Richie_lecturer
09-12-2005, 15:38
The current number 1 soap in the UK is 45 today.
It's gone through so many changes since it started on this day in 1960. The legendary stalwarts of Ena Sharples, Annie Walker, Elsie Tanner, Minnie Caldwell, Bet Lynch, Stan & Hilda Ogden, Alf Roberts and many others may be long gone, but the Street still remains as strong as it did all those years ago.
Special mention to Bill Roache, aka Mr Ken Barlow, who has trod the cobbles since Day 1 and continues to do so. Lots of the other great oldies remain: Emily (1961-); Betty (1969-); Rita (1965, 1972-); Deirdre (1972-); Gail (1974-); Blanche (1974-); Audrey (1979-); Mike (1976-); Kevin (1983-); Sally (1986-); Jack & Vera, and others. These characters continue to provide Corrie's backbone.
Today there are lots of other great characters who are (in the context of the above) fairly new to Weatherfield, but have lit up their screen in their early days on the Street: Danny, Frankie, Sean, Violet, Bev, Fred, Leanne, Cilla, Sophie and others, who continue to maintain the Corrie trend of quality drama and cracking drop of a hat humour. Long may that continue.
The writing remains the nutrient of Corrie's success. The likes of Daran Little and Jonathan Harvey for example are fantastic at putting the older cast at the forefront of storylines, while the likes of Peter Elvy and John Stevenson maintain the high standard that they've kept upon decades of working for Corrie.
There have been many highs and lows in the soap's history. It was worshiped in the 60s as cutting edge kitchen-sink drama in the old Socialist mantra of dark and grimy Manchester. The 70s were seen by many to be the golden era of Corrie (many of the new additions then survive today), while upheaval occured in the 80s with the loss of many of the earliest characters like Ena and Elsie and the arrival of the then brilliant EastEnders, though who can forget the brilliant Ken/Deirdre/Mike love triangle of 1983, or the Rita/Alan Bradley climax of 1989?! The 90s saw the need for a change to the format to compete with their southern rivals, and perhaps in some eyes, the loss of the 'great' Corrie (I disagree), along with the increase over the decade in the number of episodes. The new Millennium started very shaky for Corrie but it soon picked itself up with the monster Richard Hillman stroyline, which sparked off a brilliant couple of years of storylines afterwards (Karen etc). 2005 hasn't quite had the same spark, but it remains very good and is picking up again in recent weeks.
Now to the future. Tony Wood handed over control of Corrie to the new dream-ticket of Kieran Roberts (running Corrie for a 2nd time after leaving Emmerdale) and Steve Frost (another ex-Emmerdale Producer) just the other day. The axe is planned for a number of characters very soon, but here's hoping it's for the best and that Corrie can enjoy a cracking 2006.
Many congratulations, Coronation Street! :)
It's gone through so many changes since it started on this day in 1960. The legendary stalwarts of Ena Sharples, Annie Walker, Elsie Tanner, Minnie Caldwell, Bet Lynch, Stan & Hilda Ogden, Alf Roberts and many others may be long gone, but the Street still remains as strong as it did all those years ago.
Special mention to Bill Roache, aka Mr Ken Barlow, who has trod the cobbles since Day 1 and continues to do so. Lots of the other great oldies remain: Emily (1961-); Betty (1969-); Rita (1965, 1972-); Deirdre (1972-); Gail (1974-); Blanche (1974-); Audrey (1979-); Mike (1976-); Kevin (1983-); Sally (1986-); Jack & Vera, and others. These characters continue to provide Corrie's backbone.
Today there are lots of other great characters who are (in the context of the above) fairly new to Weatherfield, but have lit up their screen in their early days on the Street: Danny, Frankie, Sean, Violet, Bev, Fred, Leanne, Cilla, Sophie and others, who continue to maintain the Corrie trend of quality drama and cracking drop of a hat humour. Long may that continue.
The writing remains the nutrient of Corrie's success. The likes of Daran Little and Jonathan Harvey for example are fantastic at putting the older cast at the forefront of storylines, while the likes of Peter Elvy and John Stevenson maintain the high standard that they've kept upon decades of working for Corrie.
There have been many highs and lows in the soap's history. It was worshiped in the 60s as cutting edge kitchen-sink drama in the old Socialist mantra of dark and grimy Manchester. The 70s were seen by many to be the golden era of Corrie (many of the new additions then survive today), while upheaval occured in the 80s with the loss of many of the earliest characters like Ena and Elsie and the arrival of the then brilliant EastEnders, though who can forget the brilliant Ken/Deirdre/Mike love triangle of 1983, or the Rita/Alan Bradley climax of 1989?! The 90s saw the need for a change to the format to compete with their southern rivals, and perhaps in some eyes, the loss of the 'great' Corrie (I disagree), along with the increase over the decade in the number of episodes. The new Millennium started very shaky for Corrie but it soon picked itself up with the monster Richard Hillman stroyline, which sparked off a brilliant couple of years of storylines afterwards (Karen etc). 2005 hasn't quite had the same spark, but it remains very good and is picking up again in recent weeks.
Now to the future. Tony Wood handed over control of Corrie to the new dream-ticket of Kieran Roberts (running Corrie for a 2nd time after leaving Emmerdale) and Steve Frost (another ex-Emmerdale Producer) just the other day. The axe is planned for a number of characters very soon, but here's hoping it's for the best and that Corrie can enjoy a cracking 2006.
Many congratulations, Coronation Street! :)