Coronation Street in 1999

1999 was Coronation Street's fortieth year.

Main characters

Ranking	Character	Played by	Duration	Number of Episodes	Running total	Previous year's ranking
1	Leanne Tilsley/Battersby	Jane Danson	Full year	148	334	1
2	Janice Battersby	Vicky Entwistle	Full year	142	337	4
2	Ashley Peacock	Steven Arnold	Full year	142	381	18
2	Gail Platt	Helen Worth	Full year	142	1962	5
5	Mike Baldwin	Johnny Briggs	Full year except for September	137	1726	16
6	Natalie Barnes	Denise Welch	Full year	136	353	7
7	Sally Webster	Sally Whittaker	Full year	134	1169	5
8	Audrey Roberts	Sue Nicholls	Full year	132	1284	20
9	Linda Sykes	Jacqueline Pirie	Full year except for September	130	138	52
10	Rita Sullivan	Barbara Knox	Full year	126	2233	14
11	Fred Elliott	John Savident	Full year	122	341	30
12	Maxine Heavey/Peacock	Tracy Shaw	Full year	121	423	21
13	Sharon Gaskell/Bentley	Tracie Bennett	January to November	120	173	-
14	Toyah Battersby	Georgia Taylor	Full year	118	280	11
15	Martin Platt	Sean Wilson	Full year	115	1053	27
16	Alma Baldwin	Amanda Barrie	Full year	113	1035	17
16	Les Battersby	Bruce Jones	Full year	113	294	3
16	Spider Nugent	Martin Hancock	Full year except for July	113	207	29
19	Kevin Webster	Michael Le Vell	Full year except for March	111	1324	9
20	Vera Duckworth	Elizabeth Dawn	Full year	109	1703	10
21	Jack Duckworth	William Tarmey	Full year	108	1517	26
22	Hayley Patterson/Cropper	Julie Hesmondhalgh	Full year	102	179	32
23	Deirdre Rachid	Anne Kirkbride	Full year	101	1953	27
24	Nita Desai	Rebecca Sarker	January to August and from October	100	100	-
25	Ken Barlow	William Roache	Full year	98	2826	24
25	Curly Watts	Kevin Kennedy	From March	98	1247	38
25	Alison Wakefield	Naomi Radcliffe	Until September and from December	98	100	59
28	Tyrone Dobbs	Alan Halsall	Full year except for June	94	106	49
29	Jim McDonald	Charles Lawson	Full year	91	962	8
30	Roy Cropper	David Neilson	Full year except for September	90	311	15
31	Gary Mallett	Ian Mercer	Full year	85	378	25
32	Emily Bishop	Eileen Derbyshire	Full year except for July	77	2424	34
33	Betty Williams	Betty Driver	Full year except for April	73	2192	34
34	Vikram Desai	Chris Bisson	February to August and from October	71	71	-
35	Judy Mallett	Gaynor Faye	Until September	67	355	36
35	Steve McDonald	Simon Gregson	Full year	67	749	22
37	Vinny Sorrell	James Gaddas	From August	59	59	-
37	Rosie Webster	Emma Collinge	January to July, September and December	59	428	41
39	Maud Grimes	Elizabeth Bradley	Until November	57	462	39
40	Sophie Webster	Emma Woodward	January to July, September and December	54	214	40
40	Danny Hargreaves	Richard Standing	From April	54	54	-
42	Tom Ferguson	Tom Wisdom	March to June and from August	51	51	-
43	Becky Mallett	Megan Foster	Full year	48	51	57
44	Sarah Louise Platt	Lynsay King and Tina O'Brien	Until July and from October	45	415	51
45	Billy Mallett	Lewis Ablett	Full year	43	46	57
45	Nick Tilsley	Adam Rickitt	Until April	43	720	13
47	David Platt	Thomas Ormson	January to July and from October	34	348	53
48	Blanche Hunt	Maggie Jones	January and from August	26	131	56
49	Lorraine Brownlow	Holly Newman	Until March	25	73	42
50	Gwen Loveday	Annie Hulley	From October	24	24	-
51	Jackie Dobbs	Margi Clarke	Until March	23	51	43
52	Mark Redman	Paul Fox	From November	20	83	-
53	Doreen Heavey	Prunella Gee	From July	17	17	-
54	Eunice Gee	Meg Johnson	January to March and May	16	72	-
55	Terry Duckworth	Nigel Pivaro	August to October and December	13	318	-
56	Dev Alahan	Jimmi Harkishin	From November	10	10	-
56	Tracy Preston	Dawn Acton	March and October	10	595	-
58	Norris Cole	Malcolm Hebden	From December	9	85	-
59	Greg Kelly	Stephen Billington	January and May	7	117	12
59	Robert Preston	Julian Kay	March and October	7	9	-
61	Candice Stowe	Nikki Sanderson	November only	5	5	-
62	Duggie Ferguson	John Bowe	October and December	4	4	-
63	Alf Roberts	Bryan Mosley	January only	1	1780	48

Production

David Hanson

The Desais - Coronation Street's first Asian family make their debut

After starting in late 1998, David Hanson remained in charge of Coronation Street for most of the year, with Carolyn Reynolds continuing as executive producer. Former production assistant Jane Macnaught became the programme's producer with Episode 4704, while Reynolds left after Episode 4691 and was not replaced.

Since his 1997 heart attack, Bryan Mosley had been appearing as Alf Roberts in a reduced capacity but, despite further problems including a dramatic weight loss, he had refused to call it a day. Out of concern for the actor, Hanson instructed writers to kill off Alf. Mosley's character passed away peacefully - and unnoticed - while slumped in a chair at Nick Tilsley's 18th birthday party in the New Year's Day episode. Mosley then died on 9th February, six weeks after his character's on-screen death.

Hanson inherited Brian Park's plans to introduce Coronation Street's first Asian family. These were Indian divorcee Ravi Desai, his daughter Nita and teenage son Vikram, who appeared over January and February. Writers were careful to avoid ethnic stereotypes but the show was accused of re-enforcing them by placing the family in the Corner Shop - a move which was defended by Rebecca Sarker (Nita) who commented that it was a fact of life that there were a lot of Asian shopkeepers in Britain. The Desais were meant as a long-term addition to the programme, but after seven months actor Saeed Jaffrey was dismissed from the role of Ravi by Jane Macnaught. Jaffrey's axing came two days before the actor spent the night in a cell for being drunk and disorderly on a train. Ravi was subsequently written out off-screen, returning to India after his brother Raj's sudden death.

In November, Jimmi Harkishin first appeared as Nita and Vikram's cousin Dev Alahan, who a month later bought Ravi's chain of corner shops. Instead of being a family-run business, the Corner Shop was run by Dev as a solitary character.

Comings and goings

Sharon Gaskell kicks off at her wedding after discovering fiancé Ian Bentley's infidelity. 19.84 million viewers watch the episode, Coronation Street's biggest audience of the year

The departures of Mosley, Beverley Callard, Philip Middlemiss and Roy Barraclough left room for more new cast members. Tracie Bennett was brought back as Rita Sullivan's former foster daughter Sharon Gaskell and was involved in one of the biggest storylines of the year, as Sharon learned about her fiancé Ian Bentley's fling with Natalie Barnes and dumped him at the altar. Writers put Sharon at the forefront of the show by having Rita give her the Kabin, only to pull the plug on the character after ten months and have her marry Ian after all and leave Weatherfield. Sharon's place at Rita's side was taken by Norris Cole, Derek Wilton's former nemesis who was brought back on a full-time basis. Pompous, nosy and prattling, Emily Bishop's eventual lodger in some respects served as a replacement for both Mavis Wilton and Percy Sugden.

Meg Johnson also returned as Eunice Gee, making her first appearance since 1982 for a short storyline showing Jack and Vera Duckworth become residents and eventual managers of the Park Road B&B. The Duckworths were joined by lodger Tyrone Dobbs, who was retained after mother Jackie was written out in March. Jackie's exit storyline tied into Curly Watts's return, with Curly enlisting help from the neighbours to remove the squatting Dobbs from No.7.

Maggie Jones reprised Blanche Hunt full-time for the first time since 1976. Blanche played a key role in bringing Ken and Deirdre back together after ten years, in a storyline which saw Dawn Acton play Tracy for the last time prior to the re-cast of the character in 2002. Ken and Deirdre's reconciliation occurred as two marriages ended; Mike and Alma Baldwin divorced after Mike's fling with Julia Stone, while Martin Platt embarked on an affair with fellow nurse Rebecca Hopkins in a storyline which continued into 2000. Mike's life went in a new direction, with Mike getting engaged to one of his machinists, Linda Sykes, and his son Mark Redman, now 18, joining as a full-time character played by Paul Fox. Meanwhile, the focus of the Platts' storylines also shifted; with Adam Rickitt quitting his role of Nick Tilsley to pursue a pop career, and Nick moving to Canada after forcing Leanne to abort their baby, Gail's younger children became more prominent. In October, Tina O'Brien replaced Lynsay King as Sarah Louise, who was given a best friend in the form of Candice Stowe, played by Nikki Sanderson.

Tom Wisdom joined as hairdresser Tom Ferguson, joined in October by John Bowe as his father Duggie, while Annie Hulley played Underworld worker Gwen Loveday, Richard Standing played market trader Danny Hargreaves, Sally Webster's new partner, and James Gaddas played Vinny Sorrell, the Rovers' new cellarman.

Departures included Elizabeth Bradley as Maud Grimes, Holly Newman as barmaid Lorraine Brownlow, and Stephen Billington as Greg Kelly. Greg departed on New Year's Day but returned for six episodes in May. The storyline climaxed with an episode focused entirely on Greg taking Rosie and Sophie hostage in No.13 in order to use Sally as a pawn in his battle against Mike. Meanwhile, Gaynor Faye decided to leave after four years as Judy Mallett. As the character had only recently given birth to twins, Judy was killed off, suffering an embolism caused by a car crash.

Set and title changes

Following the closure of the Granada Studios Tour, Coronation Street's set was extended to include part of Victoria Street. The new development was comprised of four new shop units, two houses, six flats and a builders' yard. Most of the building work took place later in the year but a frontage for Roy's Rolls's new premises was built months earlier so that cafe could be transferred there, removing the need for location filming whenever the cafe exterior was seen at its present Rosamund Street location.

With the arrival of Jane Macnaught as producer, a minor change was made to the title sequence: the programme logo was moved to the start of the sequence, and writer and director credits added.

Coronation Street: After Hours

In August, ITV announced a six-part late evening spin-off of Coronation Street set in Brighton and Calais, featuring the returns of several ex-cast members. The series was transmitted over six consecutive evenings in November, and starred Julie Goodyear, Ken Morley and Chloe Newsome as Bet Gilroy, Reg Holdsworth and Vicky McDonald, together with Simon Gregson and Chris Bisson as Steve McDonald and Vikram Desai who journeyed down to Brighton from Weatherfield.

Unlike its parent programme, Coronation Street - After Hours was shot by a single video camera, not unlike film work. There was some speculation that a late-night slot would lead to a more "adult" presentation than the usual "family" fare of the main programme but in the event it stayed firmly within the boundaries expected by its viewer base.

Viewing figures

Ratings chart for the year

Ratings slipped from their 1998 high to an average of 15.57 million viewers (aggregated), representing a drop of almost 200,000 viewers on the previous year's figure. January to March, along with May, June and August were up on the same months in 1998, while the other six months experienced falls. October to December saw the biggest drops, each of over 1.5 million viewers.

The number of episodes at number one also fell, with 25 episodes reaching the top spot - the lowest figure since 1991.

Episode 4572 (7th March 1999) was the highest-rated episode of the year, gaining an audience of 19.84 million viewers. The episode saw Sharon Gaskell jilt Ian Bentley for his affair with Natalie Barnes.

