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Logo 1982

1985 was Coronation Street's twenty-sixth year.

Main characters[]

Ranking Character Played by Duration Number of Episodes Running total Previous year's ranking
1 Bet Lynch Julie Goodyear Full year 83 1134 1
2 Ivy Tilsley Lynne Perrie Full year 82 538 15
2 Vera Duckworth Elizabeth Dawn Full year 82 396 9
4 Deirdre Barlow Anne Kirkbride Full year 78 807 6
5 Terry Duckworth Nigel Pivaro Full year 76 145 15
6 Hilda Ogden Jean Alexander Full year 74 1480 4
7 Ken Barlow William Roache Full year 72 1664 12
7 Jack Duckworth William Tarmey Full year 72 211 1
9 Alf Roberts Bryan Mosley Full year 70 947 8
9 Mavis Riley Thelma Barlow Full year 70 752 6
11 Betty Turpin Betty Driver Full year 69 1146 3
12 Mike Baldwin Johnny Briggs Full year 68 547 14
12 Brian Tilsley Christopher Quinten Full year 68 367 20
12 Kevin Webster Michael Le Vell Full year 68 130 15
15 Emily Bishop Eileen Derbyshire Full year 67 1413 19
15 Gail Tilsley Helen Worth Full year 67 639 15
17 Curly Watts Kevin Kennedy Full year 64 120 22
18 Percy Sugden Bill Waddington Full year 63 141 11
19 Rita Fairclough Barbara Knox Full year 59 925 4
20 George Wardle Ron Davies From March 52 52 -
21 Phyllis Pearce Jill Summers Full year 40 85 28
22 Gloria Todd Sue Jenkins January to February and from September 35 35 -
22 Connie Clayton Susan Brown January to September 35 35 -
22 Harry Clayton Johnny Leeze January to September 35 35 -
25 Martin Platt Sean Wilson From January 30 30 -
26 Andrea Clayton Caroline O'Neill January to August 29 29 -
27 Sue Clayton Jane Hazlegrove January to August 27 27 -
28 Audrey Potter/Roberts Sue Nicholls April and from September 26 82 31
29 Shirley Armitage Lisa Lewis January to February, May to July and September to November 24 46 26
30 Nick Tilsley Warren Jackson From March 22 161 24
31 Ida Clough Helene Palmer January to February, May to July and October to November 21 165 26
32 Tracy Langton Holly Chamarette From July 16 254 -
33 Susan Barlow Wendy Jane Walker From October 15 49 -
34 Bill Webster Peter Armitage January only 3 66 12
34 Debbie Webster Sue Devaney January only 3 34 23
36 Derek Wilton Peter Baldwin March only 2 55 24

Production[]

Bet rises to the top[]

Bet becomes landlady 1985

A new era begins as Bet Lynch takes on the Rovers

With the chaos of 1983 and 1984 behind it, Coronation Street re-asserted itself. The changes began at the Rovers Return, vacated by Billy Walker in December 1984. After much deliberation, producers chose Bet Lynch as the new licensee. Though not seen as an obvious candidate, Bet proved highly popular and influential in the role, establishing the brassy pub landlady as an archetype of British soap.

Bet's promotion resulted in the first staff shake-up at the pub since 1976. While the ever-faithful Betty Turpin and Hilda Ogden remained, Sue Jenkins joined the cast as barmaid Gloria Todd, with Jim Bywater as cellarman Wilf Starkey. Wilf was swiftly replaced by Bet's boyfriend Frank Mills, who she met during a Blackpool sojourn with Rita Fairclough and Mavis Riley in July. Frank too was written out at the end of the year, leaving the field open for Jack Duckworth to become potman in January 1986. Also making her first appearance was Stella Rigby, Bet's friend and rival from the White Swan.

At the other end of the street, the Corner Shop received its first major makeover since 1960 as Alf Roberts transformed it into a self-service mini-mart. Such a change had been mooted before, notably by Maggie Clegg in 1974, but writers had resisted the idea on the basis that it would reduce the interactions between the customers and the shopkeeper. The revamp saw the shop's living quarters removed and the upstairs bedsit expanded into a one-bedroom flat, numbered 15a.

