1983 was Coronation Street's twenty-fourth year.
Main characters[]
Ranking | Character | Played by | Duration | Number of Episodes | Running total | Previous year's ranking |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bet Lynch | Julie Goodyear | Full year | 82 | 968 | 6 |
2 | Fred Gee | Fred Feast | Full year | 80 | 510 | 7 |
3 | Deirdre Barlow | Anne Kirkbride | Full year | 75 | 660 | 16 |
4 | Vera Duckworth | Elizabeth Dawn | Full year | 70 | 248 | 23 |
4 | Elsie Tanner | Patricia Phoenix | Full year | 70 | 1604 | 2 |
4 | Betty Turpin | Betty Driver | Full year | 70 | 996 | 16 |
7 | Alf Roberts | Bryan Mosley | Full year | 69 | 809 | 18 |
8 | Eddie Yeats | Geoffrey Hughes | Until December | 68 | 509 | 4 |
9 | Ivy Tilsley | Lynne Perrie | Full year | 66 | 397 | 7 |
9 | Hilda Ogden | Jean Alexander | Full year | 66 | 1331 | 5 |
11 | Mike Baldwin | Johnny Briggs | Full year | 65 | 419 | 11 |
11 | Ken Barlow | William Roache | Full year | 65 | 1529 | 7 |
13 | Rita Fairclough | Barbara Knox | Full year | 64 | 791 | 7 |
13 | Mavis Riley | Thelma Barlow | Full year | 64 | 613 | 11 |
15 | Brian Tilsley | Christopher Quinten | Full year | 60 | 244 | 24 |
15 | Gail Tilsley | Helen Worth | Full year | 60 | 513 | 14 |
17 | Stan Ogden | Bernard Youens | Full year | 58 | 1212 | 13 |
17 | Annie Walker | Doris Speed | Until October | 58 | 1724 | 3 |
19 | Emily Bishop | Eileen Derbyshire | Full year | 54 | 1289 | 15 |
20 | Marion Willis/Yeats | Veronica Doran | Until December | 52 | 103 | 18 |
21 | Albert Tatlock | Jack Howarth | Full year | 44 | 1301 | 20 |
22 | Nicky Tilsley | Warren Jackson | Until October | 36 | 122 | 22 |
23 | Tracy Langton | Christabel Finch | Until November | 35 | 238 | 28 |
24 | Suzie Birchall | Cheryl Murray | January to June | 32 | 195 | - |
24 | Jack Duckworth | William Tarmey | January, March, May and from August | 32 | 56 | - |
24 | Len Fairclough | Peter Adamson | Until May | 32 | 1764 | 1 |
27 | Chalkie Whitely | Teddy Turner | Until August | 28 | 60 | 24 |
28 | Bert Tilsley | Peter Dudley | Until July | 22 | 221 | 27 |
29 | Ida Clough | Helene Palmer | January to February, July, September and December | 20 | 130 | 26 |
30 | Phyllis Pearce | Jill Summers | January to April and July to August | 18 | 32 | 29 |
31 | Curly Watts | Kevin Kennedy | From July | 17 | 17 | - |
32 | Percy Sugden | Bill Waddington | From August | 14 | 14 | - |
33 | Terry Duckworth | Nigel Pivaro | From August | 10 | 10 | - |
34 | Shirley Armitage | Lisa Lewis | September and December | 8 | 8 | - |
35 | Sharon Gaskell | Tracie Bennett | December only | 6 | 51 | 21 |
36 | Kevin Webster | Michael Le Vell | October only | 3 | 3 | - |
37 | Mark Redman | Thomas Hawkeswood | October to November | 2 | 2 | - |
Production[]
Highs[]
1983 was one of Coronation Street's most tumultuous years to date.