Episodes

#	Ep. No.	Date	Writer	Director	Viewing Figures (With omnibus)	Chart Position
1	4535	Friday 1st January	Mark Wadlow	Brian Mills	16,280,000	7
2	4536	Sunday 3rd January	John Stevenson	Jim O'Hanlon	18,580,000	3
3	4537	Monday 4th January	Stephen Bennett	Jim O'Hanlon	19,600,000	2
4	4538	Wednesday 6th January	Peter Whalley	Jim O'Hanlon	18,800,000	3
5	4539	Friday 8th January	Peter Mills	Jim O'Hanlon	16,760,000	7
6	4540	Sunday 10th January	Phil Ford	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	16,040,000	8
7	4541	Monday 11th January	Phil Woods	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	19,670,000	1
8	4542	Wednesday 13th January	Martin Allen	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	19,130,000	3
9	4543	Friday 15th January	Martin Allen	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	18,160,000	5
10	4544	Sunday 17th January	Peter Mills	Ged Maguire	16,780,000	6
11	4545	Monday 18th January	Peter Whalley	Ged Maguire	18,660,000	3
12	4546	Wednesday 20th January	Phil Ford	Ged Maguire	17,460,000	4
13	4547	Friday 22nd January	Sally Wainwright	Ged Maguire	16,220,000	7
14	4548	Sunday 24th January	Catherine Hayes	Tim Dowd	16,570,000	6
15	4549	Monday 25th January	John Stevenson	Tim Dowd	18,740,000	2
16	4550	Wednesday 27th January	Mark Wadlow	Tim Dowd	18,520,000	3
17	4551	Friday 29th January	Stephen Bennett	Tim Dowd	16,070,000	7
18	4552	Sunday 31st January	Phil Ford	Brian Mills	16,410,000	6
19	4553	Monday 1st February	Mark Wadlow	Brian Mills	17,980,000	1
20	4554	Wednesday 3rd February	Sally Wainwright	Brian Mills	17,520,000	3
21	4555	Friday 5th February	Catherine Hayes	Brian Mills	16,100,000	7
22	4556	Sunday 7th February	Phil Woods	Michael Kerrigan	15,980,000	6
23	4557	Monday 8th February	John Stevenson	Michael Kerrigan	18,300,000	1
24	4558	Wednesday 10th February	Peter Whalley	Michael Kerrigan	18,150,000	2
25	4559	Friday 12th February	Ken Blakeson	Michael Kerrigan	15,880,000	7
26	4560	Sunday 14th February	Ken Blakeson	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	17,080,000	5
27	4561	Monday 15th February	Catherine Hayes	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	18,050,000	3
28	4562	Wednesday 17th February	Stephen Bennett	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	17,980,000	4
29	4563	Friday 19th February	Maureen Chadwick	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	16,780,000	7
30	4564	Sunday 21st February	John Stevenson	Ged Maguire	17,140,000	6
31	4565	Monday 22nd February	Phil Woods	Ged Maguire	17,960,000	3
32	4566	Wednesday 24th February	Martin Allen	Ged Maguire	17,830,000	4
33	4567	Friday 26th February	David Lane	Ged Maguire	17,260,000	6
34	4568	Sunday 28th February	Martin Allen	Jim O'Hanlon	17,640,000	5
35	4569	Monday 1st March	Phil Woods	Jim O'Hanlon	18,260,000	4
36	4570	Wednesday 3rd March	Ken Blakeson	Jim O'Hanlon	14,970,000	9
37	4571	Friday 5th March	John Stevenson	Jim O'Hanlon	17,750,000	5
38	4572	Sunday 7th March	Mark Wadlow	Brian Mills	19,840,000	1
39	4573	Monday 8th March	Phil Ford	Brian Mills	18,840,000	1
40	4574	Wednesday 10th March	Catherine Hayes	Brian Mills	18,440,000	2
41	4575	Friday 12th March	Jan McVerry	Brian Mills	15,790,000	8
42	4576	Sunday 14th March	Sally Wainwright	Michael Kerrigan	16,120,000	6
43	4577	Monday 15th March	Joe Turner	Michael Kerrigan	17,800,000	2
44	4578	Wednesday 17th March	Peter Mills	Michael Kerrigan	15,750,000	8
45	4579	Friday 19th March	Maureen Chadwick	Michael Kerrigan	16,430,000	6
46	4580	Sunday 21st March	Phil Ford	Tim Dowd	17,530,000	3
47	4581	Monday 22nd March	Martin Allen	Tim Dowd	17,580,000	2
48	4582	Wednesday 24th March	Phil Woods	Tim Dowd	17,870,000	1
49	4583	Friday 26th March	Peter Whalley	Tim Dowd	16,640,000	3
50	4584	Sunday 28th March	Phil Woods	Ged Maguire	15,900,000	5
51	4585	Monday 29th March	Ken Blakeson	Ged Maguire	16,600,000	3
52	4586	Wednesday 31st March	Peter Whalley	Ged Maguire	16,720,000	2
53	4587	Friday 2nd April	John Stevenson	Ged Maguire	16,000,000	5
54	4588	Sunday 4th April	Sally Wainwright	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	13,060,000	7
55	4589	Monday 5th April	Maureen Chadwick	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	15,730,000	2
56	4590	Wednesday 7th April	Phil Ford	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	13,860,000	7
57	4591	Friday 9th April	Mark Wadlow	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	14,460,000	4
58	4592	Sunday 11th April	Peter Whalley	Brian Mills	14,020,000	5
59	4593	Monday 12th April	David Lane	Brian Mills	16,760,000	2
60	4594	Wednesday 14th April	Jan McVerry	Brian Mills	16,370,000	4
61	4595	Friday 16th April	Maureen Chadwick	Brian Mills	15,100,000	7
62	4596	Sunday 18th April	Martin Allen	Michael Kerrigan	15,740,000	6
63	4597	Monday 19th April	Catherine Hayes	Michael Kerrigan	17,140,000	1
64	4598	Wednesday 21st April	John Stevenson	Michael Kerrigan	16,510,000	4
65	4599	Friday 23rd April	Phil Ford	Michael Kerrigan	17,020,000	2
66	4600	Sunday 25th April	Maureen Chadwick	Tim Dowd	15,970,000	5
67	4601	Monday 26th April	Phil Ford	Tim Dowd	16,240,000	1
68	4602	Wednesday 28th April	Stephen Bennett	Tim Dowd	14,290,000	3
69	4603	Friday 30th April	Jan McVerry	Tim Dowd	13,910,000	4
70	4604	Sunday 2nd May	Phil Woods	Adrian Bean	12,420,000	7
71	4605	Monday 3rd May	John Stevenson	Adrian Bean	13,270,000	7
72	4606	Wednesday 5th May	Ken Blakeson	Adrian Bean	15,560,000	2
73	4607	Friday 7th May	Peter Whalley	Adrian Bean	15,430,000	3
74	4608	Sunday 9th May	Mark Wadlow	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	15,220,000	5
75	4609	Monday 10th May	Phil Ford	David Kester	16,490,000	1
76	4610	Wednesday 12th May	John Stevenson	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	15,700,000	3
77	4611	Friday 14th May	Martin Allen	Terry Dyddgen-Jones	14,630,000	6
78	4612	Sunday 16th May	Ken Blakeson	June Howson	15,950,000	2
79	4613	Monday 17th May	Peter Whalley	June Howson	16,800,000	1
80	4614	Wednesday 19th May	David Lane	June Howson	15,340,000	4
81	4615	Friday 21st May	Jan McVerry	June Howson	15,030,000	5
82	4616	Sunday 23rd May	Peter Mills	Brian Mills David Penn	15,840,000	2
83	4617	Monday 24th May	John Stevenson	Brian Mills David Penn	16,990,000	1
84	4618	Wednesday 26th May	Joe Turner	Brian Mills David Penn	15,420,000	3
85	4619	Friday 28th May	Mark Wadlow	Brian Mills David Penn	14,930,000	6
86	4620	Sunday 30th May	Stephen Bennett	Brian Mills David Penn	13,350,000	7
87	4621	Monday 31st May	Jan McVerry	Brian Mills David Penn	14,580,000	6
88	4622	Wednesday 2nd June	Peter Whalley	Brian Mills David Penn	17,080,000	1
89	4623	Friday 4th June	Martin Allen	Brian Mills David Penn	15,400,000	3
90	4624	Sunday 6th June	Mark Wadlow	Tim Dowd	13,370,000	7
91	4625	Monday 7th June	Stephen Bennett	Tim Dowd	16,090,000	1
92	4626	Wednesday 9th June	Peter Whalley	Tim Dowd	14,030,000	6
93	4627	Friday 11th June	Phil Woods	Tim Dowd	14,000,000	7
94	4628	Sunday 13th June	David Lane	Adrian Bean	15,220,000	3
95	4629	Monday 14th June	Peter Mills	Adrian Bean	15,490,000	1
96	4630	Wednesday 16th June	Stephen Mallatratt	Adrian Bean	14,380,000	3
97	4631	Friday 18th June	John Stevenson	Adrian Bean	13,730,000	6
98	4632	Sunday 20th June	Peter Mills	Garth Tucker	13,500,000	7
99	4633	Monday 21st June	Ken Blakeson	Garth Tucker	15,730,000	3
100	4634	Wednesday 23rd June	Phil Woods	Garth Tucker	14,750,000	5
101	4635	Friday 25th June	Phil Ford	Garth Tucker	12,920,000	7
102	4636	Sunday 27th June	Peter Whalley	June Howson	14,460,000	6
103	4637	Monday 28th June	Martin Allen	June Howson	15,550,000	1
104	4638	Wednesday 30th June	Maureen Chadwick	David Kester	15,370,000	2
105	4639	Friday 2nd July	Joe Turner	David Kester	12,780,000	6
106	4640	Sunday 4th July	Joe Turner	Brian Mills	13,010,000	5
107	4641	Monday 5th July	Phil Ford	Brian Mills	15,580,000	1
108	4642	Wednesday 7th July	Peter Whalley	Brian Mills	14,450,000	2
109	4643	Friday 9th July	David Lane	Brian Mills	12,670,000	6
110	4644	Sunday 11th July	Mark Wadlow	Ged Maguire	12,630,000	7
111	4645	Monday 12th July	Phil Woods	Ged Maguire	14,160,000	4
112	4646	Wednesday 14th July	Stephen Mallatratt	Ged Maguire	15,190,000	1
113	4647	Friday 16th July	John Stevenson	Ged Maguire	13,620,000	5
114	4648	Sunday 18th July	Stephen Mallatratt	Adrian Bean	11,160,000	7
115	4649	Monday 19th July	Stephen Bennett	Adrian Bean	15,640,000	1
116	4650	Wednesday 21st July	Mark Wadlow	Adrian Bean	15,080,000	2
117	4651	Friday 23rd July	David Lane	Adrian Bean	13,080,000	6
118	4652	Sunday 25th July	Peter Mills	John Anderson	12,410,000	7
119	4653	Monday 26th July	John Stevenson	John Anderson	13,900,000	2
120	4654	Wednesday 28th July	Phil Ford	John Anderson	14,580,000	1
121	4655	Friday 30th July	Martin Allen	John Anderson	12,190,000	6
122	4656	Sunday 1st August	David Lane	David Kester	12,030,000	7
123	4657	Monday 2nd August	Catherine Hayes	David Kester	15,230,000	1
124	4658	Wednesday 4th August	Maureen Chadwick	David Kester	14,920,000	4
125	4659	Friday 6th August	Peter Mills	David Kester	13,070,000	7
126	4660	Sunday 8th August	John Stevenson	Brian Mills	13,890,000	6
127	4661	Monday 9th August	Ken Blakeson	Brian Mills	15,820,000	2
128	4662	Wednesday 11th August	Phil Ford	Brian Mills	11,760,000	7
129	4663	Friday 13th August	Peter Whalley	Brian Mills	14,010,000	5
130	4664	Sunday 15th August	Peter Whalley	Ged Maguire	13,750,000	6
131	4665	Monday 16th August	Peter Mills	Ged Maguire	15,080,000	3
132	4666	Wednesday 18th August	Catherine Hayes	Ged Maguire	15,700,000	2
133	4667	Friday 20th August	Joe Turner	Ged Maguire	13,950,000	6
134	4668	Sunday 22nd August	John Stevenson	Garth Tucker	12,950,000	7
135	4669	Monday 23rd August	Stephen Bennett	Garth Tucker	14,930,000	2
136	4670	Wednesday 25th August	Maureen Chadwick	Garth Tucker	14,210,000	4
137	4671	Friday 27th August	Phil Ford	Garth Tucker	13,420,000	5
138	4672	Sunday 29th August	Peter Whalley	John Anderson	12,330,000	7
139	4673	Monday 30th August	Maureen Chadwick	John Anderson	15,180,000	3
140	4674	Wednesday 1st September	Martin Allen	John Anderson	14,550,000	4
141	4675	Friday 3rd September	Peter Mills	John Anderson	12,860,000	9
142	4676	Sunday 5th September	Catherine Hayes	David Kester	13,590,000	8
143	4677	Monday 6th September	David Lane	David Kester	16,280,000	3
144	4678	Wednesday 8th September	Stephen Bennett	David Kester	13,670,000	8
145	4679	Friday 10th September	Joe Turner	David Kester	13,450,000	10
146	4680	Sunday 12th September	Susan Wilkins	Ged Maguire	14,120,000	7
147	4681	Monday 13th September	Catherine Hayes	Ged Maguire	16,420,000	1
148	4682	Wednesday 15th September	Ken Blakeson	Ged Maguire	12,280,000	9
149	4683	Friday 17th September	Peter Mills	Ged Maguire	14,800,000	4
150	4684	Sunday 19th September	Peter Whalley	Brian Mills	15,890,000	2
151	4685	Monday 20th September	Mark Wadlow	Brian Mills	16,370,000	3
152	4686	Wednesday 22nd September	Jan McVerry	Brian Mills	13,380,000	7
153	4687	Friday 24th September	Phil Ford	Brian Mills	15,920,000	4
154	4688	Sunday 26th September	John Stevenson	Garth Tucker	17,350,000	1
155	4689	Monday 27th September	Mark Wadlow	Garth Tucker	17,250,000	1
156	4690	Wednesday 29th September	David Lane	Garth Tucker	14,340,000	6
157	4691	Friday 1st October	Joe Turner	Garth Tucker	14,730,000	5
158	4692	Sunday 3rd October	Martin Allen	Neil Adams	14,030,000	7
159	4693	Monday 4th October	Peter Mills	Neil Adams	16,150,000	7
160	4694	Wednesday 6th October	Peter Whalley	Neil Adams	16,560,000	5
161	4695	Friday 8th October	Phil Woods	Neil Adams	14,320,000	9
162	4696	Sunday 10th October	John Stevenson	David Kester	16,480,000	6
163	4697	Monday 11th October	Peter Mills	David Kester	16,600,000	4
164	4698	Wednesday 13th October	Catherine Hayes	David Kester	16,420,000	5
165	4699	Friday 15th October	Phil Woods	David Kester	15,900,000	7
166	4700	Sunday 17th October	Maureen Chadwick	June Howson	15,880,000	8
167	4701	Monday 18th October	Joe Turner	June Howson	16,690,000	5
168	4702	Wednesday 20th October	Stephen Bennett	June Howson	12,540,000	9
169	4703	Friday 22nd October	Mark Wadlow	June Howson	13,600,000	8
170	4704	Sunday 24th October	Joe Turner	Graham Wetherell	15,520,000	6
171	4705	Monday 25th October	Peter Whalley	Graham Wetherell	16,770,000	5
172	4706	Wednesday 27th October	Stephen Bennett	Graham Wetherell	13,430,000	9
173	4707	Friday 29th October	Catherine Hayes	Graham Wetherell	15,590,000	7
174	4708	Sunday 31st October	Ken Blakeson	Tony Prescott	15,600,000	6
175	4709	Monday 1st November	David Lane	Garth Tucker	17,450,000	3
176	4710	Wednesday 3rd November	Martin Allen	Garth Tucker	13,200,000	11
177	4711	Friday 5th November	Joe Turner	Garth Tucker	14,600,000	8
178	4712	Sunday 7th November	John Stevenson	Brian Mills	16,590,000	4
179	4713	Monday 8th November	Mark Wadlow	Brian Mills	17,140,000	3
180	4714	Wednesday 10th November	Ken Blakeson	Brian Mills	17,360,000	2
181	4715	Friday 12th November	Susan Wilkins	Brian Mills	15,960,000	6
182	4716	Sunday 14th November	Jan McVerry	David Kester	16,980,000	4
183	4717	Monday 15th November	Joe Turner	David Kester	17,510,000	2
184	4718	Friday 19th November	David Lane	David Kester	15,110,000	4
185	4719	Friday 19th November	Peter Whalley	David Kester	13,490,000	10
186	4720	Sunday 21st November	Julie Gearey	Stephen Butcher	16,530,000	3
187	4721	Monday 22nd November	Phil Woods	Stephen Butcher	17,510,000	1
188	4722	Wednesday 24th November	David Lane	Stephen Butcher	13,130,000	9
189	4723	Friday 26th November	Joe Turner	Stephen Butcher	14,150,000	6
190	4724	Sunday 28th November	Ken Blakeson	Graham Wetherell	15,660,000	5
191	4725	Monday 29th November	Peter Whalley	Graham Wetherell	17,280,000	1
192	4726	Wednesday 1st December	Jan McVerry	Graham Wetherell	16,350,000	4
193	4727	Friday 3rd December	Susan Wilkins	Graham Wetherell	15,280,000	7
194	4728	Sunday 5th December	David Lane	Colin Cant	16,310,000	5
195	4729	Monday 6th December	Catherine Hayes	Colin Cant	16,740,000	2
196	4730	Wednesday 8th December	Peter Mills	Colin Cant	13,980,000	7
197	4731	Friday 10th December	Jan McVerry	Colin Cant	15,600,000	5
198	4732	Sunday 12th December	Joe Turner	Brian Mills	15,290,000	6
199	4733	Monday 13th December	Susan Wilkins	Brian Mills	16,100,000	3
200	4734	Wednesday 15th December	Ken Blakeson	Brian Mills	15,690,000	5
201	4735	Friday 17th December	Phil Ford	Brian Mills	14,220,000	8
202	4736	Sunday 19th December	Stephen Bennett	Tony Prescott	15,440,000	6
203	4737	Monday 20th December	Peter Whalley	Tony Prescott	17,250,000	2
204	4738	Wednesday 22nd December	Mark Wadlow	Tony Prescott	16,360,000	5
205	4739	Friday 24th December	John Stevenson	Tony Prescott	15,510,000	7
206	4740	Saturday 25th December	Phil Ford	David Kester	15,560,000	6
207	4741	Sunday 26th December	Catherine Hayes	Noreen Kershaw	13,970,000	9
208	4742	Monday 27th December	Susan Wilkins	Noreen Kershaw	16,080,000	8
209	4743	Wednesday 29th December	Jan McVerry	Noreen Kershaw	17,420,000	7
210	4744	Friday 31st December	Joe Turner	Noreen Kershaw	11,780,000	20