New starts and non-starters[]

1985 cast

Cast group photo taken in late 1985

With the Websters moving to Southampton in January following the wedding of Bill and Elaine Prior, the regular cast was reduced to twenty. Seven new characters were introduced in the first two months of the year to bring some new faces to the programme, four of whom belonged to the new Clayton family who took over No.11. The Claytons were a carefully crafted "normal family" - milkman dad Harry, dressmaker mum Connie, and their teenage daughters Andrea and Sue. However, they failed to resonate with viewers and in September, just eight months after their debut, they were written out in their entirety. Their axing occurred while a major storyline was airing in which Andrea got pregnant with Terry Duckworth's baby; this was swept under the carpet with a quick mention of Andrea giving birth dropped into Episode 2596 in February 1986.

A more successful addition to the cast in the same month was teenager Martin Platt, a new recruit at Jim's Cafe played by Sean Wilson. Wilson's role began as a two-episode guest spot, steadily growing over the years.

More appointments followed John G. Temple's arrival as producer. A storyliner on the programme in the early 1970s, Temple replaced Mervyn Watson with Episode 2496 on 4th March, with Bill Podmore remaining executive producer. Susan Barlow moved back to Weatherfield, soon to become romantically involved with Mike Baldwin, reigniting Mike's feud with Ken Barlow. Wendy Jane Walker returned as Susan, a role she last played as a child in 1974. Also on the Barlow front, Tracy Langton re-appeared after a 20-month gap, now played by Holly Chamarette. Her "return" was entirely a behind the scenes one, as Tracy was supposed to have been living at No.1 during her absence. Meanwhile, after six years of occasional appearances, Sue Nicholls signed full-time as Audrey Potter, who became Audrey Roberts in December. Her marriage to penny-pinching Alf gave the writers fertile ground for comedy over the next decade.

Also appearing were Derek Wilton for another two-episode stint and Sam Tindall, a new recurring OAP and sparring partner for Percy Sugden.

Coronation Street's 25th anniversary took place in December. As was normal practice in this period, no fanfare took place within the programme itself, though its second VHS release, The Jubilee Years, was released in August, containing many archive clips. December also saw the first festive edition of the programme since 1972; from this point on, Coronation Street would be transmitted on Christmas Day if it fell on a Monday or Wednesday.

On 4th September, Granada launched their new sitcom, The Brothers McGregor, which chronicled the misadventures of brothers Wesley and Cyril McGregor. The characters had debuted in Coronation Street in Episode 2203 (12th May 1982), but in order to avoid viewers prejudging what the series would be like, this fact was not played up in pre-publicity for The Brothers McGregor, which ran for four seasons.

Viewing figures[]

1985 ratings

Ratings chart for the year

The upwards surge in ratings experienced in the last quarter of 1984 continued in 1985, with Coronation Street gaining some of its highest audience figures to date in January and February. The first six episodes of the year all crossed the 20 million mark, and the first of those - at 21.4 million viewers - was the highest-rated episode of the year, and, on a single viewing, the highest-rated episode of Coronation Street of all time.

The average figure for the year was 16.49 million viewers, the highest since 1966. All months except September, November and December gained year-on-year, with four months gaining more than 20% and two by more than three million viewers on 1984. Though the last two months of the year saw a significant drop-off from 1984, all Autumn averages remained above 15 million viewers.

32 episodes reached the top of the viewing charts, a fall of six from 1984. Coronation Street's performance in the charts was affected by the launch of the BBC's London-based soap EastEnders on 19th February, whose BARB viewing figures included those of its Sunday omnibus. Having been unsuccessful in their previous attempts to create a soap with the popularity of Coronation Street, the BBC launched EastEnders to maximum publicity, and its profile - and audience - rose steadily throughout the year. Episode 2548 was the last episode of the year to chart at 1st place, with EastEnders displacing Coronation Street thereafter.

Although not transmitted opposite the Street, EastEnders was treated as its direct competitor in the media (a situation which has remained since 1985), and when it took over the number one position in the charts, its victory over Coronation Street was reported with no mention of the fact that without its omnibus figures, it would still be behind the Street. EastEnders' dominance of the charts continued until 1989, when Coronation Street launched its omnibus. BARB discontinued this method of recording viewing figures at the beginning of 2002, adopting a policy of recording individual ratings for each showing of a programme.

