Episode 1082 (31st May 1971)

Plot

Ena starts to pack her things up from the flat. She pushes Len into agreeing to use his van to move her things, despite it being a bank holiday however Ray has the van and can’t help her as he has business to attend to. Ena sees Dirty Dick’s cart and has an idea. Ray checks that Irma definitely doesn’t know his prospective business partner, Mel Ryan, so that he can’t see through the French act. Dick is staggered to see how much Ena wants him to move. She points out that her new flat is smaller than her old one and he can therefore have the things she throws out. Mel Ryan and Ray meet at the Carousel Club and go into business selling saunas but Ray wants to leave Len out of it. The wheel comes off Dick's cart in the Street and the residents are forced to help Ena move her harmonium into the flat. Ray gets Mel to agree to meet the club with his "French girlfriend". Minnie watches events from the safety of the Corner Shop so she can’t get roped in. Ena breaks the news to Dick that there’s more stuff to bring across from the Mission store. Hilda is upset than Stan won’t take her out for the bank holiday. Mel rings up a French girlfriend of his own to join the party at the Carousel. Ray tells Irma not to worry and that she’ll easily fool Mel.

Cast

Regular cast

Guest cast

Places

Notes

Ray Langton refers to himself as "Raymond K Langton" but it was separately established that his middle name was "Anthony".
The Grape Street set scenes were OB recorded.
A view through the Rovers Return Inn doors from the interior shows a white backcloth rather than the usual painted one of the Coronation Street exterior.
TV Times synopsis: In which Ena returns to the Street.
Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 5,850,000 homes (7th place).
This was the first episode of the programme to be seen in the United States of America, being broadcast by WNET (New York) on 13th November 1972 at 10.00pm with further episodes shown in a twice-weekly pattern. As reported in the UK television magazine Broadcast, Granada Television offered the series for free for several weeks in the hope that it would be a success in that market, after which stations would have to begin paying for it. The critic Kay Gardella of the New York Daily News reviewed the programme and said, "There is a genuiness about all members of the cast that easily explains the series popularity in England. Community life appears to be at the root of the series' success. A fact that should auger well for it here." She focussed in on one character when she said, "As a character, Ena, a tough old battleaxe of gal who always wears a hairnet, holds great promise." She told her readers to watch the series and give it a chance but, sadly, not enough did.

May 1971 episodes
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