Storylines

January

• Nick Tilsley sees Sally Webster being menaced by Greg Kelly and fights him off. Greg raids No.5 for cash before leaving Coronation Street. Les Battersby is the only person to stand by his son, disowning Leanne when she reconciles with Nick and supports him and Sally as they report Greg to the police for assault.

Alf Roberts passes away unnoticed as the revellers see in the New Year

• Alf Roberts is found dead in his chair at Nick's birthday party. A grieving Audrey learns that Alf's insurance ran out on New Year's Eve and insists that he died before midnight to make sure he gets a decent send-off. The council offers to make Audrey "Mrs Millennium" in Alf's place but she turns it down as it makes her sound ancient. Alf's will is read, bequeathing £2,000 to Nick, Sarah Louise and David leaving only £1,427 in cash for Audrey, plus the salon and Grasmere Drive.
• Leanne is disappointed when Nick decides to keep his inheritance in the bank. Miranda Peters, his modelling tutor, convinces him to treat Leanne to a cheap holiday in Canada.
• Gary and Judy Mallett name their children William and Rebecca. Gary returns to work while Judy stays at home to look after the twins.
• Les confesses to Janice Battersby that he lied about Martin Platt giving him the wrong medication at Weatherfield General, and took the overdose himself while Martin was attending to another patient. Janice agrees to corroborate his story when he promises her a holiday in Paris with the compensation money. When he changes their destination to Las Vegas and invites Jackie Dobbs to go with him instead, Janice, thinking Les is planning to leave her and run off with the money, interrupts the inquiry to tell the doctors that Les raided the drugs trolley. Kicked out of No.5, Les is taken in by Jackie at No.7, but she too throws him out when she finds out he lost his compensation case and is broke. Janice takes Les back rather than see him on the streets.
• Martin resigns his job as a nurse when the hospital indicates that they will compensate Les. After Les's case is thrown out, he tries to get his job back but is refused as his resignation could have prejudiced the inquiry. He works briefly as a barman at the Rovers before being hired as assistant manager at old folks' home the Weatherfield Vale, where manager Gerard Lickley expects him to run the place with little help. Martin gets to know the residents, including Walter Byford who's worried about his sister who is in a different home on the other side of Weatherfield.
• Natalie Barnes takes possession of the Rovers and has the pub redecorated. She fills the Rovers by buying in a load of sell-quick beer and selling it at half price. Inheriting the squatting Duckworths from Alec Gilroy, she evicts them from the living quarters and knocks them down to cellarman and cleaner to show that she won't tolerate them acting like they still own the pub. Jack interests Natalie in letting them No.6 when she moves into the Rovers, but when Vera calls her a witch for trying to retire her, Natalie tells them they can't have the house and must leave the Rovers immediately. Jack finds the pair accommodation at the Park Road B&B, run by widow Eunice Gee. Finding out that Eunice is planning to retire to Spain, the Duckworths looks for jobs so they can buy the B&B. Vera reluctantly returns to the Rovers as cleaner, while Jack tries to replace the late Bernard Bottomley at the Weatherfield Golf Club.
• Kevin Webster shares a New Year kiss with Underworld machinist Alison Wakefield after she makes a drunken play for him. Getting past an awkward first date which Kevin ruins by looking at his watch too much, the pair get to know each other and Kevin introduces her to Rosie and Sophie, assuring her that he and Sally are finished. He signals his intentions by initiating divorce proceedings and taking Alison and the girls away to Centre Parcs for the weekend. Determined to win custody of her daughters, Sally rents No.6 from Natalie, swallowing her pride in order to have a house with a garden. Alison makes it clear to both parties that she wants to be kept out of the custody battle.
• Alma Baldwin makes No.7's squatter Jackie Dobbs a tenant so that the DSS will pay the rent, preventing the house from being repossessed while owner Curly Watts is AWOL. Meanwhile, Tyrone Dobbs gets a permanent job at the Coronation Street Garage as he's now sixteen.
• Lorraine Brownlow suggests to Spider Nugent that they move in together at No.6 but he finishes with her instead. Lorraine changes her image and is pleased when Steve McDonald flirts with her.
• Blanche Hunt starts to match-make between Deirdre Rachid and Ken Barlow, telling Ken that Deirdre cries herself to sleep holding their wedding picture. Ken invites Deirdre out for a drink and is puzzled when she marks his card, saying she's happy living on her own. When he buys her flowers, she throws them back at him and tells Blanche off for interfering.
• Roy Cropper goes after one of the new shop units in Victoria Street. Steve gives him an estimate of £12,000 and after much confusion on Roy's part on the subject of haggling, they agree on £7,950. Meanwhile, Roy installs an espresso machine in Roy's Rolls.
• Rita Sullivan's former foster daughter Sharon Gaskell looks her up ahead of her wedding to Ian Bentley. Rita is later concerned to see Ian flirting with Natalie. Sharon lodges at No.6 with Sally while in Weatherfield.
• Fred Elliott moves Ashley Peacock to his new butcher counter at Freshco and takes on Nita Desai to manage the corner shop. Ashley fancies Nita and is disappointed to see her being kissed by an older man, but finds out from Linda Sykes, who went to school with Nita, that the man was Nita's father Ravi. Meanwhile, Fred decides to sell the shop, hoping that Ravi will want to add it to his chain of shops. Horrified that Nita is Ravi's daughter and has been planted as a spy, Fred whets Ravi's appetite by having Nita overhear a conversation about a new housing estate being built on the Red Rec.

