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Logo 1982

1989 was Coronation Street's thirtieth year.

Main characters[]

Ranking Character Played by Duration Number of Episodes Running total Previous year's ranking
1 Jack Duckworth William Tarmey Full year 90 507 3
2 Audrey Roberts Sue Nicholls Full year 88 332 27
2 Sally Webster Sally Whittaker Full year 88 278 9
4 Vera Duckworth Elizabeth Dawn Full year 87 697 1
5 Alf Roberts Bryan Mosley Full year 86 1234 15
6 Rita Fairclough Barbara Knox Full year 84 1203 19
7 Bet Gilroy Julie Goodyear Full year 78 1421 6
8 Betty Turpin Betty Driver Full year 77 1403 7
9 Martin Platt Sean Wilson Full year 76 233 21
10 Ivy Brennan Lynne Perrie Full year 75 823 4
10 Kevin Webster Michael Le Vell Full year 75 394 14
12 Jenny Bradley Sally Ann Matthews Full year 74 212 25
12 Tina Fowler Michelle Holmes From March 74 74 -
14 Gail Tilsley Helen Worth Full year 73 895 17
14 Curly Watts Kevin Kennedy Full year 73 362 20
14 Mavis Wilton Thelma Barlow Full year 73 1025 15
17 Emily Bishop Eileen Derbyshire Full year 71 1683 2
18 Percy Sugden Bill Waddington Full year 70 388 10
19 Deirdre Barlow Anne Kirkbride Full year 69 1049 17
20 Mike Baldwin Johnny Briggs Full year 68 816 7
21 Ken Barlow William Roache Full year 65 1919 11
22 Alec Gilroy Roy Barraclough Full year 61 230 5
23 Derek Wilton Peter Baldwin Full year 58 166 31
24 Don Brennan Geoff Hinsliff Full year 56 115 21
25 Alma Sedgewick Amanda Barrie From April 54 70 36
26 Alan Bradley Mark Eden Until April and from October to December 46 221 11
27 Phyllis Pearce Jill Summers Full year 44 223 28
28 Nicky Tilsley Warren Jackson Full year 43 265 32
29 Mark Casey Stuart Wolfenden From April 36 36 -
30 Sarah Louise Tilsley Lynsay King Full year 34 73 33
31 Tracy Barlow Dawn Acton February and from July 30 346 34
32 Shirley Armitage Lisa Lewis Until April 16 153 21
33 Kimberley Taylor Suzanne Hall From October 14 14 -
34 Sandra Stubbs Sally Watts Until February 10 53 26
35 Jim McDonald Charles Lawson From October 9 9 -
36 Liz McDonald Beverley Callard From October 8 8 -
37 Reg Holdsworth Ken Morley From October 7 7 -
38 Andy McDonald Nicholas Cochrane From December 4 4 -
38 Brian Tilsley Christopher Quinten Until February 4 524 24
40 Steve McDonald Simon Gregson From December 3 3 -
41 Gina Seddon Julie Foy January only 2 27 30

Production[]

Departure of Bill Podmore[]

Episode 2906 on 1st February was the last episode to carry a credit for Bill Podmore, the man who had guided Coronation Street since 1976 and was the driving force behind what is widely considered to be the programme's "golden age". After standing down as producer, Podmore retired from television.

One of his last decisions as producer was to kill off Brian Tilsley. In 1988, Christopher Quinten married his partner and moved to the US. Podmore agreed for Quinten to continue as Brian part-time, but the storyliners struggled to devise a plausible way to temporarily write Brian out which would not retread old ground, and they unanimously decided that the best option was to kill him off. His death in a stabbing outside a nightclub was the second time a Coronation Street resident had been murdered.

Rejuvenation under David Liddiment[]

Alan grabs rita

Rita Fairclough's nightmare nears its end as Alan Bradley catches up with her in Blackpool

David Liddiment had been at Coronation Street since 1988, participating in story conferences, and he received his first credit as executive producer in Episode 2907 on 6th February. Podmore's direct replacement, Mervyn Watson, became the programme's producer at the same time, returning to the job after four years away. Over the course of the year, the pair would mastermind one of the most seismic updates in the programme's history.

