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2000

2001 was Coronation Street's forty-second year.

Main characters[]

Ranking Character Played by Duration Number of Episodes Running total Previous year's ranking
1 Janice Battersby Vicky Entwistle Full year except for March 128 608 2
2 Duggie Ferguson John Bowe Full year 124 231 11
2 Gail Platt Helen Worth Full year 124 2230 1
4 Geena Gregory Jennifer James Full year 121 222 12
5 Toyah Battersby Georgia Taylor Full year 117 495 13
6 Mike Baldwin Johnny Briggs Full year except for May 114 1955 7
7 Dennis Stringer Charles Dale Full year 112 164 42
8 Sarah Platt Tina O'Brien Full year 108 643 6
9 Roy Cropper David Neilson Full year 105 506 20
9 Tyrone Dobbs Alan Halsall Full year 105 317 10
11 Peter Barlow Chris Gascoyne Full year 101 169 64
11 Sally Webster Sally Whittaker Full year 101 1342 29
13 Les Battersby Bruce Jones Full year except for March 100 486 19
14 Eileen Grimshaw Sue Cleaver Full year 99 131 53
15 Fred Elliott John Savident Full year 98 526 21
16 Audrey Roberts Sue Nicholls Full year 97 1474 18
17 Ken Barlow William Roache Full year 96 3017 16
17 Vera Duckworth Elizabeth Dawn Full year 96 1897 13
19 Matt Ramsden Stephen Beckett Full year 95 102 67
20 Sam Kingston Scott Wright Full year except for October 93 109 63
20 Steve McDonald Simon Gregson Full year 93 950 8
20 Rita Sullivan Barbara Knox Full year 93 2414 21
23 Ashley Peacock Steven Arnold Full year 91 539 35
24 Dev Alahan Jimmi Harkishin Full year except for November 90 177 25
25 Karen Phillips/McDonald Suranne Jones Full year except for April 88 116 54
25 David Platt Jack P. Shepherd Full year 88 511 26
27 Maxine Peacock Tracy Shaw Full year 87 578 32
28 Vikram Desai Chris Bisson Full year 86 235 24
28 Kevin Webster Michael Le Vell Full year 86 1478 32
30 Jason Grimshaw Ryan Thomas Full year except for August 85 86 74
31 Deirdre Rachid Anne Kirkbride Full year except for July 83 2131 22
32 Hayley Cropper Julie Hesmondhalgh Full year except for March, October and November 82 357 15
32 Curly Watts Kevin Kennedy Full year 82 1401 29
34 Todd Grimshaw Bruno Langley From January 76 76 -
34 Martin Platt Sean Wilson Full year 76 1261 4
34 Charlie Ramsden Clare McGlinn Full year 76 82 70
37 Shelley Unwin Sally Lindsay From May 74 74 -
38 Linda Baldwin Jacqueline Pirie/Chadwick Until September 69 329 5
39 Norris Cole Malcolm Hebden Full year 68 226 28
39 Jack Duckworth William Tarmey Full year except for March 68 1649 37
41 Emma Watts Angela Lonsdale Full year 67 124 40
42 Candice Stowe Nikki Sanderson Full year except for April 62 117 43
43 Evelyn Sykes/Elliott Melanie Kilburn April to May and from August 61 62 74
44 Betty Williams Betty Driver Full year 60 2311 39
45 Bobbi Lewis Naomi Ryan Full year except for July 59 104 47
46 Fiz Brown Jennie McAlpine April and from August 56 56 -
47 Molly Hardcastle Jacqueline Kington Full year 55 60 71
47 Maria Sutherland Samia Smith Full year except for February 55 96 49
49 Alma Halliwell Amanda Barrie Until June 51 1135 44
49 Rosie Webster Helen Flanagan Full year except for March and June 51 499 58
51 Sophie Webster Emma Woodward Full year except for March and May 50 282 59
52 Sunita Parekh Shobna Gulati March to May and from July 49 49 -
53 Blanche Hunt Maggie Jones Full year except for April and June 48 221 48
54 Bethany Platt Amy & Emily Walton Full year 47 101 41
55 Adam Barlow Iain De Caestecker January to April, July and October 45 45 -
56 Emily Bishop Eileen Derbyshire Full year 43 2514 45
56 Richard Hillman Brian Capron From June 43 43 -
58 Anthony Stephens John Quayle Until July 32 67 51
59 Danny Hargreaves Richard Standing Until April 31 148 38
60 Edna Miller Joan Kempson Until September 29 50 57
61 Kirk Sutherland Andrew Whyment January, March, May to June, August to September and November to December 21 22 74
62 Terry Duckworth Nigel Pivaro October to December 17 340 71
63 Susan Barlow Joanna Foster January and February 8 177 -
64 Liz McDonald Beverley Callard January only 7 918 50
65 Spider Nugent Martin Hancock November only 6 236 55
66 Mark Redman Paul Fox September only 3 154 32
66 Ben Watts Stephen Collins December only 3 3 -
68 Andrea Clayton Caroline O'Neill November only 1 41 65
68 Paul Clayton Lee Booth November only 1 8 67

Production[]

Issues[]

Toyah rape

The "whodunit" style storyline of Toyah Battersby's rape proves controversial

In its second year under executive producer Jane Macnaught, Coronation Street continued to revolve around blockbuster storylines. As Sarah Platt's teenage pregnancy storyline had been popular, writers created more issue-led plots, including the assault and rape of Toyah Battersby, Alma Halliwell's death by cervical cancer, the abuse of Wayne Hayes by his stepfather Alex Swinton and Sarah Platt being groomed by a pervert on an internet chatroom. Compared with the earlier storyline, reactions to these plots were mixed and none were notably successful in the ratings.

Toyah's rape by an unseen assailant was played as a whodunit, with Toyah's friend Phil Simmonds later being unveiled as the culprit. Though the performance of Georgia Taylor was praised, the decision to frame the storyline around a "whodunit"-style mystery was lambasted, with The Mirror and the Daily Record accusing the programme of trivialising the impact of the rape itself. Due to the storyline airing immediately after EastEnders's popular "Who shot Phil Mitchell?" plot, the storyline was interpreted by critics as an attempt by Coronation Street to hit back with a mystery of its own.

Alma was killed off in June after Amanda Barrie quit the programme, 20 years after her first appearance. The cervical cancer storyline proceeded at a rapid pace, with Alma discovering that she had the terminal illness and passing away six weeks later, the late diagnosis occurring due to the hospital mixing up her smear test results. Despite the on-screen explanation, Barrie disliked the storyline, referring to it as a "cheap ratings ploy" for giving the impression that cancer sufferers had just weeks to live after being diagnosed, although she conceded that the storyline had had the positive effect of encouraging more women to have smear tests.

Cast changes[]

In March, three months after its 40th anniversary, Coronation Street broadcast its 5000th episode. The hour-long instalment centred on a custody hearing at which Mike Baldwin beat Ken Barlow in obtaining guardianship of Adam Barlow, Mike's son and Ken's grandson. Susan Barlow made her first appearance since 1987 in January (recast with Joanna Foster) for the storyline which saw Mike discover that he had a 12-year-old son and that Susan had lied about having an abortion when they split. So that the fight would be between Ken and Mike, writers killed off Susan in a car crash. Iain De Caestecker played Adam on a recurring basis between 2001 and 2003.

Eileen jason todd grimshaw 2001

The Grimshaws take over No.11

The empty No.11 was rented out by Steve McDonald to Eileen Grimshaw and her teenage sons Jason and Todd, with Bruno Langley joining the cast as bookish mummy's boy Todd. Daran Little planned Todd as Coronation Street's first gay character, based partially on himself, although his coming out story was held back until 2004. Little - previously the programme's archivist - joined the writing team at the beginning of the year. His successor as archivist was Helen Nugent.

Other newcomers included Brian Capron as financial adviser Richard Hillman, nefarious love interest for Gail Platt, Sally Lindsay as new Rovers barmaid Shelley Unwin, Jennie McAlpine as Fiz Brown, a redheaded foster child who caused havoc for Roy and Hayley Cropper before setting her cap at Tyrone Dobbs, and Shobna Gulati as Sunita Parekh, demure friend of Dev Alahan's trying to escape an arranged marriage.