February

• The Duckworths get interviews for the positions of stewards at the golf club. They hope that Mike Baldwin will vouch for them, as he's on the interview panel, but their lack of catering experience ultimately costs them the jobs.
• Des Barnes's killers are arrested. Natalie clears the air with Des's brother Colin when they see each other in court. Mourning Des together, they drink too much at the Rovers and sleep together, causing them to feel immense guilt at betraying their loved one.
• The Underworld staff throw a 1970s Valentine's disco at The Flying Horse, with Les DJing. Ahead of the event, Hayley Patterson becomes suspicious when Roy wears his best clothes to go for a walk. She, Janice and Linda Sykes follow him on one of his walks and see him meeting up with a woman, Beryl Freeman. Confronted by Hayley, Roy reveals that he's having dancing lessons for the disco, but Hayley's colleagues convince her that there's more to it. When Roy catches Hayley spying on him and Beryl, he gets upset that she doesn't trust him and falls out with her. They make up at the disco where Roy gives Hayley his grandmother's ring and proposes. She accepts, though they have trouble finding a vicar who will perform the ceremony.
• Jackie continues her flirtation with Les in the hope of getting her hands on his rare vinyl records. When he finds her making off with his Buddy Holly album, Les searches her but Janice catches them and, getting the wrong idea, smashes the record.
• Blanche's match-making efforts start to bear fruit when Ken and Deirdre go for a meal together and acknowledge that they were good for each other. Thinking she isn't welcome at Deirdre's, Blanche gets Emily Bishop to take her back to her nursing home.
• Audrey is dealt a further blow when she discovers that Alf made no provision for her in his pension.
• At the Valentine's disco, Steve palms Lorraine off on Ashley and goes off with Linda. Lorraine starts going out with Ashley, but still wants Steve and rows with Linda in the Rovers for pinching him, causing Natalie to reprimand her. Annoyed when Natalie makes her serve Linda, Lorraine starts feigning illness to get out of working.
• Fred is victorious when Ravi raises his offer for the shop by £7,000 on the basis of the customers the new estate will bring. When he refuses to pay Maud Grimes any redundancy, she tells Ravi that Fred tricked him. A deal is reached between the businessmen when Nita locks ther shop until they reach an agreement. Staying on as manager under her father, Nita is unhappy when he foists her workshy brother Vikram on her. Maxine takes an interest in Vik when she hears he's a qualified accountant, but cools when Nita informs her that he actually flunked out of university. Vik and Steve strike up a friendship when Vik does Steve's accounts for him.
• Ian continues to see both Natalie and Sharon behind each other's back. He admits to Natalie that he's engaged and offers to break it for her in order to string her along. Sharon books St. Mary's Church for a March wedding.
• Martin manages to secure places for Walter and his sister in the same home, but when he goes to tell Walter the news he finds out that the pensioner has died. Appalled by how little Lickley cares about the residents, Martin seeks Audrey's help to have the care home inspected, but when Audrey mentions it to Fred, Fred tips off Lickley who is a fellow Square Dealer. When a social services official inspects Weatherfield Vale, Lickley knows that Martin reported him and sacks him for being a troublemaker.
• The Battersbys' electricity is cut off when Les spends the money Janice gave him to pay the bills. Les takes a job shovelling manure with Charlie West, but Janice is horrified to learn he's agreed to be paid in toilet rolls rather than money. With no heating at No.5, Toyah Battersby moves in with Leanne and Nick. Les tries to steal Jackie's electricity by running a cable to No.5 from Curly Watts's observatory, but Jackie cuts the supply. Fearing eviction, Janice borrows £200 from Leanne and pawns her jewellery in order to pay for a card-fed meter for the electricity. Les's misery continues as he gets a job dredging the canal.
• Roy, Gail and Alma close the Rosamund Street Roy's Rolls as the cafe moves to Victoria Street. When Hayley pulls out a nail sticking from the skirting board which is holding in a leak from the water pipe, the new cafe is flooded, delaying its opening. Roy threatens to sue Steve, as Gary nailed in the skirting boards while in his employ. Steve makes reparations by providing a heater to dry the cafe and arranging a cooking stall for Roy to serve food outdoors in the meantime. The cafe finally opens its doors.
• Nita starts selling newspapers at the corner shop, discarding the unwritten agreement between the shop and the Kabin not to compete with each other. Upset, Rita goes to stay with Mavis Wilton, leaving Sharon in charge. Sharon goes to war with Nita by selling bread and milk at the Kabin and spreading rumours about the shop selling out-of-date stock. Profits fall at both establlishments as the women lower their prices to pull in customers.
• Audrey and Gail Platt go to Canada to attend Stephen Reid's wedding.

Kevin and Sally's dirty laundry is aired in court

• The Websters' custody battle continues; rejecting mediation, Kevin and Sally are interviewed by a court welfare officer, Malcolm Fairhurst, while Sally shows that she's providing a stable home by extending her lease on No.6 for another three months. When Sophie is nearly run over by Ian in the street, and later when Rosie has an accident at school while Kevin and Alison are in Stockport, Sally frames Kevin as an inattentive parent. In court, her solicitor blames the break-up of the Websters' marriage on Kevin's affair and suggests he only wants custody of the girls to hurt Sally. Sally is granted custody of Rosie and Sophie, meaning Kevin can only see them at weekends. When Sally threatens to take No.13 off him as well, Kevin throws his house keys at her and disappears from the street.
• Gary books the twins' christening at seven days' notice.

March

Sharon dumps Ian Bentley at the altar

• Betty Williams realises Sharon is being cheated on when she's introduced to Ian at the Kabin and recognises him as Natalie's boyfriend. She informs Rita, who confronts Natalie at the hen do, calling her a hard-faced bitch. Natalie swears she didn't know that Sharon was Ian's other woman and breaks it off when he tells her he intends to go through with the wedding. Rita reveals Ian's affair to Sharon, but Sharon dismisses it as a last fling and sets off for St. Mary's Church as planned. She makes it to the vows before coming to her senses, calling Ian a liar and running from the church. Ian leaves after failing to win her round.
• Lorraine finishes with Ashley, finding him too boring. At the Rovers, Natalie fires her niece for her insolent behaviour, and takes Judy back on as a barmaid.
• Ravi discovers that Nita's price war is costing him money and brokers a peace with Rita. The two shops return to normal.
• Ordered by Natalie to remove his pigeons from the Rovers, a sad Jack lets Charlie West have them to breed them.
• Maxine takes on hairdresser Tom Ferguson to help her out at the salon while Audrey is in Canada. When Toyah falls for Tom, Tyrone tells him she's his girlfriend, causing Toyah to threaten Tyrone.
• Alison reports Kevin to the police as a missing person. He eventually phones to say he's convalescing at Bill Webster's in Germany. Sally and the girls move back into No.13 in his absence.
• Vik warns Steve him that his business is failing. Steve moves back in with Jim at No.11 and lays Gary off to reduce his overheads, causing Judy to row with Vik in the shop.
• Billy and Becky Mallett are christened at St. Mary's Church, with Jim and the Duckworths as godparents. As he's never been christened himself, Jack has to be baptised first with Ken and Vera acting as his godparents so that he can accept the role.
• Curly returns from his travels and gets his manager's job back at Freshco by threatening to take action against the company for endangering him by promoting Anne Malone. Meanwhile, he resolves to drive the Dobbses out of No.7. His first ploy of stealing the television fails when Tyrone steals it back, as does using Toyah as bait to lure Tyrone out of the house. Les changes the locks for Jackie in exchange for sexual favours, but when he discovers that Jackie paid him with his own money after picking his pocket, he get revenge by selling Curly a copy of the new keys. The stand-off ends when Tyrone calls in his father Darren, who takes Jackie and Tyrone back to live with him and apologises to Curly for the inconvenience.
• Leanne discovers she's pregnant. While she and Nick aren't thrilled, Leanne is adamant that she's having it. The couple tell their parents the news, horrifying Gail, while everyone else finds out when Les broadcasts the news at the Rovers. Nick's reservations about the pregnancy grow when his art tutor Miranda Peters warns him that his ambitions will have to be put on hold until his child grows up. Leanne rows with him when she discovers he's considering a move to Canada that they couldn't make if she goes ahead with the pregnancy. Nick admits that he doesn't want the baby.
• Rep Julia Stone wines and dines Mike and shows him some samples. When she flirts heavily with him, Mike rejects her both professionally and personally. Julia calls her paymaster and tells them she's confident she can weaken Mike.
• Rita persuades a depressed Sharon to remain in Weatherfield and arranges for her to rent No.12. Sharon is stunned when Rita announces that she's retiring and giving her the Kabin. She ultimately turns down the gift when Sally leads her to suspect that Rita is only making the gesture to keep her close by. When Rita finds out, she rows with Sally, accusing her of having designs on the Kabin herself. Although Rita manages to talk Sharon into accepting, Fred and Ravi make her see that she could be left with nothing if Sharon sold up and moved away, and she suggests a handing over period first during which they would have a 50/50 partnership.
• Tracy Preston visits Deirdre on Mother's Day, announcing that she's left Robert. As Deirdre and Ken try to find out the cause of their split, Robert shows up looking for Tracy and explains that he caught her kissing his friend Dan. Tracy tells Deirdre that she turned down an affair with Dan, and walked out on Robert as he doesn't trust her. Despite catching Robert being chatted up by Linda, Tracy eventually softens and returns to London with Robert.
• Steve chats Nita up while working on the shop flat. Nita ends the flirtation when Maxine warns her that he just sees her as a conquest.
• Jim sends his wheelchair back to the hospital as he can now get by with crutches.
• Audrey returns from Canada and gives Tom a week's notice, as she can't afford three salaries. When Maxine pleads his case, Audrey sacks her instead, angry with her for taking Vera on as cleaner in exchange for free haircuts. Tom quits in solidarity with Maxine and the youngsters set up in competition with Audrey, using the flat as a salon called "A Cut Above". Audrey is furious to see the board outside luring her customers upstairs and threatens to evict Maxine.
• Unemployed Gary looks at the twins while Judy works at the Rovers. When Emily baby-sits to give the couple a break and Spider answers the phone, the Malletts think Emily has abandoned her post and rush home, only to find she just nipped out for a couple of minutes.
• Audrey pulls strings at the council to have hospital administrator Mr Yorke threatened with the sack unless he re-hires Martin. Martin returns to the hospital in the casualty department.
• Ken convinces Deirdre to give their relationship one last try.
• Curly helps Roy use the internet to find a vicar willing to marry him and Hayley. Minister Marvin Winstanley agrees to perform the ceremony, eager to marry a transsexual, but Hayley refuses to be married by someone who advertises on the internet. Emily introduces them to Jessica Lundy, the progressive vicar at St. Paul's Church, who agrees to consider them.

April

• The Tilsleys row again when Nick sees their bank statement and finds out about the £200 Leanne loaned Janice. When Miranda tells him that she had an abortion and has never regretted it, Nick pressures Leanne into having one. Leanne agrees in order to save her marriage, having the termination at a private clinic at Nick's insistence when he discovers there's a waiting list. Afterwards, the couple tell everyone that Leanne miscarried, but Leanne struggles with the lies and eventually tells the Battersbys and Platts the truth, making sure that Gail knows it was all Nick's doing. When Miranda reveals to Leanne that Nick confided in her, causing further acrimony, Nick quits college with only two months to go. A scuffle with Les in the Rovers over the abortion convinces Nick that the Tilsleys must move to Canada immediately to get away from their families. Leanne refuses to go and leaves Nick, telling him she doesn't love him anymore. Distraught Nick leaves for Canada without telling Gail.
• Rita decides to trust Sharon and give her the whole Kabin after all.
• Deirdre tries to keep a lid on her reconciliation with Ken until she's sure it'll last. The news spreads anyway when the factory girls find out.
• Tom cuts Maud's hair outside the salon to protest Audrey's treatment of Maxine. Audrey admits defeat and gives the pair their jobs back.
• Gary realises there isn't a window cleaner in the area and decides to start a round up. He gets going after buying a cart and borrowing Steve's ladders, working around Judy's shifts at the Rovers so she doesn't have to give up her job.