After taking over as producer at the end of 1982, Mervyn Watson's first episodes were broadcast at the beginning of the year, with his predecessor Bill Podmore assuming the role of executive producer. In February, the programme screened one of its biggest storylines in the famous Ken-Deirdre-Mike love triangle. The story arose following months of debate in the writers' room over the direction of William Roache's character. Ken Barlow had recently come under fire from The Times for being "very boring", and Granada bosses had indicated that they would support him being killed off. When Roache asked for more exciting storylines, writers decided that the best way to do so was to give Ken a rival - Mike Baldwin - and show him fighting to save his marriage.
As Deirdre and Mike began their affair in late 1982, producers expected that viewers would side with Ken as the injured party. However, viewers relished the will-she-won't-she aspect of the story, and frenzied tabloid speculation over whether Deirdre would stay with Ken or go with Mike marked the beginning of a more sensationalised style of reporting on the soap by the media. Famously, when Deirdre made her decision to stand by Ken in Episode 2285 on 23rd February, the scoreboard at Old Trafford flashed a message "Ken and Deirdre reunited. Ken 1 - Mike 0" during a Manchester United vs. Arsenal football match.
The marriage of drama and comedy favoured by Podmore was very much carried on by Mervyn Watson, with other humorous setpieces including Bet Lynch and Betty Turpin being stranded in a lake in Fred Gee's Rover 2000, and Jack Duckworth being set up with his own wife through the Bill & Coo Video Dating Agency under the name "Vince St. Clair". Two months after the latter story aired, Jack and Vera moved into Coronation Street, with William Tarmey completing his journey from extra to full-time regular. The house, No.9, was left empty when Chalkie Whitely won on a five-horse accumulator and left Weatherfield to join his son and grandson in Australia.
The Duckworths' Machiavellian teenage son Terry, played by Nigel Pivaro, was introduced as his family became residents. In one of the more successful initiatives by the programme to boost its younger cast, Terry debuted in the same year as nerdy binman Curly Watts and cheerful mechanic Kevin Webster, with Kevin Kennedy and Michael Le Vell joining the cast respectively. Another teen, Shirley Armitage, became a machinist at Baldwin's Casuals. Actress Lisa Lewis was the programme's first black regular cast member.
Meanwhile, Cheryl Murray reprised the role of Suzie Birchall for five months from January to June, and in August insufferable pensioner Percy Sugden took over Ena Sharples's old position of Community Centre caretaker, moving into the Community Centre flat. At the same time, community development officer Ken Barlow was made redundant and left the centre, buying into the Weatherfield Recorder free sheet. The running of the paper would drive many of the Barlows' storylines for the next six years.
Another new location was the Graffiti Club disco bar, which utilized the large warehouse entrance in Rosamund Street built into the new outdoor set. Owned by Mike Baldwin and Alec Yardley, the opening of the club was one of the year's principal storylines but the establishment was barely featured beyond 1983.
Lows[]
Aside from the Deirdre/Mike affair, tabloid headlines concerning Coronation Street were dominated by scandal. Early in the year, Peter Adamson wrote a series of articles for a newspaper crticising the programme and its cast, in serious breach of his contract. The producers were about to suspend the actor without pay for six weeks when news broke that Adamson had been charged with indecently assaulting two eight-year-old girls in a public swimming bath. The suspension set aside, Len Fairclough was written out while Adamson concentrated on his defence, with his character working away in Ashton-under-Lyne. After being acquitted of the charges, Adamson was offered £10,000 by Granada to settle his legal bills, but the actor instead chose to sell his story to a tabloid, contravening Granada's house rules on press interviews. Refusing to back down, Adamson was fired from the programme effective immediately.
To maximise drama, Len's off-screen death in a car crash in December was followed by widow Rita's discovery that he'd been visiting his secret mistress, Marjorie Proctor. Sharon Gaskell and Bill Gregory returned for Len's funeral, with the latter rekindling his romance with Elsie Tanner. This was intended to tie in with Elsie's own departure in January 1984; in another blow to the programme, Patricia Phoenix had resigned after 23 years.