Liddiment's first objective was to update the way Coronation Street was made. By 1989, the show was still being made in much the same way as when it stopped being live. Liddiment's view was that it looked like a product of an earlier time, especially in comparison with rival soaps EastEnders, which had a dedicated studio, and Brookside, which was shot in real custom-built houses. Coronation Street had begun to move towards a more authentic, streamlined look the year before when it became fully videotaped, with location scenes now recorded using PSCs (portable single cameras) which required less preparation than film work. This allowed more scenes to be shot on location, in accordance with Liddiment's desire to open out the world of Weatherfield as much as possible to add variety to the programme's settings. Having been granted additional studio space, Coronation Street featured more sets per episode, and the number of scenes in each instalment was increased to quicken the pacing.

Expansion and the Friday episode[]

With Coronation Street reinvigorated by an increase in production values and viewing figures, Granada's director of programmes Steve Morrison sounded out David Liddiment about the possibility of adding a third weekly episode, to be transmitted at 7.30pm on Fridays. Liddiment was keen, but had doubts: "I was very nervous. I didn't want to go down in the Street's distinguished history as the man who killed the golden goose. We had already made the decision to increase the volume of location material and we were looking at a schedule to give us more time on location and the same time in the studio. I didn't want the process we'd started, of increasing the production values of an episode, to be neutralised by the need to make a third episode. I wanted to ensure we could continue to enhance the production values of the programme and do a third episode. But there was a kind of rhythm about Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the fact that Neighbours and Home and Away were being shown five days a week with healthy audiences was, I felt, indicative of our ability to hold an audience for an extra episode." (Coronation Street: Celebrating Thirty Years, Graeme Kay, 1990) On offering Granada's proposal to the network, Morrison remarked that they "snapped his hand off".

To meet the demands of producing an extra 52 episodes a year without overworking the cast, a bumper crop of actors were signed to the programme in 1989. In March, brassy barmaid Tina Fowler played by Michelle Holmes made her first appearance, and in April Stuart Wolfenden joined as young mechanic Mark Casey, and Amanda Barrie returned as Alma Sedgewick, now a full-time character. Meanwhile, Sally Watts and Lisa Lewis left the cast.

1989 demolition

The demolition of the factory and community centre paves the way for a new Coronation Street for the 1990s

With the Friday episode scheduled for October, room for more new characters was created via a major storyline in which builder Maurice Jones bought up the Community Centre and Baldwin's Casuals and demolished them to make way for a new development of houses, shop units, business premises and flats. The idea for the new houses came to David Liddiment when he walked around Salford and saw pockets of modern houses being built alongside old terraces. As well as providing a vehicle for new characters (and rehousing some established characters), the new development was significant in heralding the demise of Baldwin's factory, resulting in Vera Duckworth and Ivy Brennan having to look for work elsewhere, Emily Bishop taking retirement, and a new direction for Mike Baldwin as he found himself having to start from the bottom. The building work was seen prominently in the show from September onwards and carried on into 1990.

To replace the factory, a new ongoing workplace was introduced in the form of Bettabuy supermarket, with newly-graduated Curly Watts as assistant manager and Vera among its staff. In keeping with the producers' desire for authenticity, all scenes at Bettabuy were recorded on location in an Eccles branch of Morrisons. The supermarket also employed young Kimberley Taylor, a new love interest for Curly played by Suzanne Hall, and Reg Holdsworth, the branch's vain buffoon of a manager. Reg was planned as a temporary character, with Curly eventually taking over his job, but Ken Morley impressed producers so much with his portrayal that he was kept on, and Reg and Curly were instead developed as a comedic double-act.

Coronation Street went three times a week with Episode 2981 on 20th October. The previous episode had seen the villainous Alan Bradley released from Risley after serving enough time on remand for fraud and assaulting Rita Fairclough. Alan posing as the late Len Fairclough to get a loan from the building society and Rita finding out had been a popular storyline earlier in the year, and it was felt that Alan's return would be a big enough draw for viewers to tune in on the new day. The storyline climaxed on 8th December, in which Alan was hit by a tram while furiously chasing Rita across Blackpool's Promenade.