The Rovers changed hands for the fourth time in as many years as Mike and Fred Elliott sold their shares to Hamilton Griffiths Holdings, only to discover that their partner Duggie Ferguson owned it. Duggie himself auctioned off the Rovers at the end of the year, and it was bought by Fred for his wife Eve to run as landlady. Melanie Kilburn returned as Eve, who married Fred in September.

Aside from Amanda Barrie, Jacqueline Chadwick was the main departee. Chadwick had been due to go on maternity leave, but complications in her pregnancy forced her to leave a few days early. As her exit scenes were yet to be filmed, Chadwick was asked to work on, but the actress refused and so Linda Baldwin's planned last appearance was rewritten so that she was only seen from afar and could be played by an extra. Chadwick did not return after her maternity leave.

Richard Standing made his final appearance as Danny Hargreaves, who walked out on Sally Webster after she confessed, on their wedding day, that she had slept with Kevin a year earlier. John Quayle left the role of Anthony Stephens after one year, with Anthony going to New Zealand on his own after Rita Sullivan turned down his proposal of marriage. Doom-monger Edna Miller died in Duggie Ferguson's bed but, in one of the more unusual instances of an actor playing different characters, actress Joan Kempson re-appeared in the programme as Edna's equally gloomy sister Iris Merry at Edna's funeral.

Julie Hesmondhalgh was absent between September and December as the actress went on maternity leave.

Extra episode[]

Following a 12% slump in ad revenues, ITV became more dependent on its proven successes. It had already increased Emmerdale's weekly output from three to five episodes the previous year, and mounted a revival of Crossroads in May, which also ran at five episodes per week. In the Spring, the network ordered additional Coronation Street to bring it into line with the other soaps on the channel.

Unlike the introduction of the Friday and Sunday episodes in 1989 and 1996, the existing shooting schedule remained in place, with the only change being an increase in workload. To enable a smooth transition to producing five episodes a week, output was increased gradually over the course of two years, at the end of which the new episode was fixed at 8.30pm (the half-hour gap designed to avoid a clash with that evening's episode of EastEnders). Prior to that, many weeks still contained only four episodes, and many had extended episodes (notably, the aftermath of Toyah's rape was shown in a 70-minute slot, making it the longest episode of the programme to this date). The second half of 2001 featured a run of episodes, broadcast on Thursdays, which were advertised as specials. Many of these featured smaller casts and focused on a single storyline, or were shot totally on location to avoid taking studio time from other episodes. These included a Derbyshire camping holiday with the Platts, Websters and Croppers, Fred and Eve's wedding at which Linda Baldwin went missing, and Mike confronting Alma about her illness in the Lake District.

Removal of Jane Macnaught[]

In October, after being in charge of Coronation Street for two years, Jane Macnaught was appointed New Dramas producer at Granada, to work under Carolyn Reynolds, leaving Coronation Street without a producer. Reynolds became its executive producer again and took on the day-to-day running of the programme until its new producer, former Emmerdale boss Kieran Roberts, took up the post in December. Despite leaving her position immediately, Macnaught remained credited as executive producer until March 2002.

Viewing figures[]

2001 ratings

Ratings chart for the year

At the end of the year, BARB stopped its practice of recording only aggregated figures for programmes which were repeated in the same week as their initial showing, and so this is the last year where ratings which exclude omnibus repeats are not available.

For the second year in a row, Coronation Street lost over a million viewers compared with the one before. The average was 13.25 million viewers, a 9% fall from 2000's figure. As in that year, every month was down on year-on-year, with the magnitude of the drops fluctuating from month to month from as low as 300,000 viewers in April to 2.5 million viewers in February.

After maintaining a huge presence atop the viewing charts since 1989, Coronation Street saw just three episodes reach number one, the lowest since the late 1980s (when EastEnders had an advantage over Coronation Street due to launching with an omnibus; prior to that, the latest year to have less than ten episodes at number one was 1978).

Episode 5090 on 10th August was shown opposite EastEnders, the first time that regular 30-minute length episodes of the programmes had clashed. The head-to-head occurred when the BBC chose to launch their soap's fourth weekly episode on that date at 8.00pm, where Coronation Street had been previously scheduled due to an hour-long Emmerdale being shown at 7.00pm. Under normal circumstances, due to the large number of people who watched both programmes ITV and the BBC never scheduled them against each other. EastEnders gained 13.98 million viewers against Coronation Street's 8.55 million viewers.

Episodes[]

