Plot[]
Albert is rushed to hospital and the street residents are evacuated to the community centre. Billy tries to get in touch with Ken in Saddleworth and calls Dave Robbins. Eventually Betty gets the police to put a call out for Ken over the radio. Minnie is upset when Bobby can't be found. Elsie has to sit around in her freshly washed hair and Hilda worries about Stan's whereabouts. The residents speculate as to the cause of the leak. Ken returns to the street and is stunned to see police activity. Ted Loftus tells him about Albert and he races to the hospital. Len and Elsie reminisce about the 1961 gas leak when the residents were evacuated to the mission. Albert is put into an oxygen tank and Ken keeps vigil. Stan phones the centre and lets Hilda know he's at a club down Argyle Street. Ted finds Bobby and returns him to Minnie. As the police give the all clear it becomes apparent that Jerry might be to blame as he installed the new electric cooker.
Cast[]
Regular cast[]
- Billy Walker - Kenneth Farrington
- Betty Turpin - Betty Driver
- Bet Lynch - Julie Goodyear
- Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson
- Ray Langton - Neville Buswell
- Hilda Ogden - Jean Alexander
- Emily Bishop - Eileen Derbyshire
- Elsie Howard - Patricia Phoenix
- Ernest Bishop - Stephen Hancock
- Norma Ford - Diana Davies
- Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant
- Maggie Clegg - Irene Sutcliffe
- Kenneth Barlow - William Roache
- Jerry Booth - Graham Haberfield
- Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth
Guest cast[]
- Ted Loftus - Ted Morris
- Sister McKinley - Nell Brennan
- Nurse Brown - Moira Hughes
- Sergeant Harrison - Stanley Dawson
- P.C. 243 - Derek Etchells
- Gas man - Alan Luxton
- Radio Announcer - John Scarborough (Uncredited)
Places[]
- Coronation Street
- Rovers Return Inn - Public/snug
- Community Centre - Large hall
- Weatherfield General - Nurse's office and Ward 8
Notes[]
- The end credits for this episode are in a smaller font and play over the right half of the screen, against a camera shot of Jerry Booth parking his bicycle outside the Rovers.
- This episode features a black-and-white flashback to Episode 16 (1st February 1961), featuring Albert Tatlock, Ken Barlow and David Barlow at the Glad Tidings Mission Hall during the gas leak evacuation, which is referenced in dialogue by Len and Elsie immediately beforehand. During the discussion, Elsie erroneously claims the incident occurred in 1962 and Len also intimates he was in the hall at the time whereas he wasn't present at the event.
- Billy Walker mentions a gas workers' dispute when speaking to Dave Robbins on the phone. This references action taken from early in February 1973 over Government pay limits to deal with the economic crisis which was opposed by the workers, leading to them intermittently cutting off or reducing supplies to factories and homes.
- TV Times synopsis: Explosion warning for the Street.
- Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 7,150,000 homes (8th place).
Notable dialogue[]
Hilda Ogden: "It makes you wonder about them Barlows. You get that with certain families. It's as if there's summat out there. Huntin' 'em down. One after another."
| March 1973 episodes |
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