For the move to three episodes, the production process was changed with the cast now working six days a week: Sunday and Monday on location, Tuesday and Wednesday in rehearsal and Thursday and Friday in studio. The actors enjoyed the pay of an additional episode a week but some complaints were voiced, such as by Bill Waddington who brusquely said that it was, "bloody hard work."

The last newcomers of the year were Jim and Liz McDonald, an ex-army sergeant and his wife, and their 15-year-old twin sons Steve and Andy, in an attempt to boost the programme's youth demographic. The McDonalds took over No.11 in December. Simon Gregson and Nicholas Cochrane tried out for their parts when casting directors asked for auditionees at their school in south Manchester. Charles Lawson and Beverley Callard were involved in the casting of Steve and Andy.

Viewing figures[]

1989 ratings

Ratings chart for the year. All figures are aggregated

The Coronation Street omnibus launched on Sunday 22nd January. From the first week of its run, the programme reclaimed the top two positions in the national rankings from EastEnders, and a further 44 episodes in 1989 reached the top spot. Note that these figures represent the sum total of the original showings and the omnibus, a practice which had enabled EastEnders to take the top spots consistently since late 1985. Single-showing figures are available for this year, and these figures will be considered separately from the aggregated figures given by BARB.

Discounting the omnibus, the average for the year was 15.5 million viewers, a 5% increase on 1988 and the highest since 1985. Nine months gained on 1988, especially March, April, June, August and September which made gains of approximately two million and over 10%. By this method of counting, the highest-rated episode of the year was Episode 2919 (20th March 1989) with 19.01 million viewers.

Counting the omnibus, the yearly average climbs to 19.86 million viewers, and the most-watched episode was Episode 2918 (15th March 1989) with 26.93 million viewers. This is the programme's highest BARB rating of all time.

Episodes[]