# Ep.
No.
Date Part Writer Director Viewing
Figures
(With omnibus
except where
marked #)
Chart
Position
1 4960 Monday 1st January Jo O'Keefe Philip Wood 16,400,000 4
2 4961 Wednesday 3rd January Phil Ford Philip Wood 16,360,000 5
3 4962 Friday 5th January Peter Whalley Philip Wood 14,760,000 # 7
4 4963 Sunday 7th January Peter Mills Philip Wood 15,450,000 # 6
5 4964 Monday 8th January Nick Doughty Colin Cant 16,700,000 4
6 4965 Wednesday 10th January Susan Wilkins Colin Cant 15,520,000 5
7 4966 Friday 12th January Martin Allen Colin Cant 14,330,000 # 7
8 4967 Sunday 14th January Mark Wadlow Colin Cant 14,150,000 # 8
9 4968 Monday 15th January Peter Mills David Kester 16,660,000 3
10 4969 Wednesday 17th January Mariam Vossough David Kester 15,320,000 5
11 4970 Friday 19th January David Lane David Kester 14,480,000 # 6
12 4971 Sunday 21st January Jo O'Keefe David Kester 14,440,000 # 7
13 4972 Monday 22nd January Martin Allen Noreen Kershaw 16,620,000 3
14 4973 Wednesday 24th January Phil Ford Noreen Kershaw 15,600,000 5
15 4974 Friday 26th January Joe Turner Noreen Kershaw 14,150,000 # 7
16 4975 Sunday 28th January Nick Doughty Noreen Kershaw 14,880,000 # 6
17 4976 Monday 29th January Joe Turner John Anderson 16,610,000 4
18 4977 Wednesday 31st January Peter Whalley John Anderson 15,370,000 5
19 4978 Friday 2nd February Wendy Lee John Anderson 14,230,000 # 7
20 4979 Sunday 4th February Martin Allen John Anderson 14,620,000 # 6
21 4980 Monday 5th February Catherine Hayes Tony Prescott 16,450,000 4
22 4981 Wednesday 7th February Phil Ford Tony Prescott 15,190,000 5
23 4982 Friday 9th February Peter Mills Tony Prescott 13,770,000 # 7
24 4983 Sunday 11th February Mark Wadlow Tony Prescott 13,830,000 # 6
Due to an error in allocating numbers to commissioned scripts, Episode 4984 was never recorded
25 4985 Monday 12th February Mark Wadlow Graham Wetherell 15,280,000 4
26 4986 Wednesday 14th February Joe Turner Graham Wetherell 11,940,000 8
27 4987 Friday 16th February Susan Wilkins Graham Wetherell 13,230,000 # 6
28 4988 Sunday 18th February David Lane Graham Wetherell 14,210,000 # 5
29 4989 Monday 19th February Julie Gearey David Kester 15,800,000 4
30 4990 Wednesday 21st February Martin Allen David Kester 12,370,000 8
31 4991 Friday 23rd February Mariam Vossough David Kester 13,460,000 # 6
32 4992 Sunday 25th February Peter Whalley David Kester 14,320,000 # 5
33 4993 Monday 26th February Jo O'Keefe Philip Wood 15,710,000 4
34 4994 Wednesday 28th February Catherine Hayes Philip Wood 15,050,000 5
35 4995 Friday 2nd March Nick Doughty Philip Wood 13,690,000 # 6
36 4996 Sunday 4th March Peter Mills Philip Wood 13,530,000 # 7
37 4997 Monday 5th March Joe Turner John Anderson 15,230,000 5
38 4998 Wednesday 7th March Mark Wadlow John Anderson 10,810,000 9
39 4999 Friday 9th March Phil Ford John Anderson 13,750,000 # 6
40 5000 Sunday 11th March Susan Wilkins John Anderson 15,460,000 # 4
41 5001 Monday 12th March Peter Mills Tony Prescott 15,430,000 4
42 5002 Wednesday 14th March Catherine Hayes Tony Prescott 13,640,000 6
43 5003 Friday 16th March Joe Turner Tony Prescott 12,130,000 # 8
44 5004 Sunday 18th March Peter Whalley Tony Prescott 14,770,000 # 5
45 5005 Monday 19th March Martin Allen Graham Wetherell 15,840,000 4
46 5006 Wednesday 21st March Mariam Vossough Graham Wetherell 15,730,000 5
47 5007 Friday 23rd March Jo O'Keefe Graham Wetherell 13,080,000 # 7
48 5008 Sunday 25th March Julie Gearey Graham Wetherell 13,160,000 # 6
49 5009 Monday 26th March Martin Allen David Kester 15,150,000 4
50 5010 Wednesday 28th March Mariam Vossough David Kester 12,360,000 6
51 5011 Friday 30th March Nick Doughty David Kester 12,330,000 # 7
52 5012 Sunday 1st April Mark Wadlow David Kester 13,940,000 # 5
53 5013 Monday 2nd April David Lane Ian Bevitt 15,220,000 4
54 5014 Wednesday 4th April Phil Ford Ian Bevitt 11,710,000 8
55 5015 Friday 6th April Joe Turner Ian Bevitt 12,620,000 # 7
56 5016 Sunday 8th April Martin Allen Ian Bevitt 13,750,000 # 5
57 5017 Monday 9th April Daran Little John Anderson 15,070,000 5
58 5018 Wednesday 11th April Peter Whalley John Anderson 13,660,000 6
59 5019 Friday 13th April David Lane John Anderson 12,510,000 # 7
60 5020 Sunday 15th April Julie Gearey John Anderson 15,410,000 # 4
61 5021 Monday 16th April Phil Ford Tony Prescott 14,710,000 # 4
62 5022/3 Friday 20th April Mark Wadlow
Jayne Hollinson
Tony Prescott 14,160,000 # 6
63 5024 Sunday 22nd April Jo O'Keefe Tony Prescott 14,520,000 # 5
64 5025 Monday 23rd April Jo O'Keefe Graham Wetherell 14,970,000 4
65 5026 Wednesday 25th April Peter Mills Graham Wetherell 14,080,000 5
66 5027 Friday 27th April Joe Turner Graham Wetherell 12,810,000 # 7
67 5028 Sunday 29th April Peter Whalley Graham Wetherell 14,030,000 # 6
68 5029 Monday 30th April Phil Ford David Kester 15,160,000 3
69 5030 Wednesday 2nd May Nick Doughty David Kester 11,550,000 7
70 5031 Friday 4th May Catherine Hayes David Kester 12,440,000 # 5
71 5032 Sunday 6th May Mariam Vossough David Kester 12,350,000 # 6
72 5033 Monday 7th May Phil Ford Ian Bevitt 13,060,000 # 4
73 5034 Wednesday 9th May Joe Turner Ian Bevitt 12,190,000 5
74 5035 Friday 11th May Mariam Vossough Ian Bevitt 11,260,000 # 7
75 5036 Sunday 13th May Jo O'Keefe Ian Bevitt 13,220,000 # 3
76 5037 Monday 14th May Daran Little Anne Ross Muir 15,530,000 2
77 5038 Wednesday 16th May Peter Mills Anne Ross Muir 12,300,000 6
78 5039 Friday 18th May David Lane Anne Ross Muir 11,420,000 # 7
79 5040 Sunday 20th May Mark Wadlow Anne Ross Muir 12,420,000 # 5
80 5041 Monday 21st May Nick Doughty Tim Dowd 12,390,000 6
81 5042 Wednesday 23rd May Catherine Hayes Tim Dowd 18,140,000 1
82 5043 Friday 25th May Phil Ford Tim Dowd 10,710,000 # 7
83 5044 Sunday 27th May Mark Wadlow Tim Dowd 12,630,000 # 5
84 5045 Monday 28th May Joe Turner Graham Wetherell 11,810,000 # 7
85 5046 Wednesday 30th May Susan Wilkins Graham Wetherell 13,350,000 4
86 5047 Friday 1st June Jayne Hollinson Graham Wetherell 12,640,000 # 6
87 5048 Sunday 3rd June Mariam Vossough Graham Wetherell 13,140,000 # 5
88 5049 Monday 4th June Jayne Hollinson David Kester 13,610,000 4
89 5050 Wednesday 6th June Phil Ford David Kester 12,420,000 6
90 5051 Friday 8th June Jo O'Keefe David Kester 11,760,000 # 7
91 5052 Sunday 10th June Julie Gearey
David Lane
David Kester
Tony Prescott
13,470,000 # 5
92 5053 Monday 11th June Martin Allen Tony Prescott 14,240,000 4
93 5054 Tuesday 12th June Peter Whalley Tony Prescott 13,230,000 8
94 5055 Wednesday 13th June Peter Whalley Tony Prescott 14,010,000 6
95 5056 Thursday 14th June Susan Wilkins Ian Bevitt 13,100,000 # 9
96 5057 Friday 15th June Joe Turner Ian Bevitt 13,810,000 # 7
97 5058 Sunday 17th June Joe Turner Ian Bevitt 14,240,000 # 4
98 5059 Monday 18th June Phil Ford Anne Ross Muir 14,760,000 1
99 5060 Wednesday 20th June Mark Wadlow Anne Ross Muir 13,860,000 5
100 5061 Friday 22nd June Daran Little Anne Ross Muir 11,750,000 # 6
101 5062 Sunday 24th June Julie Gearey Anne Ross Muir 11,160,000 # 7
102 5063 Monday 25th June Jayne Hollinson Colin Cant 12,860,000 4
103 5064 Wednesday 27th June Jo O'Keefe Colin Cant 12,630,000 5
104 5065 Friday 29th June David Lane Colin Cant 11,380,000 # 6
105 5066 Sunday 1st July Martin Allen Colin Cant 11,090,000 # 7
106 5067 Monday 2nd July Catherine Hayes Garth Tucker 12,200,000 4
107 5068 Wednesday 4th July Daran Little Garth Tucker 12,180,000 5
108 5069 Friday 6th July David Lane Garth Tucker 11,460,000 # 7
109 5070 Sunday 8th July Peter Mills Garth Tucker 12,030,000 # 6
110 5071 Monday 9th July Martin Allen Ian Bevitt 13,410,000 6
111 5072 Wednesday 11th July Peter Whalley Ian Bevitt 14,020,000 3
112 5073 Friday 13th July Susan Wilkins Ian Bevitt 11,460,000 # 8
113 5074 Sunday 15th July 1 Jayne Hollinson Tony Prescott 13,350,000 # 7
114 5075 Sunday 15th July 2 Joe Turner Tony Prescott 13,700,000 # 4