Roy and Hayley call off their wedding when Les tips off the press

• Roy and Hayley plan their wedding when Jessica Lundy agrees to perform the ceremony. Toyah agrees to be bridesmaid, with Alma as matron of honour and Martin as best man, though Roy is hurt when his mother writes to say she's too busy to attend. Hayley makes the dress on her work sewing machine, but doesn't finish her train in time. She's thrilled when the factory girls help her complete it and lay on a hen party for her, which Janice pays for by selling some of Les's vinyl. Meanwhile, Curly and Spider get Roy drunk on two pints on his stag night. Furious about the vinyl, Les locks Toyah in her room on the wedding day, refusing to let her be bridesmaid to a "freak", and tells the Weatherfield Gazette that two blokes are getting married at St. Paul's. Spider helps Toyah escape out the window, while Emily heads off the wedding party before they arrive at the church in order to put the press off the scent. Roy responds by gathering the wedding party at the cafe and marrying Hayley there, given away by her Great Uncle Bert. Although the union is not recognised by UK law, they consider themselves married and Hayley legally changes her name to "Cropper". The couple leave for their honeymoon in York.
• Julia Stone invites Mike to the annual rag trade ball at the Charters Hotel. With Alma attending a training seminar in Birmingham at the same time, Mike accepts the invitation, but his plans with Julia are thwarted when Alma's course is cancelled at the last minute and she turns up at the ball to surprise him. Mike later agrees to spend the weekend with Julia, telling Alma he's going on a business trip to London. However, after having sex with Mike at her flat, Julia cancels the weekend saying she has to work. Mike realises he's been had when Julia becomes unreachable on the phone, her flat is cleared out and her company claims they've never heard of her. He later receives photos in the post of him in bed with Julia, who demands £10,000 in exchange for the negatives. Meanwhile, Alma finds a lump on her breast and is referred to a breast clinic. While the tests come back clear, the thought of her getting cancer makes Mike realise how much she means to him, and he pays Julia off.
• Kevin returns from Germany, having recovered from his breakdown. With Sally refusing to give up No.13, he agrees to let her have the house in exchange for her share of the garage, and moves in with Curly. Alison, upset when Kevin doesn't tell her he's back until days later, sees him with Sally and assumes they're back together. Kevin wins her round by cooking a romantic meal and assures Alison that she's the only woman he wants.
• Tyrone starts sleeping rough near the bins at Freshco, telling Curly that Jackie is back in prison after assaulting his dad's girlfriend. Curly takes pity on the lad and starts paying him to bring shopping trolleys back from nearby streets. When Tyrone is found sleeping in the garage, Curly lends him his sofa for one night, which turns into several as Tyrone has nowhere else to go. Later, Tyrone crashes a load of trolleys into Freshco Regional Manager Aiden O'Donnell's car and while Curly blames it on a local tearaway, he tells Tyrone he can't work there anymore in case he's recognised. Tyrone feels let down and refuses to accept Curly's charity any more.
• Spider befriends Nita when he finds out she's a vegetarian. The couple have a meal together and bond over their shared dream of travelling, but Spider is disappointed when Nita makes it clear that she's only interested in friendship. Undeterred, he buys a dreamcatcher for Nita's birthday but Steve gets in first by entertaining Nita with champagne.
• Kevin gives Jim a job manning the garage office, helping him regain his dignity after his spinal injury.
• Leanne stays on at 4 Coronation Street after Nick's departure. Ashley and Vik take a fancy to her, with the latter chatting her up.
• Selling her and Greg's old stock at the market, Sally is harassed by trader Phil Sutton and fellow stallholder Danny Hargreaves steps in to help her. During the night, Sally's van is set on fire and all of her stock goes up in smoke.

May

• Spider is smitten when Nita kisses him as a thank-you for her birthday present. He embarrasses himself when he gets drunk and declares his love for her while she's out with Steve.
• Tyrone accepts Kevin's offer of an apprenticeship at the garage.

Sally and the girls are taken hostage

• Mike burns the photos and negatives of him in bed with Julia, but Julia reveals the existence of more negatives and demands another £10,000 for them. While Mike confides his troubles in Deirdre, he attempts to bluff Julia by saying he's told Alma everything. Julia makes Mike sweat by calling at his flat when he isn't there and chatting to Alma, showing that Mike was lying about telling her. When Mike threatens to kill her if she wrecks his marriage, a shaken Julia tells her employer - Greg Kelly - that she won't help him any more. She gets back at Greg for not splitting the £10k with her by telling Mike who is behind the blackmail. Meanwhile, Mike sells Sally seconds from the factory to replace her stock, of which only a small amount was insured. When she receives a postcard from Greg asking about the business, she realises he torched the van. Mike lures Greg out of hiding by arranging to meet him at the factory and pay him the blackmail money, but expecting foul play Greg lets himself into No.13, takes Rosie and Sophie hostage, and sends Sally over to the factory to collect the money for him. Kevin is alerted when Rosie calls out to him that Greg is in the house, and calls the police. When the police hear Sally's screams, they burst into the house and in the confusion, Sally smashes a chair over Greg's head. Following the siege, Mike tells the police that Greg was after redundancy money he thought he was owed. However, the truth about the blackmail money reaches Alma via Sally, delivered by a malicious Linda, and Mike confesses everything to his wife. Alma stays with Audrey while she decides whether to forgive Mike, but when Mike brings up her infatuation with Stephen Reid rather than apologise, she's infuriated and leaves him. The situation is made worse when Deirdre accidentally reveals that she knew about the affair weeks ago. Greg is charged with assault and unlawful imprisonment and denied bail, but the police have no evidence of the blackmail as the envelope which supposedly had the negatives inside was filled with newspapers. Mike hires a private detective, Harry Pringle, to track Julia down, without success.
• Leanne starts seeing Vik and Tom at the same time. She realises Ashley fancies her, but tells him they're just pals. Ravi takes Vik to task when he closes the shop early to take Leanne to a party. When Vik tries to take advantage of a drunken Leanne, Ashley sees him off.
• Eunice makes a play for Jack while Vera is away. While she's trying to undress him, he suffers pains and is rushed to hospital. Doctor Vickers tells him he's got angina and needs to stop lifting. Despite this, he carries on with his cellarwork at the Rovers, covering up further attacks from Natalie and getting Vera to bring up crates for him. When Natalie finds out, she takes Gary on as assistant cellarman to help Jack.
• Leanne is nearly sacked from the Kabin when she oversleeps and forgets to mark up the papers. When the till jams, she puts a £20 note in the paper book and then forgets about it, leading Sharon to accuse her of pocketing it. Furious Leanne walks out of the newsagent and pretends to be eighteen in order to get a job as a barmaid at the Rovers. Rita later finds the £20 and offers Leanne her job back but she turns her down.
• With his divorce from Maureen going through, Fred becomes closer to Audrey in the hope that she's ready to move on from Alf. When he confides in her that he has a son, Audrey promises his secret is safe with her but she almost immediately tells Maxine, who tells Ashley, thinking he has a right to know. Ashley confronts Fred and after at first denying it, he admits that he has a son - him. Ashley learns that his biological mother Kathleen Gutteridge ran off after his birth and Beryl and Sam Peacock took him in and raised him as their own. Fred begs Ashley to keep seeing Beryl as his mother, but reflecting on Sam's funeral and Fred and Beryl letting him think his father was dead, Ashley tells them both that he never wants to see them again. Fred tries to make amends by changing his will so that Ashley inherits everything. Ashley accepts Fred when he tells him he's proud to be his father.
• Roy and Hayley return from honeymoon.
• Seeing no future for herself in Ravi's shops with Vik standing to inherit them all, Nita goes after a job at Freshco. Curly gets her an interview for a management trainee position, taking her under his wing.
• Eunice goes to stay with her sister Dolly Clarke in Spain and offers to let the Duckworths buy the Park Road B&B. As they can't afford it, they accept her offer of managing it for her instead.
• Sally introduces Kevin to Danny. She's annoyed when Kevin calls early in the morning to check if Danny spent the night. After the siege, Sally decides she's done with men.
• The Platts book a caravan holiday with Sally and the girls at the Happy Days Holiday Park. Les, Janice and Toyah end up at the same park when Les hires a camper van from Charlie West which breaks down in the vicinity, with Les paying for a caravan by DJing at the park social club for free. Janice is miserable with Les spending all his time preparing for gigs, and is mortified when he throws her fully-dressed into the swimming pool for a laugh. Toyah falls for the owner's son Owen Williams, but he's more interested in Janice and tries to convince her to leave Les. They're together when Les suffers an electric shock while DJing, and Martin has to get Les's heart going again.

June

• As the Battersbys' holiday draws to a close, Owen takes Toyah bowling to indulge Janice. Back home, Janice is embarrassed to receive a love letter from Owen. She phones and tells him not to write again, but Toyah finds the letter and is hurt to realise she was just a consolation prize. At the end of the month, Owen returns the broken down camper van to No.5 and begs Janice to return to Wales with him. When Les tries to pair Owen off with Toyah, she tells him it's Janice he's after. Les attacks Owen but the younger man gets the better of him.
• Nita gets the Freshco manager's job and leaves the shop, with an unhappy Vik replacing her as manager. Ravi presents Nita with a rent book for the flat now that she's working for the competition.
• Natalie throws a surprise party at the Rovers to celebrate Betty's thirty years as a barmaid.
• Alma decides to let Mike sweat for a bit before taking him back. However, when he demands either total forgiveness or an immediate divorce, she opts for the latter, annoyed that he still sees himself as the victim. Alma throws her wedding ring at Mike when she goes to the flat with Curly to collect her things. As divorce proceedings begin, Alma sends Mike a solicitor's letter demanding he buy her out of the factory, but he claims he can't afford it. Mike tries to turn the locals against Alma by telling his staff that they might lose their jobs because of her.
• Sharon becomes the legal owner of the Kabin. Rita continues to work there.
• Ashley finds out that Leanne is sleeping with Vik and embarrasses her by trying to stop him from staying over at No.4. The housemates row again when Ashley receives a huge phone bill due to Nick phoning Canada and demands that Leanne pay it, in addition to the three weeks' rent she owes. Leanne gets a sub off Natalie, but spends it all at the casino with Vik and lies to Ashley that Natalie wouldn't give her the money. When he finds Leanne hosting a card school at No.4, Ashley throws them all out, causing Leanne to move out, sick of him trying to run her life. She moves back in with her parents briefly before accepting Natalie's offer of a room at the Rovers. Ravi doesn't like Vik seeing a married woman and warns her that he has many girlfriends to put her off.
• Sally's touched to find that Danny has kept her stall going while she was on holiday and resumes their relationship, while making it clear that the girls come first. Meanwhile, Rosie's teacher Mrs Easton tells Sally that Rosie is bullying her classmates at Bessie Street School. Sally grounds her daughter, who reacts throwing paint over the living room wall. When Danny takes the girls out and Rosie throws another girl's teddy into a pond, Sally finishes with him, saying her daughter needs stability. Rosie's behaviour continues to escalate as she locks a child in a cupboard at school and tells Sally she hates her.
• Toyah sits her GCSEs, revising at No.3 as No.5 is too noisy.
• Gary interrupts a burglar while cleaning windows. He frightens him off, but the homeowner, Sonia Hardy, thinks he's the burglar and calls the police. Once the situation is straightened out, Mrs Hardy gets the Gazette to do a piece on her 'hero', featuring a photo in which she's all over Gary. The article leads both Judy and Mr Hardy to suspect they're having an affair. When Gary sees the latter drinking in a pub with his girlfriend and his wife finds out, Mr Hardy accuses Gary of telling her and punches him.

Mike trades in his wife of seven years with a younger model

• Amidst Mike's divorce battle, Linda calls at his flat with a bottle of whisky and spends the evening with him. Once he's satisfied that she isn't having a joke at his expense, Mike starts seeing Linda, despite a 33 year age gap and Linda being one of Mike's machinists. They keep their relationship a secret at first, with Mike making Linda go to work on the bus after spending the night with him, mollfying her by taking her away to the country for the weekend. Hayley realises there's something going on when she sees Mike squeezing Linda's hand in an intimate way, though Roy dissuades her from acting on it. Linda starts acting as a mole for Mike on the shop floor, reporting her colleague Jean Walters for stealing knickers.
• Steve starts up a new scheme smuggling tobacco duty-free from abroad and selling it locally. Jim loans him the £800 start-up costs but refuses further help, afraid he'll end in up prison again. Returning from Belgium with a boot full of tobacco, Steve runs afoul of Lee Sankey when he tries to sell it on his patch, and is forced to sell it cheaply to the ex-con. Steve starts making regular trips to Belgium for more tobacco.
• Ashley helps Maxine decorate her flat. They decide to get back together, 18 months after Maxine dumped him. Fred isn't happy about the development.
• Curly organises the Freshco's Ball. Alma feels jealous when Curly praises Nita for her speech at the event, and accuses her of throwing herself at Curly to get herself ahead. The women make peace with each other when Alma apologises for her insecurities. Taking Audrey to the ball, Fred proposes to her, but she declines saying it's too soon after Alf's death. Ashley also attends with Maxine, despite an attempt by Fred to set him up with abattoir owner's daughter Belinda Peach whose attentions he has to fend off at the event, and Maxine having a sprained ankle from a fall at the salon. When Ashley asks Maxine to marry him, she turns him down, thinking he and Fred have a bet on to get engaged. She accepts when he convinces her he didn't know that Fred was going to propose.
• Kevin and Alison rent the flat over Skinner's Bookies.