The year also saw the final on-screen appearance of Doris Speed as Annie Walker, the original landlady of the Rovers Return. Speed was recovering from a stomach complaint when the Daily Mirror printed a story that she was, at 84, fifteen years older than she had publicly claimed (although the article was not accompanied by a copy of her birth certificate, as is sometimes claimed). After suffering a relapse, Speed was written out of the programme for the time being. This was shortly followed by a break-in at Speed's home by two young thugs, who ransacked the place while the actress hid upstairs waiting for the police. The event was the final straw for Speed who retired immediately afterwards.
Peter Dudley, who played Bert Tilsley, suffered a stroke while awaiting a re-trial on a charge of importuning, at which he intended to plead not guilty. The stroke caused Dudley to lose the use of his left arm, which was incorporated into storylines with Bert being injured in a gas explosion. He was subsequently written out to stand trial, but suffered two heart attacks and a stroke and died before it could take place. Both Annie and Bert's fates were addressed the following year.
The programme also lost Eddie Yeats when Geoffrey Hughes resigned after nine years. Hughes was disappointed with the decision to have Eddie marry as he viewed the character as a bachelor. Marion Yeats was written out with him as the newlyweds moved to Bury to start a family. Eddie's departure caused problems for the writers as his presence at No.13 meant that ailing actor Bernard Youens, playing Stan, did not have as many lines to learn. In November, a storylines was contrived in which Stan discovered he was three years older than he thought - this was done in order to allow Stan to retire.
The year also marked the beginning of a lengthy absence for Tracy Langton when Christabel Finch's family moved out of Manchester without informing the producers. It was decided not to recast Tracy until some time had passed, as producers felt that viewers would find it jarring.
Viewing figures[]
Despite a high public profile throughout the year, Coronation Street's ratings were only slightly higher than in 1982, the decade's low point. Seven months saw increases over the previous year, with most months seeing only slight climbs or falls. The average figure for the year was 14.64 million viewers, an increase of 137k over 1982. The highest-rated episode of the year was Episode 2285, transmitted on 23rd February, which gained an audience of 18.45 million viewers. The episode concluded the Ken-Deirdre-Mike love triangle with the Barlows deciding to stay together.
The programme's performance in the viewing charts was very strong, with all episodes charting inside the top 20, and 48 episodes reaching number one, a total only surpassed in 1962, 1963 and 1965 and an increase of 12 over 1982.
Episodes[]
# | Ep. No. |
Date | Writer | Director | Viewing Figures |
Chart Position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2270 | Monday 3rd January | Adele Rose | Charles Kitchen | 15,850,000 | 4 |
2 | 2271 | Wednesday 5th January | H.V. Kershaw | Charles Kitchen | 17,250,000 | 1 |
3 | 2272 | Monday 10th January | Barry Hill | Ken Grieve | 16,350,000 | 2 |