115 5076 Monday 16th July Joe Turner David Kester 14,310,000 3
116 5077 Wednesday 18th July Peter Mills David Kester 13,630,000 5
117 5078 Friday 20th July Jo O'Keefe David Kester 11,730,000 # 6
118 5079 Sunday 22nd July Daran Little David Kester 11,680,000 # 7
119 5080 Monday 23rd July Martin Allen Anne Ross Muir 13,240,000 1
120 5081 Wednesday 25th July Phil Ford Penelope Shales 11,460,000 5
121 5082 Friday 27th July David Lane Anne Ross Muir 10,670,000 # 6
122 5083 Sunday 29th July Peter Whalley Penelope Shales 10,260,000 # 7
123 5084 Monday 30th July Mark Wadlow Anne Ross Muir 12,150,000 4
124 5085 Wednesday 1st August Phil Ford Anne Ross Muir
Penelope Shales
11,430,000 5
125 5086 Friday 3rd August Catherine Hayes Anne Ross Muir
Penelope Shales
11,050,000 # 6
126 5087 Sunday 5th August Joe Turner Penelope Shales
Garth Tucker
10,930,000 # 7
127 5088 Monday 6th August Mariam Vossough John Michael Phillips
Garth Tucker
13,860,000 5
128 5089 Wednesday 8th August Jo O'Keefe John Michael Phillips 11,670,000 7
129 5090 Friday 10th August Susan Wilkins John Michael Phillips
Garth Tucker
8,550,000 # 13
130 5091 Sunday 12th August Mark Wadlow John Michael Phillips
Garth Tucker
12,090,000 # 6
131 5092 Monday 13th August Mark Wadlow Mervyn Cumming 12,990,000 # 5
132 5093 Wednesday 15th August Mariam Vossough Mervyn Cumming 11,740,000 # 6
133 5094 Friday 17th August Julie Gearey Mervyn Cumming 11,300,000 # 7
134 5095 Sunday 19th August Peter Whalley Mervyn Cumming 11,200,000 # 8
135 5096 Monday 20th August Daran Little Colin Cant 12,540,000 5
136 5097 Wednesday 22nd August Jayne Hollinson Colin Cant 12,010,000 6
137 5098 Friday 24th August David Lane Colin Cant 10,870,000 # 7
138 5099 Sunday 26th August Joe Turner Colin Cant 10,700,000 # 8
139 5100 Monday 27th August Daran Little Tony Prescott 10,880,000 9
140 5101 Wednesday 29th August Peter Mills Tony Prescott 13,060,000 4
141 5102 Friday 31st August Catherine Hayes Tony Prescott 11,920,000 # 7
142 5103 Sunday 2nd September Jayne Hollinson Tony Prescott 12,440,000 # 5
143 5104 Monday 3rd September 1 Peter Whalley Anne Ross Muir 13,950,000 4
144 5105 Monday 3rd September 2 Martin Allen John Anderson 13,940,000 5
145 5106 Wednesday 5th September Mariam Vossough John Anderson 12,420,000 9
146 5107 Thursday 6th September David Lane Anne Ross Muir 11,840,000 10
147 5108 Friday 7th September Julie Gearey Anne Ross Muir 12,880,000 # 7
148 5109 Sunday 9th September Joe Turner Tony Prescott 12,580,000 # 8
149 5110 Monday 10th September David Lane Alan Wareing 14,020,000 2
150 5111 Wednesday 12th September Susan Wilkins Alan Wareing 13,190,000 6
151 5112 Friday 14th September Mariam Vossough Alan Wareing 11,780,000 9
152 5113 Sunday 16th September Jayne Hollinson Alan Wareing 11,980,000 # 8
153 5114 Monday 17th September Daran Little David Kester 13,640,000 # 3
154 5115 Wednesday 19th September Phil Ford David Kester 9,490,000 15
155 5116 Thursday 20th September Jo O'Keefe David Kester 12,030,000 7
156 5117 Friday 21st September Peter Whalley David Kester 11,980,000 # 8
157 5118 Sunday 23rd September Mark Wadlow David Kester 13,110,000 # 6
158 5119 Monday 24th September Mark Wadlow Colin Cant 13,580,000 # 5
159 5120 Wednesday 26th September Daran Little Colin Cant 9,200,000 15
160 5121 Thursday 27th September Phil Ford Colin Cant 10,160,000 10
161 5122 Friday 28th September Phil Ford Colin Cant 11,410,000 # 7
162 5123 Sunday 30th September Jayne Hollinson Colin Cant 11,850,000 # 6
163 5124 Monday 1st October Catherine Hayes Ian Bevitt 13,570,000 # 6
164 5125 Wednesday 3rd October Jo O'Keefe Ian Bevitt 13,610,000 5
165 5126 Friday 5th October Peter Mills Ian Bevitt 12,500,000 # 8
166 5127 Sunday 7th October David Lane Ian Bevitt 13,430,000 # 7
167 5128 Monday 8th October David Lane Tony Prescott 14,520,000 6
168 5129 Wednesday 10th October Mariam Vossough Tony Prescott 9,940,000 11
169 5130 Friday 12th October Joe Turner Tony Prescott 11,950,000 # 7
170 5131 Sunday 14th October Daran Little Tony Prescott 14,680,000 # 5
171 5132 Monday 15th October Catherine Hayes John Anderson 14,120,000 # 5
172 5133 Wednesday 17th October Jo O'Keefe John Anderson 10,810,000 10
173 5134 Thursday 18th October Peter Whalley John Anderson 12,380,000 7
174 5135 Friday 19th October Phil Ford John Anderson 12,340,000 # 8
175 5136 Sunday 21st October Phil Ford John Anderson 14,120,000 # 5
176 5137 Monday 22nd October 1 Mark Wadlow David Kester 14,650,000 # 6
177 5138 Monday 22nd October 2 Mark Wadlow Ian Bevitt 12,880,000 # 8
178 5139 Wednesday 24th October Mariam Vossough David Kester 10,130,000 14
179 5140 Thursday 25th October Daran Little Ian Bevitt 13,310,000 # 7
180 5141 Friday 26th October Phil Ford David Kester 12,590,000 # 9
181 5142 Sunday 28th October Jo O'Keefe David Kester 14,930,000 # 5
182 5143 Monday 29th October Julie Gearey Philip Wood 15,330,000 5
183 5144 Wednesday 31st October David Lane Philip Wood 11,160,000 9
184 5145 Friday 2nd November Joe Turner Philip Wood 13,270,000 # 7
185 5146 Sunday 4th November Jayne Hollinson Philip Wood 14,300,000 # 6
186 5147 Monday 5th November Jayne Hollinson Tony Prescott 13,990,000 # 7
187 5148 Wednesday 7th November David Lane Tony Prescott 14,430,000 6
188 5149 Thursday 8th November Catherine Hayes Tony Prescott 12,390,000 10
189 5150 Friday 9th November Susan Wilkins Tony Prescott 13,430,000 # 8
190 5151 Sunday 11th November Mariam Vossough Tony Prescott 14,950,000 # 5
191 5152 Monday 12th November Julie Gearey Colin Cant 14,640,000 # 6
192 5153 Wednesday 14th November Jo O'Keefe Colin Cant 14,770,000 4
193 5154 Thursday 15th November Martin Allen Colin Cant 12,220,000 8
194 5155 Friday 16th November Joe Turner Colin Cant 12,040,000 # 9
195 5156 Sunday 18th November Peter Whalley Colin Cant 14,760,000 # 5
196 5157 Monday 19th November Phil Ford John Anderson 14,430,000 # 7
197 5158 Wednesday 21st November Joe Turner John Anderson 12,440,000 9
198 5159 Thursday 22nd November Daran Little John Anderson 11,470,000 11
199 5160 Friday 23rd November David Lane John Anderson 13,310,000 # 8
200 5161 Sunday 25th November Peter Whalley John Anderson 15,360,000 # 6
201 5162 Monday 26th November Mark Wadlow David Kester 15,290,000 # 5
202 5163 Wednesday 28th November Jayne Hollinson David Kester 14,350,000 6
203 5164 Thursday 29th November Mariam Vossough David Kester 12,880,000 8
204 5165 Friday 30th November Susan Wilkins David Kester 12,700,000 # 9
205 5166 Sunday 2nd December Martin Allen David Kester 14,200,000 # 7
206 5167 Monday 3rd December Martin Allen Chris Jury 15,370,000 4
207 5168 Thursday 6th December Jo O'Keefe Chris Jury 12,670,000 7
208 5169 Friday 7th December Daran Little Chris Jury 12,500,000 # 8
209 5170 Sunday 9th December Phil Ford Chris Jury 14,580,000 # 6
210 5171 Monday 10th December Catherine Hayes Philip Wood 15,320,000 # 4
211 5172 Wednesday 12th December David Lane Philip Wood 13,440,000 6
212 5173 Thursday 13th December Susan Wilkins Philip Wood 11,620,000 9
213 5174 Friday 14th December Jayne Hollinson Philip Wood 11,860,000 # 8
214 5175 Sunday 16th December Peter Whalley Philip Wood 13,170,000 # 7
215 5176 Monday 17th December Jayne Hollinson Tony Prescott 13,620,000 # 5
216 5177 Wednesday 19th December Martin Allen Tony Prescott 11,900,000 8
217 5178 Friday 21st December Daran Little Tony Prescott 12,250,000 # 7
218 5179 Sunday 23rd December Phil Ford Tony Prescott 12,420,000 # 6
219 5180 Monday 24th December Julie Gearey Garth Tucker 12,060,000 # 10
220 5181 Tuesday 25th December David Lane John Anderson 12,980,000 # 7
221 5182 Wednesday 26th December Mark Wadlow John Anderson 11,970,000 # 11
222 5183 Friday 28th December Joe Turner Garth Tucker 12,320,000 # 9
223 5184 Sunday 30th December Peter Whalley Garth Tucker 12,680,000 # 8
224 5185 Monday 31st December David Lane Colin Cant 12,990,000 # 7