July

• Janice chooses Les over Owen and gets rid of the infatuated youngster by threatening to call the police if he doesn't stop pestering her. Les forgives Janice for her transgression.
• Fred angers Ashley with his refusal to accept Maxine into the family. Maxine almost breaks the engagement when Fred puts Beryl off her by suggesting that she's promiscuous, but Ashley helps her impress Beryl and forces Fred to apologise for his behaviour. Ashley also meets Maxine's parents, Derek and Doreen Heavey, who are more supportive. As the wedding nears, Ashley decides to try and find his birth mother Kathleen Gutteridge but is disappointed when Fred tells him she went to live in Australia.
• Leanne receives a letter from Nick on her eighteenth birthday asking for a divorce. Hearing he has a new job and flat in Canada, a bitter Leanne offers to admit adultery to speed up the divorce in exchange for £5,000. Gail, representing Nick, writes Leanne a cheque for £2,000, horrifying Martin by paying her off with their own savings. Leanne accepts the sum and signs the divorce papers. However, when he hears that Leanne is planning to go on an exotic holiday with the money, Martin sees red and clears their bank account, causing the cheque to bounce. Leanne forces them to pay up by threatening to report Gail to the police for breaking their agreement. After receiving the £2,000, Leanne celebrates her freedom from Nick by losing all the money at the casino.
• Mike and Linda are seen kissing by Hayley, who agrees to keep their affair a relationship so as not to hurt Alma. Mike gives Linda a key to his flat, but when he reacts negatively to her having a nosy around when he isn't there, she thinks he just wants her for sex and rows with him. Wanting everyone to know about them, Linda confides in Nita that she's seeing an older man, and takes her to the flat so that she'll realise it's Mike. Meanwhile, Alma and Ravi start seeing each other, as friends. Alma, still hopeful of salvaging her marriage, worries that he wants more from her, but he encourages her to tell Mike how she feels. When Mike learns that they've been going out, he becomes hostile towards the pair out of jealousy. To spite him, Alma continues to see Ravi, but a planned date is scuppered when Audrey invites herself along. When Nita tells Ravi about Mike and Linda, he informs Alma that Mike has a new young girlfriend, with Hayley subsequently filling her in on the woman's identity. Alma then confronts the pair at the factory, exposing their affair to the staff.
• Kevin and Alison move into the bookies flat. When Rosie runs away from school, Alison looks after her, but gets Sally's back up by taking her to the cafe and spoiling her. Later, Rosie slips out of No.13 at night to go to Kevin and Alison's flatwarming, and refuses to go home with Sally. Angry that she prefers Alison to her, Sally leaves Rosie with Kevin for the week, annoying Alison who wants more time alone with Kevin. Rosie wraps Alison round her finger by getting her to make up a packed lunch, even though she gets school dinners. Kevin eventually dumps Rosie on Sally to please Alison, spoiling Sally's date with Danny. When Kevin is spotted coming out of a jewellers and then takes Alison for a special meal, she thinks he's going to propose. She masks her disappointment when he reveals that he's just bought Rosie a necklace.
• Ashley and Maxine decide to have a church wedding, but find that they're all booked up until the spring. When Maxine's friend Melanie Tindel, who is also getting married, confesses that she doesn't like her fiancé, Maxine convinces her to cancel the wedding and takes her slot at St. Christopher's Church for September. Ahead of the wedding, Maxine moves into No.4 and agrees to let Hayley make the bridesmaid's dress after insulting her by saying she wants a professional job for her own dress.

Tyrone moves in with Jack and Vera

• Tyrone is desperate to move out of his friend Marcus Wrigley's house but has nowhere to go. Jack takes pity on him and offers him the box room at the Park Road B&B in exchange for helping out at the hotel, despite Vera's concerns that he'll lower the tone.
• Jack goes into hospital for an angiogram and finds out that he needs a triple heart bypass. He manages to convince Vera that his poor health stems from him working too hard all his life, causing Vera to row with Natalie for helping him to the grave. When he suffers a further attack in front of Tyrone, Tyrone tells Vera, who tries to convince Jack to go private rather than wait for the operation on the NHS. Jack, convinced he's going to die, refuses to waste the £12,000. Meanwhile, Jack buys a mobile phone so Vera can always contact him.
• Sally finishes with Danny again as she doesn't have time for their relationship. Danny ends up chatting to Sharon at the Rovers and asks her out. Sharon accepts when Sally reluctantly gives them her blessing, and the pair go bowling together.
• Kevin and Sally receive their decree nisis.
• Vik dumps Leanne when he hears she's admitted adultery, not wanting to get embroiled in a divorce. They quickly get back together.
• Jim tells Steve he'll have to move out of No.11 if he carries on smuggling. Steve agrees not to go to Belgium anymore but sercretly phones Lee Sankey to set up their next consignment.
• Gary gives up a ticket to a boxing match to spend the evening with Judy before finding out she's working anyway.
• Deirdre quits as factory PA due to Mike and Linda's affair, feeling that she now has no authority over Linda. Linda tries to get Hayley sacked for telling Alma, but Mike refuses.
• Natalie organises a trip to the races.

August

• Kevin's in the doghouse again when he abandons Alison at a restaurant to attend to a flooded bathroom at No.13. When she finds out that Kevin discussed their personal problems with Sally, Alison decides to leave him, thinking he doesn't respect her. Kevin stops her by proposing marriage, and she accepts. Before he meets her parents Bob and Joan Wakefield, Alison tells Kevin about a family tragedy which occurred when she was nine, when her younger sister Cheryl was drowned in Weatherfield Canal. Kevin is appalled when the Wakefields warn him that Alison killed her sister, and joins Alison in shunning them.
• Ashley picks Gary to be best man at the wedding. However, Gary's barred by Judy when she hears Maxine mouthing off in the salon about him being a poor choice, and Maxine pushes Ashley to use Tom instead. Meanwhile, Ashley refuses to get on a plane for the honeymoon due to his fear of flying. He gives in in exchange for Maxine allowing Gary to be best man.
• Nita turns down an invitation from Curly to go to Cornwall with him to watch the solar eclipse. Spider and Toyah agree to join him instead, but when the neighbours gossip that Curly and Nita are an item, Curly accuses Spider of spreading rumours out of jealousy and withdraws his invite, going to Cornwall on his own. Nita rows with Curly for letting the rumours fester.
• With Jack unable to do any cellar work, Nuttall's Brewery drayman Vinny Sorrell helps Natalie out at the Rovers.
• Maud announces to Fred and Ashley that she's getting married to an OAP called Sidney Templeton in a week's time. When he hears that Sidney wants them to live in the Far East, away from her family, Fred thinks he's after Maud's wealth and decides to investigate his finances. Taking Sidney out for a drive, Fred and Audrey are horrified when he suddenly dies from natural causes in the back of the car. They attempt to sneak the corpse back into Mayfield Court to make it look like he died there, but Maud sees them arrive, forcing them to take him to hospital instead. Maud attends Sidney's funeral on the day that she should have married him. When the will is read, Maud finds she's been left £10,000, but she feels guilty when his daughter and son-in-law Sandra and Keith Hesketh tell her they've been left with nothing. They ask her to give them her inheritance for their childrens' sake.
• Ken is taken on as a trolley boy as Freshco. Deirdre is humiliated, while Ken relishes a job where he doesn't have to think. When Ken suggests a home delivery scheme for OAPs which is taken up, he's made "Employee of the Month".
• Natalie, Jack, Vera, Les, Janice, Ravi, Audrey, Fred, Leanne and Vik go to the races. Fred is miffed when Audrey goes into the members enclosure with Ravi, and upsets her by demolishing her new hat when he stamps on it to prevent it blowing away. Jack bets on Betty's Hot Shot for old times' sake and wins £800 when it comes in first.
• Mike takes Emily on to replace Deirdre in the factory office. Meanwhile, Deirdre tries to find work, but no one will take her on as she's been in prison. When Blanche comes to stay at No.1, she accuses Emily of stealing her daughter's job. Emily, struggling with the computer system at the factory, resigns when she accidentally deletes the payroll. With Mike too busy with work to take her on holiday, Linda asks Deirdre to return. Deirdre agrees when Mike gives her a pay rise and the title of "factory manager". Having got Deirdre sorted out, Blanche makes it her mission to see her and Ken wed.
• Mike takes Linda on a three-week holiday to Hong Kong, Singapore and Bali to prove that she's more than just a sleeping partner to him.
• Jack has a heart attack in front of Vera and is rushed to hospital, where he has his triple bypass operation. Worried that he's going to die, Vera summons Terry Duckworth to pay his last respects. The operation is a success, but Jack is hostile towards Terry, thinking he showed up hoping he'd die. Terry decides to stick around when he finds out that Vera has £30,000 in the bank and that Sharon is back and owns the Kabin. Arranging digs at the Rovers, Terry shows that he's a changed man by rescuing Alison from a mugger. With Sharon's help, he picks out a silver picture frame for Jack and Vera's 42nd wedding anniversary, but Jack throws him out when he gives them the present. With Danny's blessing, Sharon goes out with Terry as friends. Their date ends with Sharon kissing Terry. When Terry asks Vera for money for him to remain in Weatherfield, she realises he's still the same old Terry and warns Sharon to tread carefully with him. His plans with Sharon scuppered, Terry returns to Birmingham after guilting Vera into buying his car for £1,500, taking hers in exchange.

Spider and Toyah watch the eclipse

• Spider and Toyah set up a tent on the Red Rec to watch the eclipse. Caught up in the moment, Spider kisses Toyah and they make love in the tent, causing them to miss the event. Afterwards, Toyah's on cloud nine but Spider feels he's taken advantage and avoids her. Accepting that she's now a woman, Spider begins a relationship with Toyah, and tells Emily they're together.
• Fred calls at Kathleen's home and warns her that Ashley is looking for her, having lied to his son about her being in Australia. He's able to convince Ashley to give up his search by warning him how much it would hurt Beryl, but a curious Kathleen buys meat from him at Freshco without revealing her identity and decides that she wants to meet him after all.
• Toyah gets five GCSEs, including an A for English. Les and Janice throw a party to celebrate her results.
• Alma treats herself to holiday to Spain. Back in Weatherfield, she tells her friends she's met a man called Anthony from Kent.
• Sharon plans a dirty weekend away with Danny and asks an embarrassed Sally to look after his stall while he's away.
• Steve goes to Amsterdam to smuggle something other than tobacco for someone.