4 | 2273 | Wednesday 12th January | Leslie Duxbury | Ken Grieve | 16,550,000 | 1 |
5 | 2274 | Monday 17th January | Leslie Duxbury | John Michael Phillips | 16,050,000 | 2 |
6 | 2275 | Wednesday 19th January | John Stevenson | John Michael Phillips | 16,850,000 | 1 |
7 | 2276 | Monday 24th January | H.V. Kershaw | Jeremy Summers | 15,850,000 | 4 |
8 | 2277 | Wednesday 26th January | Adele Rose | Jeremy Summers | 17,250,000 | 1 |
9 | 2278 | Monday 31st January | Barry Hill | Chris Lovett | 16,450,000 | 2 |
10 | 2279 | Wednesday 2nd February | Peter Whalley | Chris Lovett | 16,500,000 | 1 |
11 | 2280 | Monday 7th February | Tony Perrin | Brian Mills | 16,650,000 | 2 |
12 | 2281 | Wednesday 9th February | Leslie Duxbury | Brian Mills | 17,250,000 | 1 |
13 | 2282 | Wednesday 16th February | Barry Hill | Jeremy Summers | 17,600,000 | 1 |
14 | 2283 | Thursday 17th February | Leslie Duxbury | Jeremy Summers | 13,600,000 | 8 |
15 | 2284 | Monday 21st February | John Stevenson | Brian Mills | 17,850,000 | 2 |
16 | 2285 | Wednesday 23rd February | Peter Whalley | Brian Mills | 18,450,000 | 1 |
17 | 2286 | Monday 28th February | H.V. Kershaw | Gareth Morgan | 16,850,000 | 2 |
18 | 2287 | Wednesday 2nd March | H.V. Kershaw | Gareth Morgan | 17,150,000 | 1 |
19 | 2288 | Monday 7th March | Barry Hill | Jeremy Summers | 15,850,000 | 2 |
20 | 2289 | Wednesday 9th March | Leslie Duxbury | Jeremy Summers | 16,450,000 | 1 |
21 | 2290 | Monday 14th March | Bob Mason | Chris Lovett | 16,550,000 | 2 |
22 | 2291 | Wednesday 16th March | Adele Rose | Chris Lovett | 16,650,000 | 1 |
23 | 2292 | Monday 21st March | Julian Roach | Gareth Morgan | 16,400,000 | 2 |
24 | 2293 | Wednesday 23rd March | H.V. Kershaw | Gareth Morgan | 16,900,000 | 1 |
25 | 2294 | Monday 28th March | Barry Hill | Eugene Ferguson | 15,000,000 | 2 |
26 | 2295 | Wednesday 30th March | Tony Perrin | Eugene Ferguson | 16,250,000 | 1 |
27 | 2296 | Monday 4th April | Peter Whalley | Brian Mills | 13,800,000 | 4 |
28 | 2297 | Wednesday 6th April | H.V. Kershaw | Brian Mills | 16,000,000 | 1 |
29 | 2298 | Monday 11th April | Leslie Duxbury | John Michael Phillips | 15,250,000 | 2 |
30 | 2299 | Wednesday 13th April | John Stevenson | John Michael Phillips | 16,600,000 | 1 |
31 | 2300 | Monday 18th April | Leslie Duxbury | Eugene Ferguson | 14,650,000 | 2 |
32 | 2301 | Wednesday 20th April | H.V. Kershaw | Eugene Ferguson | 16,700,000 | 1 |
33 | 2302 | Monday 25th April | Peter Whalley | Chris Lovett | 14,550,000 | 2 |
34 | 2303 | Wednesday 27th April | Adele Rose | Chris Lovett | 14,600,000 | 1 |
35 | 2304 | Monday 2nd May | Barry Hill | Gareth Morgan | 13,700,000 | 2 |
36 | 2305 | Wednesday 4th May | Tony Perrin | Gareth Morgan | 16,550,000 | 1 |
37 | 2306 | Monday 9th May | Adele Rose | Eugene Ferguson | 14,400,000 | 2 |
38 | 2307 | Wednesday 11th May | Tony Perrin | Eugene Ferguson | 14,700,000 | 1 |
39 | 2308 | Monday 16th May | Leslie Duxbury | Charles Kitchen | 14,000,000 | 2 |
40 | 2309 | Wednesday 18th May | Barry Hill | Charles Kitchen | 15,200,000 | 1 |
41 | 2310 | Monday 23rd May | Peter Whalley | Gareth Morgan | 14,100,000 | 1 |
42 | 2311 | Wednesday 25th May | H.V. Kershaw | Gareth Morgan | 13,250,000 | 2 |
43 | 2312 | Monday 30th May | H.V. Kershaw | Brian Mills | 11,750,000 | 3 |