Storylines[]

January[]

  • Sally Webster accepts Danny Hargreaves's proposal of marriage, but only after discussing the matter with Kevin. Her closeness with her ex-husband causes Danny to feel insecure and push Sally into agreeing to sell 13 Coronation Street and move away, though he begrudgingly accepts her condition that they do up the house first. When Sally goes to Newcastle to look after her sister Gina Seddon's children, she leaves Rosie and Sophie in Danny's care. Kevin is furious when Rita Sullivan lets slip about the arrangement, feeling he's being pushed out of the girls' lives.
  • Amanda Stephens steps up her attempts to wreck Rita's relationship with her father Anthony, disapproving of them being together when her mother Isabel is ill with Alzheimers'. Anthony refuses to help his daughter when she shows up during a date with Rita claiming to have lost her keys, and is later sent on a wild goose chase when she pretends that Isabel has had a bad night at the care home.
  • Ken Barlow tells the police that he was behind the wheel of his car when it crashed, corroborating Peter's lie after having accident in the vehicle while banned from driving. Having gone against his principles, Ken revokes his application to become a magistrate, feeling that he no longer deserves the role.
  • Tyrone Dobbs is still refusing to have sex with fiancée Maria Sutherland until they're married. When he reads a letter in a newspaper problems page from a woman complaining that her fiancé won't sleep with her, he accuses Maria of writing it. They briefly call off their engagement but make up it and, after a romantic meal, Maria takes Tyrone's virginity.
Episode 4970

Duggie tries to bring more families into the Rovers

  • Chaos reigns at the Rovers Return with owners Duggie Ferguson, Mike Baldwin and Fred Elliott drinking the profits and interfering with Liz McDonald's management of the pub. Barmaids Toyah Battersby, Geena Gregory and Betty Williams go on strike when Duggie previews new low-cut staff uniforms, while Jim's transfer to a prison in Leicester gives Liz the perfect excuse to quit the Rovers and move away, leaving the owners to sort out the mess. Linda Baldwin convinces Mike to let her run the pub, and proves her worth by ending the strike, dropping the uniform idea and giving the staff a 10% pay rise. Toyah, lodging at the Rovers isn't happy when Duggie moves in, but she starts to warm to him when she cuts her hand and he takes her to the medical centre. To drum up business, Mike and Duggie trial a scheme to encourage families into the Rovers. The idea is dropped when the children annoy the staff.
  • During a row with Ken, Peter reveals that his twin sister Susan has been keeping a secret from him for years. His slip of the tongue compels Susan to come down from Glasgow and reveal the truth: the abortion which ended her marriage to Mike in 1987 didn't happen, and she has a twelve-year-old son called Adam that she's never told him about. Ken agrees to keep the secret in exchange for being able to meet Adam, and forces Deirdre to go along with it despite her longstanding friendship with Mike. Finding the arrangement distasteful, Deirdre confides in Dev Alahan, who in turn informs Mike, thinking he has a right to know. Mike immediately goes up to Glasgow and confronts Susan, declaring his intention to fight for his rights as Adam's father. He's able to wear Susan down until she agrees to let him meet Adam. Deirdre rows with Dev for breaching her confidence and resigns from the corner shop.
  • Kevin sends Sam Kingston to buy a tin of Greasol for the Coronation Street Garage, but Sam buys a cheap tin from his uncle Pat Hegherty instead, which brings him and Maria out in a rash. He eventually owns up to it, but only after Tyrone has accused the pair of having an affair and shouted at Danny for selling a dodgy tub. Arguing with Sam about the Greasol, Tyrone accidentally ruins No.9's new kitchen by putting a hot bowl on the work surface. He apologises to Danny in order to get him to repair the damage, and the kitchen is restored just as Jack and Vera arrive home from their cruise.
  • Sarah Platt dumps Glen Middleham when he spreads false rumours that they slept together, leading to teasing from her classmates at Weatherfield Comprehensive. Her English teacher Charlie Ramsden warns Gail and Martin that her grades are slipping.
  • Alex Swinton, abusive stepfather of Wayne Hayes, apologises to Roy and Hayley Cropper for his his heavy-handedness on Christmas Day and extracts £60 from them supposedly for new trainers for Wayne. When he returns asking for more money, Roy stands up to him and ejects him from Roy's Rolls. Wayne later runs away from the children's home and shows up at the Croppers' door, feeling safe with them, but Roy convinces him to return. Meanwhile, the Croppers face the fostering panel and are successful in their application to become foster parents, but are disappointed when another couple are picked to foster Wayne.
  • Karen Phillips spurns Peter to go out with Vikram Desai. She and Steve McDonald also develop a flirtation.
  • Steve rent out his parents' empty house to Eileen Grimshaw and her teenage sons Jason and Todd. Eileen invites her partner Dennis Stringer to move in too, but he isn't keen as the boys haven't made him feel welcome. He eventually agrees and makes curry to break the ice with the lads. Meanwhile, Eileen gets into a spat with Charlie when she refuses to help Todd with his essay outside school hours. For Todd's sake, she calls a truce and invites the Ramsdens to her house-warming party, where Charlie shows Matt up by getting very drunk.
  • Determined to get pregnant, Maxine Peacock sends Ashley for tests to make sure he isn't deficient in anything and demands he take time off work to have sex when she demands it.
  • Curly and Emma Watts return from their honeymoon.
  • Les Battersby passes his taxi-driving test in order to work for Street Cars. Steve and Vik make out that they're fully staffed, but when Eileen mentions to Janice that they're desperate for drivers, Steve sheepishly gives him a trial. On his first day, Les takes an attractive fare all the way to Prestwick, resulting in him spending the night in his car and being in the doghouse with Janice upon his return home.

February[]

  • Anthony rents No.12 from Alec Gilroy to get out from under Amanda's feet. He attempts to smooth relations with his daughter with a reconciliation dinner, but Amanda brings along her brother Gregory and uncle George Docherty who round on Anthony, accusing him of abandoning his wife for Rita. Fed up with being accused of cheating, Anthony decides to divorce Isabel. Rita doesn't approve and worries when Emily Bishop suggests that Anthony intends to propose.
  • Sophie is hurt when a bookcase Danny made at No.13 falls on her. When Matt lets slip about the incident to Kevin, Kevin accuses Danny of being unfit to look after children and punches him in the face. Danny responds by stopping Kevin from seeing the girls, and Sally reluctantly backs him up when she returns from Gina's, telling Kevin he's banned from setting foot in their house.
  • Sam decides to return to stripping as The Masked Python to earn more money. He buys an old car at an auction but Kevin forbids him from using the garage to do it up. David Platt, who looks up to Sam, persuades Gail to let Sam use No.8's garage. Gail is interested in their friendship and invites Sam over for tea, which Audrey Roberts gatecrashes, curious as to why Gail is entertaining the young man.
  • Todd and Jason tell Dennis that they have takeaways every week to trick him into providing them. Dennis and Eileen turn the tables on the pair by getting a meal they say is baby octopus cooked in its own ink.
Episode 4987