September

• Maud about to give £10,000 to the Heskeths when Blanche shows her the wills in the Gazette showing that Sidney's estate actually came to £60,000. Realising the Heskeths were conning her out of her inheritance, she decides to spend the money on a trip with Emily to the Far East to scatter Sidney's ashes on the site of the bridge over the River Kwai.
• Emily thinks Toyah is too young for Spider and challenges them to tell the Battersbys if they think there's nothing wrong with it. They tell Janice, who in turn informs Les. Les goes berserk and nearly hits Spider when he says he loves Toyah. His thuggery leads Toyah to move out of No.5 and into No.3, with Emily agreeing on the condition that she and Spider sleep apart. When she discovers they've disobeyed her, she tells Toyah to leave, and Curly reluctantly takes her and Spider in.
• Fred reveals to Ashley that Kathleen lives in Oldham and wants to meet him. He gains Beryl's blessing before going to her house, but leaves without knocking on the door, deciding he doesn't need her in his life. When Kathleen shows up at the butcher's counter and reveals her identity, Ashley rejects her, but curiosity gets the better of him and he invites her over to find out more about her. They agree to get to know each other and he invites her to the wedding, though she declines out of respect for Beryl.
• Jim thinks Steve is trafficking drugs and rows with Lee in the Rovers. He's relieved to discover that he was actually smuggling a dog, Polly, into the country for a Mr Downing.
• Natalie hires Vinny to work at the Rovers full-time when the brewery disciplines him for moonlighting. Vera lays into her for firing Jack, but Jack doesn't mind as he isn't up to the job anymore. He leaves the pub after 14 years, masking his horror when Tyrone presents him with a stuffed and mounted Fergie the pigeon as a keepsake.
• Joan Wakefield makes a foolhardy attempt to heal the rift with Alison that sees the latter swearing off her parents for good when she's again accused of killing Cheryl. Kevin assures Alison that he believes in her, but when she's late home with Rosie and Sophie one day, he worries that the girls aren't safe in her care and confides in Sally about the part she played in Cheryl's death. Alison and the girls return safely after having their photos taken professionally as a birthday surprise for Kevin. Finding out that Kevin had thought she could harm them and called the police, Alison breaks off the engagement. She resigns from Underworld and leaves Kevin, ignoring his pleas for forgiveness.
• Les forgets his and Janice's fifth anniversary. Toyah reminds him in time for Les and Janice to enjoy a meal Janice has cooked for them.
• Becky says her first word: "Dadada", much to Gary's delight.
• Natalie complains to Kevin that the garage isn't making enough money. Bitter about Alison leaving him, Kevin fires Jim and Tyrone and tells them they can blame Natalie, which causes confusion when Jack rows with Natalie on Tyrone's behalf. Natalie makes Kevin realise he's lashing out at the wrong people and he reinstates Jim and Tyrone. Jim takes over training Tyrone to take the pressure off Kevin.
• Sharon and Danny have their weekend break in Blackpool, which Sharon enjoys more than Danny. When a fellow market trader passes away, Danny and Sally go to the funeral. He realises that she's who he wants to be with and declares his feelings for her, but Sally spurns him. Sharon, oblivious to this, asks Danny to move in with her, causing him to finish with her. Sally keeps resisting Danny so as not to hurt Sharon, but eventually succumbs to temptation and goes to bed with him. Danny reveals to Sharon that he's back with Sally to stop her from getting her hopes up, and a rancorous Sharon says she hopes they both rot in hell. Bitter and lonely, Sharon trashes the Kabin in a rage after seeing the couple set off for Ashley and Maxine's wedding. She knocks back the booze in the flat, leaves a drunken message on Ian's answerphone, and starts taking tablets. When she comes round, she dismisses Rita's idea that she planned to kill herself and vows to regain control of her life. She's shocked when Ian visits her, concerned about the message, and tells her he still thinks about her.
• Maxine has a falling out with her friend Melanie when she refuses to give back her wedding slot now that Melanie's back with her fiancé Philip Hodson. Having lost her bridesmaid, Maxine refuses to have a hen night, but Doreen drags her to the Rovers in pyjamas and handcuffs for the party and Tom brings Melanie over and gets the women to make up. Meanwhile, Ashley's stag night at the golf club is a damp squib as the steward refuses to let the stripper perform. On the wedding day, Maxine is driven to the church in a Rolls Royce and marries Ashley after being given away by Derek Heavey. Ashley is thrilled to see Kathleen waiting outside the church, and makes sure she and Fred are in the wedding photographs. Melanie and Tom christen the bridal suite, while Ashley overcomes his nerves to board the plane to the Caribbean.
• Audrey's put out when Fred smothers Kathleen with attention at the wedding.

Gary embraces his dead wife

• Vera's car is hit in Freshco's car park while she's giving Judy a lift. Despite suffering a bump on her leg, Judy thinks it's not serious and doesn't make the effort to see a doctor. Jim discovers the vehicle is a cut-and-shut job when he examines the car, but Vera insists that Terry can't have known as he wouldn't sell her a death trap. Whilst Gary is acting as best man at the wedding, Judy collapses in her back yard. The sound of the twins crying attracts Emily's attention, and she finds Judy's lifeless body. Natalie brings Gary home from the wedding where Ken breaks the news that his wife is dead. Gary's in disbelief until the doctors tell him she died of an embolism caused by the leg injury. Jack summons Terry, who claims ignorance about the condition of the car.

October

• Terry steals Vera's car from the garage while everyone is at Judy's funeral and has it crushed at a scrapyard before leaving Weatherfield. Gary eventually forgives Jack and Vera, satisfied that Vera bought the car in good faith, and reports Terry to the police in the hope of obtaining justice for Judy, but they don't pursue the matter. Struggling to cope with the twins, Gary goes to stay with his parents for a while.
• Emily entrusts Spider with looking after No.3 before leaving for the Far East with Maud. Meanwhile, Curly gets sick of feeling like a guest in his own house and tells Toyah to leave. Spider puts the tent up on the Red Rec for them, but Toyah misses her home comforts and moves in with Les and Janice after a few nights. Spider returns to Emily's, where Toyah plans a romantic evening by filling the house with candles. They're bathing together when a candle falls over downstairs and sets the curtain on fire. Although they're able to put the fire out, the back room is gutted. Spider tracks down Emily's discontinued wallpaper pattern and gets Hayley to repair the curtains in order to restore it, but Emily notices immediately that it has been redecorated upon her return. The pair avoid a falling out when Emily repays Spider the cost of the redecoration, and Spider rips up the cheque, proving that their relationship is worth more than money.
• Fred asks Kathleen if they can be more than friends. She turns him down flat.
• Rita rows with Sharon when she begin stocking fireworks at the Kabin, telling her about Mark Hillkirk's accident in 1973. Sharon overrules Rita, reminding her that it's her shop now.
• Linda moves in with Mike upon their return from Bali, at his invitation. She crosses the line at the factory when she finds Deirdre's birthday card for Ken and reads the saucy messages to Mike, causing Deirdre to resign. Mike manages to get Deirdre back, but fires Linda. Linda returns to her old firm, Wheelers, incurring Mike's jealousy as the owner, Paul Wheeler, is an ex-lover of hers. When Linda complains that Paul is pestering her, Mike insists she returns to Underworld.
• Blanche disregards Ken's wish for a low-key 60th birthday by putting an announcement out on local radio that results in him taking calls from ex-pupils all day. Things pick up with his party at the Rovers, at which Tracy and Robert are surprise guests. Meanwhile, Alma asks Mike to buy her out of their flat. Hearing that Ken received a lump sum with his pension, Mike demands his £10,000 back which he used for Deirdre's defence. Ken pays up so that Deirdre isn't beholden to Mike.
• Gail has a pregnancy scare. To ensure she doesn't get pregnant again, she orders Martin to have a vasectomy, but Martin refuses.
• Sharon starts seeing Ian again. Their relationship moves apace, but Sharon nearly blows it by parading Ian at the Rovers to upset Natalie, making him think she only wants him as a trophy. They make up, and Ian asks Sharon to marry him. Swept off her feet, she accepts. The couple opt for a low-key register office wedding and ask Sally and Danny to be their witnesses, with Sharon being too afraid to tell Rita about the engagement.
• After the fire, Spider and Toyah move into Flat 3, 6 Arnica Street. Spider starts job-hunting and applies for a job as a claims assistant at the DSS, but is concerned that working for the government goes against his principles. The interviewer, Tim Munson aka "Ganja Timmy", an old friend of his, convinces Spider to take the job and work the system from within. Upon starting, Spider discovers that Les has been claiming benefits while working and winds him up by sending him a letter asking him to come in for an interview.
• Vinny starts selling his home brew stout at the Rovers, calling it Vinny's Velvet. When Harvey Nuttall warns Natalie that she's breaking their legal agreement by serving it through one of Nuttall's pumps, she threatens to stop selling his beer at the Rovers, causing him to backtrack and provide a special pump for the brew.
• Roy and Hayley join the Weatherfield First Aiders after Roy saves Curly from choking in the cafe. Roy is peeved when Hayley is the star pupil on their first lesson, undeservedly in his view. When he continually criticises her technique, Hayley sticks a plaster over his mouth.
• Deirdre receives a date for her appeal hearing.
• Hayley befriends Gwen Loveday, a new machinist at Underworld who has recently split from her army husband Laurie.
• Maxine returns from her honeymoon alone after Ashley chooses to work his passage on a ship rather than fly home. Doreen dumps herself on her daughter when she leaves Derek, sick of their humdrum lives. An attempt by Maxine to mediate between her parents fails, and Doreen remains in residence when Ashley arrives home. With Maxine refusing to have sex while under the same roof as her mother, Ashley gives Derek a pep talk, which causes further acrimony when Derek offers to forgive Doreen, and she throws him out.
• Tom rents the salon flat after Maxine moves out, using his inheritance from his mother Laura for the deposit. He's horrified when his father Duggie tracks him down, wanting a reconciliation. The reunion goes badly, with Duggie belittling Tom for being a hairdresser and getting himself ejected from the Rovers for being heavy-handed with his son. Meanwhile, Tom continues his affair with Melanie, much to Maxine's disapproval. After he plucks up the courage to end it, Melanie is seen coming out of his flat by Philip Hodson. Melanie accuses Tom of pestering her, but Philip doesn't believe her and dumps her.
• On the anniversary of her wedding to Des, Jim finds Natalie crying outside No.6 and comforts her. She decides to sell No.6.

Tyrone meets his one true love

• Tyrone takes in a stray greyhound who has attached herself to him, naming her Monica. Vera allows her to remain at the Park Road B&B as long as she sleeps in the shed, but withdraws her invitation after being kept up all night by Monica's howling. Bsotted with the dog, Tyrone sleeps in the shed with her to keep her quiet.
• Ravi flies to India when his brother Raj dies, leaving Vik to run the shop.

November

Note: The events of Coronation Street - After Hours, where Steve McDonald and Vikram Desai go to Brighton, are not included here.

• Derek Heavey blocks the road with his truck and refuses to move it until Doreen takes him back. When the police turn up, Doreen realises he'd rather go to prison than live his life without her, and returns to him, to Ashley and Maxine's relief.
• Sharon waits until she's married Ian before telling Rita about the engagement. Rita thinks it'll end in tears and refuses to be happy for her, causing friction at the Kabin. Planning their future, Ian interests Sharon in buying a £90,000 house, convincing her to sell the shop to pay for it. Meanwhile, Rita makes more of an effort with the couple, laying on a spread and asking for a fresh start with them. She's furious when Sharon tells her she's selling the Kabin, but Sharon refuses to put her life on hold out of obligation to her. Rita buys the newsagent back for the £45,000 asking price, telling Sharon it's all she'll ever get from her. The pair part on bad terms as the Bentleys leave the street.
• Vik joins Steve on a booze run to Calais. Running the shop while Ravi is in India, Nita discovers that Vik took £1,000 of the takings with him, and finds out he's lying about visiting their cousin Dev Alahan in Birmingham when Dev phones her and reveals that he hasn't seen Vik. Vik and Steve return from Calais penniless and without Steve's van, which has been seized by customs. Steve sells the van to Kevin in order to pay off Customs and Excise, while Nita orders Vik to repay the £1,000. Dev arrives to help his cousins at the shop.
• Les goes for his interview at the DSS, where he begrudgingly gives his blessing to Spider and Toyah in exchange for Spider not reporting him for benefit fraud. When he's called in for another interview, Les is confronted by fraud investigation officer Miss Finch with photos of him working while signing on. Everyone assumes that Spider shopped Les, but he pleads innocence. To please Toyah, Spider steals Les's file from Miss Finch's office. He's caught shredding it, but is let off with a warning. Meanwhile, Les is charged and asked to provide character references. When no one will vouch for him, he tries to make himself more popular by signing up for a sponsored silence.
• The Freshco-sponsored firework display goes awry when a rocket lands on the first aid tent and starts a fire. Roy quickly evacuates the tent, and no one is badly hurt.
• Vera gives Tyrone a week to get rid of Monica. Tyrone traces the owner through a microchip in the dog's ear with their address on it, but is allowed to keep the dog by the owner's wife, Mrs Hardcastle, to spite her husband for leaving her. Vinny persuades Tyrone to race Monica, and the lads form a syndicate to train her. When the RSPCA receives a complaint about Monica savaging an animal, Jack confesses to a furious Vera that they were using her fluffy slipper as the hare.
• Sarah Louise starts smoking to impress her friend Candice Stowe. Gail and Martin find out when Nita tells them she tried to buy cigarettes from the shop, but Martin dismisses it as a phase. Martin later undermines Gail by giving Sarah money for new shoes after Gail has told her she can't have them, deepening the growing rift between the couple. Annoyed at the way Gail bosses everyone about, Martin starts spending time away from her, taking up football and working overtime at the hospital. Sarah gets a paper round at the Kabin.
• Gary returns from his parents' but upsets everyone by refusing the collection money they've raised for him and the twins, telling them he doesn't want charity. He later rips into Shane when he takes the twins for a walk when he's asleep, threatening to kill him if he touches them again. Shane returns to Newcastle in disgust, and without his help Gary struggles with the twins and breaks down in front of Ashley. He changes his tune, accepting the charity money gracefully, asking Emily to babysit, and paying off his mortgage with Judy's life insurance.
• Liz McDonald writes to Jim saying she's marrying Michael Wall. Jim is depressed that his life hasn't moved on since his split from Liz and makes a drunken pass at Natalie. Embarrassed, they agree not to let it spoil their friendship.
• Mark Redman arrives to stay with Mike. Mike is excited to have his son around and puts him to work at the factory making deliveries, but Linda doesn't like him as he sees her as a gold digger. Linda catches Mark and Leanne in bed together after Leanne drops Vik to go out with Mark.