# Ep.
No.
Date Writer Director Viewing
Figures
(With omnibus
from Ep 2901
onwards)
Chart
Position
1 2897 Monday 2nd January Leslie Duxbury Sarah Harding 15,430,000 5
2 2898 Wednesday 4th January Peter Whalley Sarah Harding 17,560,000 4
3 2899 Monday 9th January John Stevenson Nicholas Ferguson 16,980,000 5
4 2900 Wednesday 11th January Brian Finch Nicholas Ferguson 17,070,000 4
5 2901 Monday 16th January Brian Finch Spencer Campbell 21,500,000 2
6 2902 Wednesday 18th January John Stevenson Spencer Campbell 22,970,000 1
7 2903 Monday 23rd January Barry Hill Sarah Harding 21,870,000 2
8 2904 Wednesday 25th January Adele Rose Sarah Harding 23,050,000 1
9 2905 Monday 30th January Peter Whalley Nicholas Ferguson 21,100,000 2
10 2906 Wednesday 1st February Paul Abbott Nicholas Ferguson 22,950,000 1
11 2907 Monday 6th February Tony Perrin Spencer Campbell 22,060,000 2
12 2908 Wednesday 8th February Stephen Mallatratt Spencer Campbell 23,240,000 1
13 2909 Monday 13th February Leslie Duxbury Patrick Lau 21,150,000 2
14 2910 Wednesday 15th February Adele Rose Patrick Lau 24,390,000 1
15 2911 Monday 20th February John Stevenson Sarah Harding 23,990,000 3
16 2912 Wednesday 22nd February Peter Whalley Sarah Harding 24,260,000 1
17 2913 Monday 27th February Barry Hill Ian White 21,010,000 2
18 2914 Wednesday 1st March Peter Whalley Ian White 21,380,000 1
19 2915 Monday 6th March Adele Rose Spencer Campbell 23,670,000 2
20 2916 Wednesday 8th March Leslie Duxbury Spencer Campbell 25,530,000 1
21 2917 Monday 13th March Tony Perrin Sarah Harding 25,870,000 2
22 2918 Wednesday 15th March John Stevenson Sarah Harding 26,930,000 1
23 2919 Monday 20th March Paul Abbott Ian White 23,690,000 2
24 2920 Wednesday 22nd March John Stevenson Ian White 23,880,000 1
25 2921 Monday 27th March Adele Rose Mary McMurray 22,840,000 2
26 2922 Wednesday 29th March Leslie Duxbury Mary McMurray 23,380,000 1
27 2923 Monday 3rd April Peter Whalley Sarah Harding 21,680,000 2
28 2924 Wednesday 5th April Barry Hill Sarah Harding 23,160,000 1
29 2925 Monday 10th April Barry Hill Ian White 21,400,000 2
30 2926 Wednesday 12th April Leslie Duxbury Ian White 23,090,000 1
31 2927 Monday 17th April Tony Perrin Spencer Campbell 21,670,000 2
32 2928 Wednesday 19th April John Stevenson Spencer Campbell 22,200,000 1
33 2929 Monday 24th April Stephen Mallatratt Mary McMurray 20,230,000 2
34 2930 Wednesday 26th April Peter Whalley Mary McMurray 21,030,000 1
35 2931 Monday 1st May Tony Perrin Ian White 16,030,000 5
36 2932 Wednesday 3rd May Peter Whalley Ian White 17,110,000 1
37 2933 Monday 8th May Stephen Lowe Spencer Campbell 17,440,000 5
38 2934 Wednesday 10th May Adele Rose Spencer Campbell 19,440,000 1
39 2935 Monday 15th May Leslie Duxbury Sarah Harding 17,810,000 1
40 2936 Wednesday 17th May John Stevenson Sarah Harding 16,870,000 5
41 2937 Monday 22nd May Tony Perrin Ian White 15,820,000 5
42 2938 Wednesday 24th May John Stevenson Ian White 16,740,000 1
43 2939 Monday 29th May Barry Hill Spencer Campbell 16,510,000 6
44 2940 Wednesday 31st May Leslie Duxbury Spencer Campbell 18,510,000 1
45 2941 Monday 5th June Stephen Mallatratt Sarah Harding 18,320,000 4
46 2942 Wednesday 7th June Peter Whalley Sarah Harding 18,910,000 1
47 2943 Monday 12th June Peter Whalley Ian White 16,830,000 1
48 2944 Wednesday 14th June Stephen Lowe Ian White 16,490,000 2
49 2945 Monday 19th June Tony Perrin Spencer Campbell 15,870,000 5
50 2946 Wednesday 21st June Barry Hill Spencer Campbell 17,690,000 1
51 2947 Monday 26th June Leslie Duxbury Sarah Harding 16,760,000 6
52 2948 Wednesday 28th June John Stevenson Sarah Harding 18,090,000 1
53 2949 Monday 3rd July Tony Perrin Ian White 14,710,000 6
54 2950 Wednesday 5th July Stephen Mallatratt Ian White 15,760,000 3
55 2951 Monday 10th July Peter Whalley Spencer Campbell 16,170,000 2
56 2952 Wednesday 12th July John Stevenson Spencer Campbell 15,870,000 3
57 2953 Monday 17th July John Stevenson Sarah Harding 16,000,000 2
58 2954 Wednesday 19th July Barry Hill Sarah Harding 15,640,000 4
59 2955 Monday 24th July Adele Rose Ian White 15,520,000 5
60 2956 Wednesday 26th July Paul Abbott Ian White 17,660,000 1