Old rivalries resurface as Ken lays his daughter Susan to rest

  • Kept in the dark by Mike, Linda learns of Adam's existence through Geena. Mike only tells his wife the truth after she catches him with Susan. She forgives his secrecy and throws her weight behind him in his mission to gain access to Adam. Mike, impatient to meet his son, threatens to take legal advice if Susan doesn't become more agreeable. His ultimatum leads Susan to leave Glasgow with Adam to go into hiding in Ireland. However, while driving through Preston they're involved in a car crash in which Susan is killed, but Adam suffers only cuts and bruises. Accusing Mike of hounding his daughter to death, Ken applies for custody of Adam to ensure that she didn't die in vain. To strengthen his case, he plans a move to Glasgow and proposes to Deirdre, but she refuses to marry for reasons other than love. Mike, believing that Adam belongs with him, shows up at the funeral uninvited and tells the grieving boy that he's his father. Ken is forced to tell Adam who Mike is, but he lets the boy believe that Mike had chosen to ignore him until now. When Deirdre tells Adam otherwise, Adam thaws and starts spending time with Mike. Ken starts Adam at Weatherfield Comprehensive.
  • Peter is hit hard by Susan's death and turns to drink.
  • Roy and Hayley agree to take in their first foster child, teenager Jackie Mosley, for a few weeks. Having over-prepared for her arrival, they're disappointed when Jackie just wants to go about her life as normal. They bond when the family go ten-pin bowling and Roy amuses Jackie with his book of rules. Jackie leaves the couple chocolates as a thank-you when she's returned to her mother.
  • Geena gets Dev to apologise to Deirdre. He persuades her to return to the shop.
  • A leak in the cellar in the medical centre results results in a smell permeating the building, and the staff being unable to work. Duggie and Steve blame each other for the structural faults, with Matt eventually reporting Duggie for his shoddy work, causing him to be struck off the council list of approved builders. As Duggie's business partner, Dev loses £10,000 from a cancelled council contract, and angrily bars Steve from the shop.
  • Ashley and Maxine have the Ramsdens over for dinner at No.4 in order to get to know them better, but Charlie struggles to make conversation with Maxine and fakes a headache in order to leave early. When they repeat the experience and invite Curly and Emma, Charlie and Emma get on and Maxine is the one feeling left out. She makes an excuse to get out of going to a Weatherfield County football match with the other five.
  • Geena holds a "kiss for a pound" charity evening at the Rovers. Dev is jealous as he watches his girlfriend being kissed by all the regulars.
  • David sends Gail and Martin Valentine cards from each other in an effort to get them back together. They aren't taken in.
  • Sarah and Candice Stowe chat up Todd and Jason, but Sarah's upset when Todd, who she fancies, takes a shine to Candice instead. Candice initially likes Jason but readily agrees to be Todd's girlfriend when he asks, even though she's already going out with Darren Michaels. Worried that Candice is too mature for Todd, Eileen gets Dennis to have a manly chat with him, but Todd refuses to listen as he isn't his father.
  • Vik sets Steve up with Bobbi Lewis in order to put him off Karen. They have dinner but Steve blows it by trying to get Bobbi into bed. When Vik's car breaks down causing him to miss his birthday celebration with Karen, Steve entertains her at the flat. Karen tries to kiss Steve but Steve turns her down, refusing to do the dirty on his best mate. Afterwards, Karen tells Vik that Steve was the one who tried it on, and believing her over his friend, Vik tells Steve he wants out of their business partnership. Eileen proves Steve's innocence by leaving the Street Cars radio on while Steve and Karen are arguing in the cab office, allowing Vik to overhear the truth. After being dumped by Vik, Karen apologises to Steve for lying and they end up sharing a kiss.
  • Natalie Barnes calls the Rovers to announce the birth of her daughter, Laura. Kevin goes to visit Natalie and the baby, and returns having agreed to be Laura's godfather. Sally is worried that her ex-husband is falling for Natalie again and will get hurt.
  • Linda gives her brother Ryan Sykes a job at Underworld to stop him from going to London for work.

March[]

  • Candice is caught out when David mischievously directs Darren to No.11, where his girlfriend is enjoying a date with Todd. Darren dumps Candice for two-timing him, as does Todd, though Todd takes her back when she tells him that he's the one she wants to be with.
  • The inquest into the death of Dean Sykes during the Freshco siege returns a verdict of a lawful killing. Back on the street, Ryan recognises Emma as his brother's shooter and begins stalking her, firstly by emptying the rubbish over No.7's back yard, and then by throwing a brick through the front window, frightening her out of her wits. With Curly working away for two weeks, Charlie stays with her for protection. However, she's alone when she returns home to find Ryan lying in wait with a tyre iron. He pins her to the floor and holds the iron to her throat, but she manages to talk him down. Linda agrees to make sure Ryan doesn't come near Emma again in exchange for her not reporting the break-in, and Emma doesn't tell Curly about it when he returns. When he finds out from Matt, he thumps Ryan before agreeing to drop the matter for Emma's sake.
  • Ken does his best to meet Adam's needs, but when Mike takes his son to a Manchester United match, he realises he can never compete with Mike's money and starts planning to move to Scotland with the boy. He changes his mind when Deirdre leaves him, angered by his threat to go with or without her. Though they're able to patch things up, Deirdre walks out again when she realises that Ken is only concerned with improving his chances of getting custody. At the hearing, Adam tells the court welfare officer, Tom Bowden, that he'd rather live with Mike, and Mike is granted an interim residence order.
  • Dev puts Deirdre up in his flat following her split from Ken. After the hearing, she gives Ken another chance, but when he states his intention to appeal against the judge's decision, she tells Blanche Hunt it's over for good. Geena doesn't like Deirdre being in the flat, but Dev is too polite to ask her to leave. After a cancelled date with Geena, Deirdre cooks Dev his favourite meal. She tries to kiss him, and is humiliated when he reacts with horror. Meanwhile, Alma Halliwell calls on a depressed Ken and cheers him up. When Ken considers a future with Alma, she gets him and Deirdre talking again to dissuade him of the notion, and the pair reconcile.
  • Adam moves in with the Baldwins. Mike is disappointed when Adam asks to go back to his old school in Glasgow as a boarder. In the meantime, he transfers his son to Oakhill, the local private school.
  • Steve and Karen continue their affair, going public after Vik catches them in a passionate clinch. Vik makes out he isn't bothered, but feeling sorry for him Geena and Eileen set him up with Bobbi.
Episode 4997

Norris gets drunk with Anthony and misses his own birthday party

  • Emily plans a surprise sixtieth birthday party for Norris at No.7 after her lodger drops hints about it. With the buffet set up and everyone waiting, Anthony is sent out to bring Norris over, but they get drunk in a pub and miss the party.
  • Duggie tells Fred and Mike that he wants out of their business partnership, as he is the only one of the three taking an interest in the Rovers. They offer him a paltry £12,000 for his share, leading Duggie to have the pub valued. When he reports that it's a realistic figure, Fred and Mike decide to cut their losses and sell up as well. They've just signed over their shares to Duggie's buyer, Hamilton Griffiths Holdings, when they discover that Duggie is the main investor of the company, and is therefore now the full owner of the Rovers.
  • Fred arranges a Weatherfield Sausage Trail between rival butcher shops in the area. As he has his own shop, Ashley enters separately from Fred, guarding his secret recipe from his dad. To spite Duggie, Fred chooses to hold it at the cafe instead of the Rovers.
  • David helps Sam get his car ready for its MOT, and when it passes Sam takes David, Sarah and Candice out for a spin as a thank-you to the Platts. When David steals Sarah's diary, he reads a passage about Sam telling Sarah that he befriended the family in order to see her. Sam tells him she's made it up but Martin believes it and goads Sam into a fight at the cafe. Sarah, humiliated by her diary being read, confides in Gail that it didn't happen. Martin gets the cold shoulder from his family for his heavy-handedness, while a disgusted Sam stops coming round.
  • Matt takes Edna Miller on to clean the medical centre after their cleaner doesn't show up for work.
  • Jason is head-hunted by the UK Athletics Federation after winning a race in Lancaster, inviting him to join their youth squad at their training camp in Lanzarote. He wants to go, but can't afford the £500 fee, and Eileen refuses to let Dennis lend him the money. After Jason raises a paltry £16 washing cars, Dennis gives him £300 towards the trip on the condition that he doesn't tell Eileen.
  • Vik and Bobbi go up to the shop flat to canoodle and discover that a mystery woman is living there. Geena assumes Dev is cheating on her, but Dev explains that he's letting one of his employees, Sunita Parekh, hide out there in order to avoid being put on a plane for India for an arranged marriage. Geena is supportive and brings her friends round to the flat for a girly night in, while Dev puts Sunita's parents Suresh and Mena off when they ask after her at the shop, though her brother, Jayesh, isn't so easily convinced.
  • Norris is honoured to be appointed enumerator for the National Census.
  • Maria and Tyrone start saving for the wedding. Ryan dupes Tyrone and Jason into buying a load of knock-off CD players to sell through the garage.
  • Phil Simmonds asks Toyah to be the main witness in his libel case against Duggie, but she refuses to go against her employer.
  • Duggie takes Peter on as a barman at the Rovers. Peter helps himself to the whisky on the sly.

