Plot[]
Part One: Stan moans about the taxation stoppages that Ray has put on his wages but accepts the offer of a bonus for doing more houses each day. Lucille is touched by a card and a present of stockings that Ray has bought her for her birthday. Rag and bone man Jobber Pilling calls at the Rovers with a sack of old clogs that Annie has paid for. Jack finds out that she intends to decorate the pub with old Lancashire memorabilia and a consignment of old miners' lamps are on the way. Val returns from the doctors and says she just needs to rest her knee, but she confides in Elsie that she's in need of an operation. She can't be bothered with the waiting lists. Jack objects to Annie's pictures of old harsh working conditions. Ena also dislikes them. Jack phones a friend for help to contact the Haresnape lads. Lucille and Ray visit the amusement arcade. They are surprised to see Dickie working there. Wanting to find out more before they say anything, Lucille insists they leave before Dickie sees them.
Part Two: Annie gets Maggie's nomination for the "Perfect Landlady" competition and even comes up with appropriate wording for her to use, much to Val's amusement. Having been told by Elsie, Ken objects to Val using a stepladder in the corner shop and insists she has the operation. Ena dislikes being reminded of the bad old days by the posters but is moved when Annie begins to read out Welcome, Bonny Brid! off one of the pieces of the memorabilia. Ray isn't pleased that Stan has only completed eight houses in one day. Hilda gets in the spirit by dressing as a Lancashire mill worker. Ken is annoyed by her referring to "the good old days" when they were anything but. Annie dresses in an old Victorian dress, and lights the pub with miners' lamps. Lucille, jealous of Audrey having her man, delights in telling her about Dickie's new job. Dickie has to face up to two rough bikers when they take their frustrations on the machines. Annie is appalled when Jack lets in the Haresnape brothers with their spoon playing and clog dancing.
Cast[]
Regular cast[]
- Stan Ogden - Bernard Youens
- Ray Langton - Neville Buswell
- Lucille Hewitt - Jennifer Moss
- Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie
- Hilda Ogden - Jean Alexander
- Annie Walker - Doris Speed
- Audrey Fleming - Gillian McCann
- Dickie Fleming - Nigel Humphreys
- Kenneth Barlow - William Roache
- Elsie Tanner - Patricia Phoenix
- Valerie Barlow - Anne Reid
- Ena Sharples - Violet Carson
- Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant
- Maggie Clegg - Irene Sutcliffe
Guest cast[]
- Jobber Pilling - John Moore
- Stranger - Colin Spaull
- Tex - Tom Marshall
- Frank Haresnape - Henry Whitaker
Places[]
- Rovers Return Inn - Public/snug and hallway
- 3 Coronation Street - Back room
- 14 Coronation Street - Living room and hallway
- Corner Shop
- Fairclough and Booth - Office and yard
- Amusement arcade
Notes[]
- Both Annie Walker and Ena Sharples quote lines from the poem Welcome, Bonny Brid! by the Nineteenth Century Lancashire dialect poet Samuel Laycock. Much the same lines were quoted in Episode 102 (4th December 1961) by Emily Nugent, and by Ena in Episode 1701 (4th May 1977) at Tracy Langton's christening party.
- The episode ends without Eric Spear's theme music but instead with the Rovers' regulars singing and clapping along to the Lancashire clog dancers.
- TV Times synopsis: Those were the days…
- Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 6,950,000 homes (2nd place).
Notable dialogue[]
Annie Walker (with a quote that Maggie Clegg can use for her "Perfect Landlady" nomination): "Every house where love abides, and friendship is a guest, is surely home, and 'home, sweet home', for there the heart can rest."
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