44 | 2313 | Wednesday 1st June | Peter Whalley | Brian Mills | 12,300,000 | 2 |
45 | 2314 | Monday 6th June | Adele Rose | Bill Gilmour | 12,050,000 | 2 |
46 | 2315 | Wednesday 8th June | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 12,150,000 | 1 |
47 | 2316 | Monday 13th June | Tony Perrin | Charles Kitchen | 14,200,000 | 1 |
48 | 2317 | Wednesday 15th June | John Stevenson | Charles Kitchen | 13,700,000 | 2 |
49 | 2318 | Monday 20th June | Julian Roach | Brian Mills | 12,850,000 | 1 |
50 | 2319 | Wednesday 22nd June | H.V. Kershaw | Charlie Nairn | 12,350,000 | 2 |
51 | 2320 | Monday 27th June | Adele Rose | Bill Gilmour | 13,000,000 | 2 |
52 | 2321 | Wednesday 29th June | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 13,650,000 | 1 |
53 | 2322 | Monday 4th July | Tony Perrin | Gareth Morgan | 12,000,000 | 2 |
54 | 2323 | Wednesday 6th July | John Stevenson | Gareth Morgan | 12,400,000 | 1 |
55 | 2324 | Monday 11th July | Tony Perrin | Charlie Nairn | 12,050,000 | 2 |
56 | 2325 | Wednesday 13th July | H.V. Kershaw | Brian Mills | 12,250,000 | 1 |
57 | 2326 | Monday 18th July | Peter Whalley | Bill Gilmour | 12,850,000 | 1 |
58 | 2327 | Wednesday 20th July | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 12,300,000 | 2 |
59 | 2328 | Monday 25th July | Adele Rose | Gareth Morgan | 12,200,000 | 1 |
60 | 2329 | Wednesday 27th July | Barry Hill | Gareth Morgan | 12,050,000 | 2 |
61 | 2330 | Monday 1st August | H.V. Kershaw | Charlie Nairn | 13,300,000 | 1 |
62 | 2331 | Wednesday 3rd August | Bob Mason | Charlie Nairn | 12,200,000 | 2 |
63 | 2332 | Monday 8th August | Julian Roach | Bill Gilmour | 12,550,000 | 1 |
64 | 2333 | Wednesday 10th August | John Stevenson | Bill Gilmour | 12,200,000 | 2 |
65 | 2334 | Monday 15th August | Barry Hill | John Michael Phillips | 12,950,000 | 1 |
66 | 2335 | Wednesday 17th August | Leslie Duxbury | John Michael Phillips | 12,750,000 | 2 |
67 | 2336 | Monday 22nd August | H.V. Kershaw | Charlie Nairn | 13,202,000 | 1 |
68 | 2337 | Wednesday 24th August | Adele Rose | Charlie Nairn | 12,835,000 | 2 |
69 | 2338 | Monday 29th August | Leslie Duxbury | Nicholas Ferguson | 10,752,000 | 4 |
70 | 2339 | Wednesday 31st August | Peter Whalley | Nicholas Ferguson | 12,531,000 | 1 |
71 | 2340 | Monday 5th September | Tony Perrin | Gareth Morgan | 14,309,000 | 2 |
72 | 2341 | Wednesday 7th September | John Stevenson | Gareth Morgan | 14,804,000 | 1 |
73 | 2342 | Monday 12th September | Barry Hill | Charlie Nairn | 13,920,000 | 3 |
74 | 2343 | Wednesday 14th September | Leslie Duxbury | Charlie Nairn | 14,870,000 | 1 |
75 | 2344 | Monday 19th September | John Stevenson | Nicholas Ferguson | 14,580,000 | 1 |
76 | 2345 | Wednesday 21st September | H.V. Kershaw | Nicholas Ferguson | 14,195,000 | 2 |
77 | 2346 | Monday 26th September | Tony Perrin | Charles Kitchen | 14,253,000 | 2 |
78 | 2347 | Wednesday 28th September | Peter Whalley | Charles Kitchen | 14,402,000 | 1 |
79 | 2348 | Monday 3rd October | Peter Tonkinson | Bill Gilmour | 14,985,000 | 1 |
80 | 2349 | Wednesday 5th October | H.V. Kershaw | Bill Gilmour | 14,224,000 | 2 |
81 | 2350 | Monday 10th October | Adele Rose | Nicholas Ferguson | 15,201,000 | 1 |
82 | 2351 | Wednesday 12th October | Leslie Duxbury | Nicholas Ferguson | 13,500,000 | 3 |