April[]

  • Ashley annoys Maxine by prioritising the sausage competition over trying for a baby. His diligence pays off as he comes top in the People's Choice and Critics' Choice categories, but Fred accuses him of entering a vegetarian sausage and forces a re-judge. When it's analysed and found to be pure meat, Fred concedes and Ashley accepts his apology.
  • Jayesh forces his way into the shop flat and finds Sunita. After refusing her parents' entreaties to marry Deepak, she's told that she is no longer a member of the family. Dev starts Sunita at the shop and gives her a rent book for the flat.
  • Gail finds out from Sarah that Martin saw Rebecca Hopkins at Christmas. He tells her he turned Rebecca down as he couldn't bear to be separated from his children. The couple receive their decree absolutes later in the month.
  • Sally and Danny start planning their move, putting their names down for a house in The Willows development. Kevin, upset at the thought of Danny bringing up Rosie and Sophie, turns to drink and makes a pass at Sally, which she rejects. When he goes missing, the police find an abandoned pick-up truck and Sally fears the worst, but he returns safe and sound having spent some time recuperating at Debbie's. On Sally's hen night, Kevin again tries to persuade her to leave Danny, and when she turns him down he shouts about their one-night-stand before his wedding to Alison to all and sundry. Sally is forced to tell Danny about it before someone else does, and while Danny initially decides to marry Sally anyway, he changes his mind as they're about to set off to the registry office. Danny brawls with Kevin in front of the girls before leaving in the wedding car, returning only to tell Sally to buy him out of D & S Hardware. Rita gives Sally £12,000 to pay Danny off and the couple sadly part company.
  • Tyrone receives the CD players from Ryan and realises they're duds. When Ryan refuses to refund Tyrone and Jason, Dennis pins him against a wall and scares him into stealing £200 from the factory to give them their money back. Eileen gets the full story out of Dennis when she sees the empty CD boxes at No.11, and swipes the money Jason invested as a penance. Meanwhile, Linda hires Ryan to clean the factory at weekends, letting him finish his shift before revealing that his wages will go towards paying back what he stole.
Episode 5020

Toyah is traumatised after her rape

  • Toyah catches Peter diluting the whisky at the Rovers but he silences her by threatening her with violence. When weights and measures test the spirits at the pub following a tip-off and find the whisky to be watered down, Duggie sacks Toyah, believing her to have planned the whole thing to get back at him. Meanwhile, Duggie starts holding card schools after hours at the Rovers. Peter and Duggie lose badly in a game which ends just before Toyah returns home from an evening of clubbing with Sam. In the early hours, Jason finds Toyah battered and bloodied in the ginnel, having been raped. A traumatised Toyah is unable to name her attacker, remembering only that he called her name. The police have the men in the street DNA tested, with Peter getting arrested for refusing to provide a sample. His stance leads the neighbours to presume that he raped Toyah, with Duggie having to pull Les off him when he shoves him against a wall. Sick of all the accusing looks, Peter resigns from the Rovers, returning when the DNA evidence clears him. Toyah is scared witless when he bangs on her door with the letter. Charlie helps Toyah through her ordeal by relating her experience of being raped as a student. When Phil calls at No.5, Toyah recognises his voice from the attack and realises he's the rapist. Peter hears her cries from the street, breaks in and subdues Phil. Meanwhile, Mike tells Duggie that he tipped off weights and measures as revenge for him conning him out of the Rovers.
  • Curly agrees to manage Audrey's re-election campaign. Audrey helps Jason get to Lanzarote by arranging funding from the council, but when she hands over the cheque, Jason discovers it's only for £35 and goes beserk in front of a photographer. Curly comes to regret helping Audrey as she's preoccupied with a forthcoming business trip to Spain regarding possible twinning with Weatherfield. He's further annoyed when she stays in Spain for a holiday after concluding her business there, leaving him to canvass without her.
  • Fred gets chatting to barmaid Evelyn Sykes at the Turk's Head and they start going out. When they have dinner at the Baldwins' flat, Fred finds out that Eve is Linda's mother. He nearly finishes with her due to her relation to Dean Sykes, but decides not to punish her for her son's actions.
  • Norris goes to the doctor for pains in his legs and finds out he has varicose veins.
  • Vik is put out when Bobbi befriends Sunita and brings her clubbing with them.
  • Alma visits her retired friend Frank O'Connor at his new cottage in Shropshire. Whey they share a kiss, Frank invites Alma to live with him, and she agrees to leave Weatherfield.
  • Norris delivers the Census forms to the street residents, but nearly forgets to fill out his own in time.
  • Mike and Adam return from a holiday in Florida; they've grown closer and Adam now calls Mike "dad", but Mike upsets his son by refusing to let him return to his old school. He gives in when Adam runs away to No.1. Mike and Ken drop Adam off in Glasgow, and seeing that Mike does care for Adam, Ken drops his challenge to the custody order.
  • Dennis persuades Sally to take Jason on at the hardware shop.
  • Roy and Hayley have their second foster child, Fiona "Fiz" Brown. Fiz makes a big effort by cooking for the Croppers and taking Hayley shopping for trendy clothes but proves untrustworthy, lying about being sick in order to bunk off school. When she accidentally sets the cafe cooker on fire, Roy yells at her, leading Fiz to get back at him by telling social services that he was violent towards her. Fortunately, due to Fiz's history of making false accusations the allegation isn't taken further.
  • Matt, Gail and Molly Hardcastle organise rescreening of smear tests in the area after two misdiagnosed cases. Alma is one of the women to receive letters, and goes for a repeat appointment. The results show a growth at the neck of Alma's womb, and she is referred to a radiologist.

May[]

  • Phil is arrested, but denies raping Toyah. He's charged when DNA evidence proves they had sex, however Toyah remains worried that he'll say she consented. Struggling to move on, she takes a year out of college and gets her old job back at the cafe.
  • Alma tells Audrey that she might have cancer. With her best friend by her side, Alma has meetings with the radiologist and gynaecologist, who breaks the news that she has cervical cancer. She's told that it's incurable as it has spread so far; if it hadn't been for the cock-up with the smear tests, she could have been treated sooner. As she plans out her final days, Alma cancels her move to Much Wenlock and says goodbye to Frank. She keeps her illness a secret from everyone apart from Audrey; at a surprise goodbye party thrown by Curly, she announces that she's no longer moving, but doesn't say why. Meanwhile, Alma alters her will leaving most of her estate to Audrey on the condition that she renames the salon "Alma's". After her first round of radiotherapy, Alma feels sick and decides not to have any more. Audrey does as much as she can for her, but when Gail sees her mum meeting with Matt about cancer, she thinks Audrey is the one fighting it until Alma puts her right.
  • Audrey begins prioritising Alma at the expense of her election campaign. When Curly takes over from Audrey at a campaign meeting and performs much better, Emma persuades him to stand against her. Emily lends a hand, coming up with the slogan "Clean up Weatherfield" for his campaign in reference to his time as a binman. He gets a favourable write-up in the Gazette when, after paying David to deliver election leaflets and finding them dumped in the street, he confronts David with the bag and a photographer assumes they're picking up litter. During a public election debate, Audrey suddenly announces that she no longer wants to be councillor. As her name will still appear on the ballot paper, she backs Curly's campaign to ensure she doesn't win. Curly is victorious with 1,915 votes; in his first acts as councillor, he announces a full public inquiry into the smear test blunder and opens a mini-surgery where constituents can tell him what they want from him.
  • David is devastated by the news that Gail and Martin are officially divorced. When he and his mate Simon Green set the washing at No.8 on fire while playing in the garden, Gail and Martin feel responsible. Martin takes David on a half-term holiday in order to spend more time with him.
  • As Toyah isn't returning, Duggie trials Edna behind the bar before drafting in Shelley Unwin, a barmaid he knew at the rugby club. Peter takes a shine to her, but she sees him helping himself to the whisky, she betrays him to Duggie, who marks the optics in order to catch him out and fire him. Geena also struggles with the new recruit, as she spends so much time chatting to customers. Keen to make her mark, Shelley organises a charity drag night at the Rovers, with a pop stars theme. Duggie, Kevin, Sam, Tyrone, Dennis, Vik, Steve, and Norris participate, with the latter winning as Eartha Kitt.
  • The Duckworths let Maria stay the night at No.9 now that she and Tyrone are engaged. The betrothed couple make the most of it by over-indulging on sex in Tyrone's bedroom, appearing only at mealtimes. When Vera comments that she likes having Maria around, Tyrone takes it as an invitation for her to move in. Jack and Vera are bewildered when she arrives with her bags, but are too polite to say anything.
  • Maxine suspects Evelyn is a gold-digger and rows with her for abandoning her children when the Peacocks have her and Fred over for dinner.
  • Jason helps Sally through her break-up by painting out Danny's name on the shop sign, rechristening it "Sally's Hardware". When Kirk Sutherland sees him hugging Sally supportively, he teases him that he has a thing for her.
  • Maxine pushes Ashley to buy a new car, as she's sick of travelling in his meat van. Missing the point, he shows up with a two-seater sports car, before swapping it for a family-sized space cruiser. Maxine starts driving lessons in the new car. Meanwhile, the couple go for fertility tests, but Ashley fails to produce a sperm sample as he's too nervous; he has to do it home and rush the sample to the hospital. The tests show that Ashley has a low sperm count.
  • Bobbi gives Vik the runaround, letting him take her on expensive dates but refusing to sleep with him. Vik finds out from Karen that Bobbi is getting advice about how to control men from a book, "Venus Mantrap", and dumps her. Bobbi apologises and they make-up with sex.
  • Kevin repairs Molly's car. Unable to settle the bill, she arranges to pay in instalments.
  • Geena's upset when she finds out that Dev has never mentioned her to his parents. When he stalls her about meeting them, she concludes that he isn't serious about their relationship and finishes with him. Sunita convinces her to give Dev another chance, but when Geena goes to talk things through, she finds Dev making a date with another woman. Dev manages to win Geena round, explaining that he has trouble expressing his feelings. He surprises her with a three-week holiday in Barbados.
Episode 5046

