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Episode 923 (29th October 1969)

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Plot[]

The coach continues its journey on the M6 motorway towards the Lake District while back in Weatherfield, George Searle stops Terry Ormerod ringing the police before they've properly checked with Mick the mechanic how far his work on the steering progressed. To Dickie's anger, Ray and Audrey flirt on the coach, although she feels uncomfortable with his attentions. Mick tells Searle that the job wasn't completed. Ormerod rings the police. After taking a vote, Ray persuades the driver to take an alternative route to the one previously given to the coach company and the communication given over the police radio is the wrong one. The coach arrives in Bowness-on-Windermere for a break and Annie is furious with Jack when he yells after her to see if she has a penny for the toilets. Ena and Minnie enjoy an ice cream while the Ogdens are about to row a boat when they are summoned back to the coach by Emily. The police try, in vain, to find the coach, watching all the roads on the original route. Ray gets the coach to stop off at a pub where the travellers collect a whip-round for drinks and have a sing-song while Ray takes Audrey off into the woods and to the water's edge. Dickie tries to find them. Val worries what will happen when he does and sends Ken after them. Dickie finds the two and a fight breaks out that Ken stops. The police receive a false report which takes them right past the coach's pub stop. Ormerod frets that the coach passengers might all be dead by now. The next stop is Brockhole where Annie and Jack bicker over the arrangements for their forthcoming clash of engagements with the LV do and the regimental reunion while Elsie can't get her mind off the forthcoming court date. The coach sets off on its return journey with Ray stood in the aisle leading another sing-song and Audrey and Dickie not talking. It passes the police who set off in pursuit. The steering suddenly goes and the passengers are horrified as it veers across the road and crashes into a tree.

Cast[]

Regular cast[]

Guest cast[]

Places[]

Notes[]

  • This episode was made on film and entirely on location in the Lake District aside from establishing shots of the coach on the M6 Motorway (over which the title credits are run) and some shots of the coach company's depot at an unknown location. The cast and a production crew of twenty-five travelled to the Lakes on Monday 13th October, arriving in Bowness-on-Windermere and stayed filming until Saturday 18th. The North-western Evening Mail reported on the filming in the issue of Wednesday 15th October, saying that the team were already ahead of schedule. In an article which included shots of Margot Bryant and Eileen Derbyshire signing autographs, the paper reported that Granada had said that there would be a serious accident, leading them to speculate that a regular would die. The article also erroneously stated that it was the first time that an entire episode was being shot on location (see Episode 700 (30th August 1967)). The entire cast plus H.V. Kershaw were pictured posing for press in a group shot except for Jean Alexander and Bernard Youens who were filming their scenes in a rowing boat at the end of a jetty.
  • Going chronologically through the episode, the coach comes off the A6 at Levens Bridge, before the merge with the A590 road. The first stop is at Bowness-on-Windermere, with the pier scenes shot just north of the coach car park. The pub which the coach stops at mid-way through the episode is the Beech Hill Hotel on Newby Bridge Road, a few miles south of Bowness. Halfway between the two is another hotel named Storrs Hall and in its grounds is the lakeside stone jetty where Dickie Fleming and Ray Langton fight. The final third of the episode is set at Brockhole and the Lake District Visitor Centre. The ornate garden where Annie and Jack Walker argue is immediately in front of the main house at Brockhole.
  • The end credits are run over a shot of the crashed coach and not the usual end caption of cobbles in a street. Also, the credits are displayed in slides instead of the usual scrolling.
  • According to some sources this episode should have been made on colour film but the correct stock couldn't be found for the film cameras used. These sources give no explanation as to why an episode should have been made in colour that was going to be transmitted in black and white (ITV began colour transmissions - along with BBC1 - on Saturday 15th November 1969 therefore Episode 928 was the first to be transmitted in colour). See also Episode 924.
  • Diana Davies (later Norma Ford) is heard as the police radio's Control Voice.
  • TV Times synopsis: Journey's end.
  • Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 7,550,000 homes (3rd place).
  • This episode was repeated on Saturday 9th May 1981 at 10.05pm as part of a week of repeats celebrating Granada's 25th anniversary. The repeat was not aired by London Weekend Television, Yorkshire Television, Ulster Television, Anglia Television, Westward Television, Border Television, Tyne Tees Television or Channel Television. This repeat was seen by 5,790,000 viewers (chart placing unknown but outside the top twenty). The other episodes repeated in the week were Episode 1 (the first episode), Episode 16 (the 1961 gas leak), Episode 375 (Emily Nugent jilts Leonard Swindley), Episode 668 (the viaduct collapse) and Episode 702 (Elsie marries Steve Tanner) although these repeats were not screened in all of the ITV regions (see individual episode entries for details).
  • This episode was included in the Network DVD collection Coronation Street: The Best of 1960-1969, released on 31st July 2006.

Notable dialogue[]

Minnie Caldwell (admiring the view across Lake Windermere): "It's not much like Coronation Street, is it, Ena?"
Ena Sharples: "It's only just outside Lancashire. All that lovely country we come through was Lancashire. You read about them cloth-heads in London that won't take jobs up 'ere because they think we're all mill chimneys. Bit of education wouldn't do 'em any 'arm."

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Elsie Tanner: "I've done the solitude bit. I know what it's like. For twenty four hours it's great. Then you start wishin' somebody'd break the door down. An' if they don't you can always run out of fags. There's always a corner shop an' a pub an' some daft devil livin' next door!"

October 1969 episodes
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