61 2957 Monday 31st July Ken Blakeson Spencer Campbell 15,780,000 4
62 2958 Wednesday 2nd August Leslie Duxbury Spencer Campbell 14,070,000 8
63 2959 Monday 7th August Adele Rose Brian Mills 15,120,000 7
64 2960 Wednesday 9th August Peter Whalley Brian Mills 15,730,000 5
65 2961 Monday 14th August Stephen Mallatratt John Michael Phillips 18,590,000 1
66 2962 Wednesday 16th August Barry Hill John Michael Phillips 18,590,000 1
67 2963 Monday 21st August Barry Hill Spencer Campbell 17,190,000 2
68 2964 Wednesday 23rd August Ken Blakeson Spencer Campbell 18,740,000 1
69 2965 Monday 28th August Leslie Duxbury Oliver Horsbrugh 18,030,000 2
70 2966 Wednesday 30th August Leslie Duxbury Oliver Horsbrugh 20,070,000 1
71 2967 Monday 4th September Sue Ashby Brian Mills 19,080,000 1
72 2968 Wednesday 6th September Stephen Mallatratt Brian Mills 16,560,000 4
73 2969 Monday 11th September Adele Rose Brian Mills 18,720,000 2
74 2970 Wednesday 13th September Tony Perrin Richard Holthouse 19,250,000 1
75 2971 Monday 18th September Peter Whalley Richard Holthouse 19,180,000 1
76 2972 Wednesday 20th September Peter Whalley Richard Holthouse 19,160,000 2
77 2973 Monday 25th September Ken Blakeson Spencer Campbell 19,410,000 2
78 2974 Wednesday 27th September Adele Rose Spencer Campbell 19,780,000 1
79 2975 Monday 2nd October Leslie Duxbury Spencer Campbell 19,400,000 2
80 2976 Wednesday 4th October Stephen Mallatratt Sarah Harding 19,860,000 1
81 2977 Monday 9th October Peter Whalley Sarah Harding 20,730,000 2
82 2978 Wednesday 11th October Sue Ashby Sarah Harding 20,930,000 1
83 2979 Monday 16th October Tony Perrin Brian Mills 17,780,000 4
84 2980 Wednesday 18th October Barry Hill Brian Mills 20,350,000 2
85 2981 Friday 20th October John Stevenson Brian Mills 20,620,000 1
86 2982 Monday 23rd October John Stevenson Ian White 15,020,000 3
87 2983 Wednesday 25th October Ken Blakeson Ian White 21,470,000 1
88 2984 Friday 27th October Barry Hill Ian White 20,430,000 2
89 2985 Monday 30th October Julian Roach Richard Holthouse 19,460,000 2
90 2986 Wednesday 1st November Tony Perrin Richard Holthouse 20,850,000 1
91 2987 Friday 3rd November Leslie Duxbury Richard Holthouse 19,450,000 3
92 2988 Monday 6th November Adele Rose Sarah Harding 19,610,000 2
93 2989 Wednesday 8th November Peter Whalley Sarah Harding 20,900,000 1
94 2990 Friday 10th November Stephen Mallatratt Sarah Harding 19,480,000 3
95 2991 Monday 13th November Stephen Mallatratt Brian Mills 19,490,000 2
96 2992 Wednesday 15th November Julian Roach Brian Mills 21,240,000 1
97 2993 Friday 17th November Leslie Duxbury Brian Mills 17,290,000 9
98 2994 Monday 20th November Peter Whalley Ian White 19,870,000 3
99 2995 Wednesday 22nd November Peter Whalley Ian White 20,900,000 2
100 2996 Friday 24th November Barry Hill Ian White 21,060,000 1
101 2997 Monday 27th November Adele Rose Spencer Campbell 20,050,000 3
102 2998 Wednesday 29th November John Stevenson Spencer Campbell 21,440,000 1
103 2999 Friday 1st December John Stevenson Spencer Campbell 21,380,000 2
104 3000 Monday 4th December Barry Hill Richard Holthouse 20,970,000 3
105 3001 Wednesday 6th December Barry Hill Richard Holthouse 21,360,000 2
106 3002 Friday 8th December John Stevenson Richard Holthouse 21,450,000 1
107 3003 Monday 11th December Peter Whalley Brian Mills 21,700,000 2
108 3004 Wednesday 13th December Julian Roach Brian Mills 22,000,000 1
109 3005 Friday 15th December Sue Ashby Brian Mills 21,000,000 3
110 3006 Monday 18th December Leslie Duxbury Ian White 20,000,000 3
111 3007 Wednesday 20th December Adele Rose Ian White 22,900,000 1
112 3008 Friday 22nd December Stephen Mallatratt Ian White 22,300,000 2
113 3009 Monday 25th December Peter Whalley Spencer Campbell 20,940,000 3
114 3010 Wednesday 27th December Stephen Mallatratt Spencer Campbell 21,560,000 2
115 3011 Friday 29th December Ken Blakeson Spencer Campbell 19,190,000 9

Storylines[]

Who lives where[]

Coronation Street

Rosamund Street

Others

Coronation Street in the 1980s
1980198119821983198419851986198719881989
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