The "Forward with Freshco" weekend turns out to be an endurance test in more ways than one

• Curly assembles a ragtag team of Ken, Nita, Fred, Ashley and Alma for the "Forward with Freshco" team bonding weekend. The group are appalled when they arrive at the Benbury Lodge to find it's run like a prison camp, with them being constantly assessed. Thanks to Nita, they pass their first test of using planks to cross a river, despite Fred falling in. Next, they're driven into the moors at 1.30am and tasked with making their own way back for breakfast. They succeed, taking turns carrying Fred on an old gate when he twists his ankle, even after they catch him secretly eating chocolate. Nita challenges Curly for the leadership when his dictator-like approach annoys the group. Afterwards, she's presented with the individual award for achievement by Freshco boss James Kitching, who asks her out.
• The residents snub the council's millennum party due to its VIP dinner being for invited guests only. At Roy's suggestion, they decide to hold a fancy dress party in the street instead.
• Mike and Linda are pulled over by the police while driving home from dinner. Mike is breathalysed and tests positive. Banned from driving for a year, he recruits Mark as his driver in exchange for giving his son the use of the vehicle.
• Blanche gives herself the job of assistant at the Kabin to replace Sharon. Rita tries her out, but is worn out by her constant criticisms.

December

• Against all odds, Les finishes his ten-hour sponsored silence, raising £103.57 for charity.
• Deirdre's conviction for fraud is quashed at the Court of Appeal.

Norris Cole begins his 18-year stint at The Kabin

• Rita's patience with Blanche is exhausted and she decides to fire her, but Blanche resigns first, saying Rita is too moody to work with. Rita offers the assistant's job to Norris Cole after he comes into the Kabin selling Guarana chewing gum. Norris keenly accepts and moves into the Park Road B&B as a paying guest. Rita finds Norris tolerable, but is bewildered when he tells her over dinner that he has no romantic interest in her.
• James Kitching recommends Nita for a job at Freshco's head office. Nita goes out with him, and they spend the night together. However, when she fails to get the job, Nita realises James was leading her on to get her into bed.
• Gail lifts the sex ban as a means of patching up her marriage, but Martin doesn't want to be intimate with her. At the hospital, Martin befriends a young nurse, Rebecca Hopkins, who confides her own marriage problems in him. When Gail sees Martin getting into a car with Rebecca, she accuses him of having an affair. Things start to get better between them when Gail tells Martin she knows he's been faithful and she's the one with the problem. At the nurses' party, the Platts see Rebecca's husband Jerry abusing her, and Gail starts to feel sorry for her, getting Martin to bring her over to No.8 for dinner. After a difficult day in casualty, Martin and Rebecca make love in the hospital storeroom. Martin tries to back away from Rebecca out of guilt, but when Jerry gives her a black eye and she leaves him, he feels obligated to support her.
• Gwen is drawn to Jim when she finds out he used to serve in her husband's old regiment, the Royal Engineers. They start to date but when Gwen spends Christmas with her sister instead of Jim, he takes it as a rejection.
• Fred and Ashley dress as Santa Claus and his Elf to sell reindeer meat at Freshco. When no one wants to buy it, Fred stages an attack on Santa's grotto until one of the kids kicks him in the ankle.
• Monica aka "Tyrone's Torpedo" wins her first race at the dog track. Her career comes to an abrupt end when she's knocked over by Mark driving Mike's Jag and needs a pin in her leg.
• Danny books a family holiday for him, Sally, Rosie and Sophie over Christmas. As he won't see them on the day, Kevin has an early Christmas with the girls. Sally receives a Christmas card from Alison and reveals to Kevin that she's working in a cafe in Morecambe. He scours the cafes in the seaside town until he finds her, and is shocked when she tells him she's three months pregnant. She refuses his entreaties to return to Weatherfield.
• Ravi sells all his shops to Dev as he needs the money in India. Vik is persuaded to stay on as manager when Dev offers to wipe out his £1,000 debt.
• Jack and Vera buy Tyrone a set of driving lessons for his 17th birthday. When Tyrone admits he can't read or write, Vera gets Ken to teach him.
• Leanne receives her decree absolute and changes her name back to "Battersby". Meanwhile, Steve finds out that Lee Sankey is in prison for drug dealing and his patch has been taken over by Jez Quigley. When Toyah and Spider throw a flat-warming party, a coked-up Leanne makes a scene and ruins the party after Jez slips her some drugs. She becomes addicted and steals £50 from the Baldwins' flat to buy more, causing Mark to dump her for being a thief. Toyah sees Leanne buying drugs from Jez and tries to talk sense into her, but Leanne spurns her and the sisters fall out. Unable to pay Jez the £200 she owes him, Leanne goes out with him to keep him happy, but refuses to sleep with him. He arranges to have the Rovers robbed on New Year's Eve and frightens Leanne into agreeing to unlock the door for his goons.
• Linda plans the Underworld Christmas party, with Deirdre persuading Mike to pay half the costs after Linda fails to convince him. Meanwhile, Alma and Mike become nostalgic after receiving their decree nisis. While the party is going on, Mike takes Alma for a meal, where they bury the hatchet. He returns to the flat to find that Linda has brought all her friends there, and throws them out, humiliating his girlfriend. Linda sours further when Leanne tells her he spent the evening with Alma. After publicly accusing Alma of scheming to get Mike back, she leaves him and goes to stay with Nita.
• The Peacocks go out leaving the bath running and return to find No.4 flooded. As they're planning to entertain on Christmas Day, Maxine pays builder Pat Hegherty double to have the house back to normal before then. Fred thinks the couple are having a baby when he hears Ashley talking about a new addition to the family. In anticipation, he gives them the house as a present, only to find that the addition is a kitten.
• Roy is elected chairman of the street's Millennium party. Ken engenders Audrey's support by calling in the press, appealing to her vanity, but the council refuses to close the street for the party. The residents agree to press on regardless. Steve offers to run a tombola for Emily, thinking he'll take in plenty of money. Natalie nearly has to close the Rovers on the night until Leanne volunteers to work a shift.
• Terry turns up at the B&B on Christmas Day while the Duckworths are entertaining Gary and the twins. Gary thumps Terry for killing Judy, and his parents don't defend him, with Vera throwing Terry out saying she never wants to see him again.
• Ashley's shipmate Sergei Kasparov turns up at No.4 and invites himself for Christmas. Audrey is charmed by him and agrees to show him around Weatherfield, upsetting Fred. When Sergei asks her to marry him, Audrey turns him down, realising that she's chasing a fantasy. They're interrupted by the police by arrest Sergei for jumping ship, and Audrey realises he was only after a passport.
• Natalie entertains Jim, Kevin and Curly on Christmas Day. Their depression rubs off on her and she opens their Rovers for an escape. Later, she and Vinny acknowledge their attraction to each other and sleep together. They decide to keep their relationship a secret.
• Duggie buys into the new Victoria Street development and offers to set Tom up in his own hair salon. Tom isn't interested.

Who lives where

Coronation Street

• Rovers Return Inn - Jack Duckworth. Vera Duckworth (both part of January only). Natalie Barnes (from January onwards). Leanne Tilsley/Battersby (from June onwards). Vinny Sorrell (from November onwards).
• 1 Coronation Street - Ken Barlow. Deirdre Rachid (from April onwards).
• 2a Coronation Street - Maxine Heavey (until July). Tom Ferguson (from October onwards).
• 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop. Spider Nugent (until August and October only). Curly Watts (March only).
• 4 Coronation Street - Ashley Peacock. Nick Tilsley (until April). Leanne Tilsley (until June). Maxine Heavey/Peacock (from July). Doreen Heavey (October only). Sergei Kasparov (December only).
• 5 Coronation Street - Les Battersby. Janice Battersby. Toyah Battersby (until August and October only).
• 6 Coronation Street - Natalie Barnes (part of January only). Sally Webster (January to March). Sharon Gaskell (February to March). Rosie Webster. Sophie Webster (both from February to March).
• 7 Coronation Street - Jackie Dobbs. Tyrone Dobbs (both until March). Curly Watts (from last week of March onwards). Kevin Webster (April to June). Spider Nugent. Toyah Battersby (both September only).
• 8 Coronation Street - Martin Platt. Gail Platt. Sarah Louise Platt and David Platt.
• 9 Coronation Street - Judy Mallett (until September), Gary Mallett. Billy Mallett. Becky Mallett.
• 10a Coronation Street - Rita Sullivan. Sally Webster (January only).
• 11 Coronation Street - Jim McDonald. Steve McDonald (from March).
• 12 Coronation Street - Sharon Gaskell/Bentley (March to November).
• 13 Coronation Street - Kevin Webster (until March). Sally Webster (from March onwards). Rosie Webster. Sophie Webster (both until February, then from March onwards).
• Corner Shop flat - Nita Desai (February onwards).

Rosamund Street

• Roy's Rolls flat - Roy Cropper. Hayley Patterson (both until February).

Victoria Street

• 16a Victoria Street - Roy Cropper. Hayley Patterson/Cropper (both from February onwards).
• 17 Victoria Street - Deirdre Rachid (until March). Kevin Webster (from July onwards). Alison Wakefield (July to September).

Others

• Flat 3, 6 Arnica Street - Linda Sykes (until October). Spider Nugent. Toyah Battersby (both from October onwards).
• 2 Douglas Road - Doreen Heavey (January to September, and then from November onwards).
• 5 Grasmere Drive - Alf Roberts (until January). Audrey Roberts. Alma Baldwin (from May onwards).
• 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Williams
• Mayfield Court - Maud Grimes
• No. 4 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays - Mike Baldwin. Alma Baldwin (until May). Linda Sykes (from October onwards). Mark Redman (from November onwards).
• Park Road B&B - Eunice Gee (until May). Jack Duckworth. Vera Duckworth (both from January onwards). Tyrone Dobbs (from July onwards). Norris Cole (from December onwards).
• 23 Seymour Drive, Oakhill - Fred Elliott.
• 4 The Brambles, Oakhill - Duggie Ferguson.

Awards and nominations

BAFTA
Ceremony held on 9th May 1999

• Best Soap and Continuing Drama: Coronation Street (Nominee - First year given)

British Soap Awards
Ceremony televised on 19th May 1999 - First year held

• Best British Soap: Coronation Street (Winner)
• Best Actor: David Neilson (Nominee)
• Best Actress: Julie Hesmondhalgh (Nominee)
• Sexiest Male: Adam Rickitt (Nominee)
• Sexiest Female: Tracy Shaw (Nominee), Denise Welch (Nominee)
• Best Exit: Philip Middlemiss (Nominee)
• Best Comedy Performance: John Savident (Winner), David Neilson (Nominee)
• Best Dramatic Performance: Georgia Taylor (Nominee)
• Best On-Screen Partnership: David Neilson & Julie Hesmondhalgh (Winners), Bill Tarmey & Liz Dawn (Nominees)
• Villain of the Year: Stephen Billington (Winner)
• Best Storyline: Roy and Hayley's courtship and marriage (Nominee)
• Special Achievement Award: William Roache

Inside Soap Awards

• Best Young Actor: Alan Halsall (Winner)
• Best Comic Performer: John Savident (Winner)

National Television Awards
Ceremony held on 26th October 1999

• Most Popular Serial Drama: Coronation Street (Winner)
• Most Popular Actor: Steven Arnold (Nominee)
• Most Popular Actress: Julie Hesmondhalgh (Nominee)
• Most Popular Newcomer: Alan Halsall (Nominee), Naomi Radcliffe (Nominee)

TV Quick Awards

• Best Soap Actress: Julie Hesmondhalgh (Winner)
• Best Soap Actor: David Neilson (Nominee)
• Best Newcomer: Alan Halsall (Nominee)
• Best Soap: Coronation Street (Nominee)