Steve and Karen get married for a bet

  • Karen wins a bet with Janice and Bobbi that she can get Steve to take her to dinner. The bet turns into a game of double or quits, with Janice and Bobbi upping the stakes first to Karen getting a holiday out of Steve, and then a proposal; having agreed to split the winnings with Karen, Steve sells it by getting down on one knee in the Rovers. Next, with two days' wages riding on it, Karen and Steve agree to marry for real. Steve buys a marriage licence and books a registry office service, but despite the bride and groom going ahead with their hen and stag nights, neither of them expects the other to show up on the day. To everyone's surprise, Steve and Karen marry as planned, admitting that they love each other but were too scared to say it.
  • Peter considers leaving Weatherfield after losing his job at the Rovers.
  • Emma discovers she's pregnant but doesn't tell Curly.

June[]

  • Steve annoys Karen by opting to remain at the Street Cars flat rather than turf the Grimshaws out of No.11, though Vik refuses to move out. Karen christens her marriage with a dinner party at the flat and hassles Steve about a honeymoon until he books tickets to Miami.
  • Emma tells Curly about the baby. They agree to keep it quiet, but Curly can't contain his joy and tells everyone the news in the Rovers. Emma starts to feel more positive about the pregnancy when Maxine's desperation to have a child rubs off on her, but remains worried about it affecting her career. Curly offers to leave Freshco and be a stay-at-home dad.
  • Ashley has more tests to find out why he has a low sperm count. The prospect of having an operation scares him, but he goes along with it as he's convinced Maxine will leave him if he doesn't. The Peacocks row when Ashley misses a romantic meal to go drinking with Boris Weaver, and returns to find that Maxine has discussed their fertility problems with Emma. They make up and go to Ireland on holiday.
  • Jason takes a compliment from Sally the wrong way and tries to kiss her. When she laughs at him, he's humiliated and quits his job. Later, Dennis finds Jason taking money from Eileen's purse and accidentally catches him on the nose during a struggle. Jason accuses him of doing it on purpose, and when Eileen believes Dennis, the lad storms out and doesn't come home for days. Hiding away at Kirk's, he's furious when Todd fails to pass on a letter from UK Athletics inviting him to train in Budapest until after the offer has expired. Fed up, he returns home and accepts his job back from Sally. Eileen throws an eighteenth birthday party for Jason to make it up to him, though she's livid when he rides his new motorbike from Dennis in the house and Sarah is sick on the carpet. Jason's thrilled when UK Athletics offers him the training again, and he accepts it.
  • Shelley confesses to Peter that she shopped him to Duggie. Ken fails to entice Peter to become a teacher.
  • The Platts have a party for Bethany's first birthday. Sarah warily accepts a cheque from Neil Fearns's family, while Audrey takes her, Bethany and Gail to London for the weekend.
Episode5058

Alma passes away

  • Alma holds a dinner party without Audrey there so that she can have one evening where she feels normal. She follows this up by going away on her own to the Lake District, but Audrey is highly disapproving and and rows with Alma, causing Alma to declare that when she gets back, she's moving out of Grasmere Drive. Worried about her, Audrey tells Mike about her cancer, and he rushes to see her, ignoring a threat from Linda to divorce him if he does. While there, he realises where his heart truly lies and tells Alma that he's going to leave Linda and spent what time she has left together. Alma appreciates his friendship but makes him promise not to give up on his marriage. Back in Weatherfield, Linda rows with Alma for coming between her and Mike. Alma collapses during the argument and is rushed to hospital. Learning that her kidneys have failed and she doesn't have long left, Alma is taken home to die there. She spends her final hours in bed, with her friends round her. Audrey, still in London, returns just as she passes away; afterwards, she's wracked with guilt for not being there at the end. Alma is cremated and, at the wake, a video is played where she says goodbye to each of her friends in turn. One of the mourners there is her cousin, Richard Hillman. Mike and Audrey scatter her ashes at the Lakes.
  • Linda pulls off a major deal for Underworld with Harvey Reuben. When Mike goes to see Alma, Linda spites him by closing the factory and sleeping with Harvey. The Baldwins have a blazing row on Mike's return, with Mike slapping Linda when she insinuates that Alma isn't really ill. She tries to make up for it by helping to care for Alma in her final hours, but after his ex-wife's death Mike moves into the spare room. When Harvey cancels the contract, Mike makes three machinists redundant, including Karen and Bobbi, on a last-in, first-out basis. Bobbi gets a reprieve when Les rows with Mike in the Rovers and Mike tells him that Janice will go instead.
  • Kevin goes debt-collecting at Molly's flat. He finds her about to kill herself, as she owes thousands of pounds and sees no other way out. Kevin stays there all night to make sure she doesn't go through with it and later writes off her debt to the garage. The pair become friends and have a cinema date at the end of the month.
  • Hayley bumps into Sheila and Wayne at the Kabin and has a friendly catch-up over lunch. Wayne attaches himself to the Croppers again, turning up at the cafe and staying the night. Roy and Hayley learn that Alex is still beating him and inform social services, but when Wayne is interviewed along with Sheila and Alex, all three deny that any abuse is taking place. Also, when the Croppers implore Sheila to tell the truth for Wayne's sake, she reports them to social services leading to them being taken off the fostering list. They then try to record a confession from Alex, but he spots the recorder and smashes it. Alex offers to let Roy buy Wayne for £5,000 and he agrees, seeing it as the only way to keep the boy safe. When he confesses to Hayley, she's disapproving but Sheila's endorsement of the deal convinces her that they're all Wayne has got. Wayne moves in, and the couple lie to their neighbours that they're fostering him. To maintain secrecy, after a near-miss in the cafe they tell their social services liaison Peter Hartnell that they're withdrawing from the fostering programme.
  • Rita visits Mavis Wilton in Cartmel, leaving Anthony to cover for her at the Kabin. Anthony quickly tires of Norris's pernickety attitude and nearly walks out, but by the time Rita gets back they're getting on like old friends.
  • Les hosts the Rovers' bingo "Bonanza" night, at which Janice wins £150. Karen falls out with her when she refuses to split her winnings.
  • Candice and Todd get Sarah hooked on internet chatrooms. She first meets 'Weazle', a 17-year-old South African, before befriending 'TJ', chatting about their music tastes.
  • Anthony receives a call from Amanda informing him that Isabel has passed away. He feels guilty at the funeral as her family all but accuse him of causing her death with the divorce. Free at last, Anthony accepts an invitation to his niece's wedding in New Zealand and decides to stay with his sister Joan there for three months. He asks Rita to come with him for the holiday of a lifetime.
  • Toyah returns to work at the Rovers and starts seeing Sam again, taking things slowly.

Who lives where[]

Coronation Street

Victoria Street

Others

Awards and nominations[]

BAFTA
Ceremony held on 13th May 2001

British Soap Awards
Ceremony televised on 30th May 2001

National Television Awards
Ceremony held on 23rd October 2001

  • Most Popular Serial Drama - Coronation Street (Nominee)
  • Most Popular Newcomer - Scott Wright (Nominee)
  • Most Popular Actress - Georgia Taylor (Nominee)
Coronation Street in the 2000s
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