry Hill | Charles Kitchen | 16,815,000 | 3 |
| 100 | 2787 | Wednesday 16th December | Tony Perrin | Charles Kitchen | 15,663,000 | 4 |
| 101 | 2788 | Monday 21st December | John Stevenson | Ric Mellis | 16,615,000 | 8 |
| 102 | 2789 | Wednesday 23rd December | H.V. Kershaw | Ric Mellis | 22,150,000 (with repeat) |
4 |
| 103 | 2790 | Friday 25th December | Leslie Duxbury | Ric Mellis | 26,650,000 (with repeat) |
1 |
| 104 | 2791 | Monday 28th December | Brian Finch | Gerald Blake | 16,852,000 | 4 |
| 105 | 2792 | Wednesday 30th December | Brian Finch | Gerald Blake | 15,618,000 | 5 |
Storylines[]
Who lives where[]
Coronation Street
- Rovers Return Inn - Bet Lynch/Gilroy (until May and August onwards). Alec Gilroy (from May onwards).
- 1 Coronation Street - Ken, Deirdre and Tracy Barlow.
- 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop and Curly Watts
- 5 Coronation Street - Ivy Tilsley. Brian Tilsley (until March).
- 7 Coronation Street - Rita Fairclough and Jenny Bradley. Alan Bradley (from February onwards).
- 9 Coronation Street - Jack and Vera Duckworth. Terry Duckworth (until June). Amy Burton (from November onwards).
- 11 Coronation Street - Alf and Audrey Roberts.
- 13 Coronation Street - Hilda Ogden (until December). Kevin and Sally Webster (until May).
- Corner Shop flat (No.15a) - Kevin and Sally Webster (from May onwards).
- Community Centre flat - Percy Sugden.
Others
- 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Turpin.
- 46b, St. Mary's Place - Mike Baldwin. Susan Baldwin (until November).
- 33 Hammond Road - Brian Tilsley (from July onwards), Gail and Nicky Tilsley. Sarah Louise Tilsley (from February onwards).
- 4 Gorton Close - Phyllis Pearce.
- Nelson Street - Shirley Armitage.
- 22 Park Road - Brian Tilsley (March to June).
| Coronation Street in the 1980s |
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