83 | 2352 | Monday 17th October | Julian Roach | Charles Kitchen | 15,237,000 | 2 |
84 | 2353 | Wednesday 19th October | John Stevenson | Charles Kitchen | 16,051,000 | 1 |
85 | 2354 | Monday 24th October | H.V. Kershaw | Gareth Morgan | 14,793,000 | 2 |
86 | 2355 | Wednesday 26th October | Bob Mason | Gareth Morgan | 16,122,000 | 1 |
87 | 2356 | Monday 31st October | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 15,784,000 | 1 |
88 | 2357 | Wednesday 2nd November | John Stevenson | Bill Gilmour | 15,626,000 | 2 |
89 | 2358 | Monday 7th November | Barry Hill | David Carson | 15,013,000 | 2 |
90 | 2359 | Wednesday 9th November | Adele Rose | David Carson | 15,675,000 | 1 |
91 | 2360 | Monday 14th November | Barry Hill | Charlie Nairn | 14,548,000 | 3 |
92 | 2361 | Wednesday 16th November | Peter Whalley | Charlie Nairn | 14,591,000 | 2 |
93 | 2362 | Monday 21st November | Leslie Duxbury | Bill Gilmour | 14,548,000 | 3 |
94 | 2363 | Wednesday 23rd November | Julian Roach | Patrick Lau | 14,566,000 | 2 |
95 | 2364 | Monday 28th November | Leslie Duxbury | Mary McMurray | 14,908,000 | 3 |
96 | 2365 | Wednesday 30th November | Tony Perrin | Mary McMurray | 15,274,000 | 1 |
97 | 2366 | Monday 5th December | Adele Rose | Stephen Butcher | 14,825,000 | 3 |
98 | 2367 | Wednesday 7th December | Julian Roach | Stephen Butcher | 16,954,000 | 1 |
99 | 2368 | Monday 12th December | Barry Hill | Patrick Lau | 16,073,000 | 1 |
100 | 2369 | Wednesday 14th December | Peter Whalley | Patrick Lau | 15,970,000 | 2 |
101 | 2370 | Monday 19th December | Leslie Duxbury | Mary McMurray | 13,762,000 | 3 |
102 | 2371 | Wednesday 21st December | Leslie Duxbury | Mary McMurray | 15,191,000 | 1 |
103 | 2372 | Monday 26th December | Peter Whalley | Stephen Butcher | 10,315,000 | 20 |
104 | 2373 | Wednesday 28th December | Adele Rose | Stephen Butcher | 13,798,000 | 2 |
Storylines[]
Who lives where[]
Coronation Street
- Rovers Return Inn - Annie Walker and Fred Gee
- 1 Coronation Street - Albert Tatlock. Ken and Deirdre Barlow. Tracy Langton.
- 3 Coronation Street - Emily Bishop. Curly Watts (November onwards).
- 5 Coronation Street - Ivy Tilsley. Bert Tilsley (until August). Brian, Gail and Nicky Tilsley (from October).
- 7 Coronation Street - Len Fairclough (until December). Rita Fairclough. Sharon Gaskell (December onwards).
- 9 Coronation Street - Chalkie Whitely (until July). Jack, Vera and Terry Duckworth (September onwards).
- 11 Coronation Street - Elsie Tanner. Marion Willis/Yeats (until December). Suzie Birchall (from January to June). Eddie Yeats (from November to December).
- 13 Coronation Street - Stan and Hilda Ogden. Eddie Yeats (until November).
- Corner Shop (No.15) - Alf Roberts.
- Corner Shop bedsit - Bet Lynch.
- Community Centre flat - Percy Sugden (from September).
Others
- 37 Hillside Crescent - Betty Turpin.
- 5 Buxton Close - Brian, Gail and Nicky Tilsley (Until October).
- 20 Inkerman Street - Jack, Vera and Terry Duckworth (until September).
- 46b, St. Mary's Place - Mike Baldwin
- 4 Gorton Close - Phyllis Pearce. (from February)
- Nelson Street - Shirley Armitage.
- Omdurman Street - Phyllis Pearce (until February)
Coronation Street in the 1980s |
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