Episodes[]

# Ep.
No.
Date Writer Director Viewing
Figures
Chart
Position
1 2479 Wednesday 2nd January John Stevenson Nicholas Ferguson 21,400,000 1
2 2480 Monday 7th January H.V. Kershaw Brian Mills 20,100,000 2
3 2481 Wednesday 9th January Leslie Duxbury Brian Mills 20,600,000 1
4 2482 Monday 14th January Barry Hill John Michael Phillips 20,150,000 2
5 2483 Wednesday 16th January John Stevenson John Michael Phillips 20,600,000 1
6 2484 Monday 21st January H.V. Kershaw Malcolm Taylor 20,200,000 1
7 2485 Wednesday 23rd January Tony Perrin Malcolm Taylor 19,550,000 2
8 2486 Monday 28th January Julian Roach Brian Mills 19,300,000 1
9 2487 Wednesday 30th January Adele Rose Brian Mills 18,850,000 2
10 2488 Monday 4th February Leslie Duxbury Ron Francis 18,700,000 3
11 2489 Wednesday 6th February Peter Whalley Ron Francis 18,950,000 1
12 2490 Monday 11th February Barry Hill John Michael Phillips 19,550,000 1
13 2491 Wednesday 13th February John Stevenson John Michael Phillips 17,650,000 3
14 2492 Monday 18th February Bob Mason Malcolm Taylor 18,350,000 1
15 2493 Wednesday 20th February H.V. Kershaw Malcolm Taylor 18,250,000 2
16 2494 Monday 25th February Julian Roach Mary McMurray 18,050,000 1
17 2495 Wednesday 27th February Leslie Duxbury Mary McMurray 16,550,000 3
18 2496 Monday 4th March Adele Rose Nicholas Ferguson 17,900,000 2
19 2497 Wednesday 6th March John Stevenson Nicholas Ferguson 18,050,000 1
20 2498 Monday 11th March Peter Whalley Gareth Morgan 17,700,000 2
21 2499 Wednesday 13th March Bob Mason Gareth Morgan 18,250,000 1
22 2500 Monday 18th March Barry Hill Bill Gilmour 16,950,000 2
23 2501 Wednesday 20th March Tony Perrin Bill Gilmour 19,400,000 1
24 2502 Monday 25th March H.V. Kershaw Nicholas Ferguson 17,213,000 2
25 2503 Wednesday 27th March John Stevenson Nicholas Ferguson 16,964,000 3
26 2504 Monday 1st April Peter Whalley Matthew Robinson 18,319,000 1
27 2505 Wednesday 3rd April H.V. Kershaw Matthew Robinson 17,751,000 2
28 2506 Monday 8th April Julian Roach Bill Gilmour 16,711,000 3
29 2507 Wednesday 10th April John Stevenson Bill Gilmour 18,867,000 1
30 2508 Monday 15th April Stephen Mallatratt Nicholas Ferguson 17,518,000 1
31 2509 Wednesday 17th April Leslie Duxbury Nicholas Ferguson 16,273,000 3
32 2510 Monday 22nd April Barry Hill Gareth Morgan 15,650,000 2
33 2511 Wednesday 24th April Julian Roach Gareth Morgan 16,400,000 1
34 2512 Monday 29th April Adele Rose Patrick Lau 16,550,000 2
35 2513 Wednesday 1st May John Stevenson Patrick Lau 17,400,000 1
36 2514 Monday 6th May Leslie Duxbury Nicholas Ferguson 15,750,000 2
37 2515 Wednesday 8th May H.V. Kershaw Nicholas Ferguson 15,900,000 1
38 2516 Monday 13th May H.V. Kershaw Gareth Morgan 16,150,000 1
39 2517 Wednesday 15th May Tony Perrin Gareth Morgan 15,750,000 2
40 2518 Monday 20th May Peter Whalley Patrick Lau 16,100,000 2
41 2519 Wednesday 22nd May Leslie Duxbury Patrick Lau 16,300,000 1
42 2520 Monday 27th May Adele Rose Nicholas Ferguson 15,450,000 1
43 2521 Wednesday 29th May Bob Mason Nicholas Ferguson 10,010,000 n/k
44 2522 Monday 3rd June John Stevenson Gareth Morgan 14,300,000 3
45 2523 Wednesday 5th June Barry Hill Gareth Morgan 15,750,000 2
46 2524 Monday 10th June Tony Perrin Howard Baker 14,700,000 2
47 2525 Wednesday 12th June H.V. Kershaw Howard Baker 15,850,000 1
48 2526 Monday 17th June Leslie Duxbury Ron Francis 15,900,000 2
49 2527 Wednesday 19th June Peter Tonkinson Ron Francis 15,950,000 1
50 2528 Monday 24th June Leslie Duxbury Howard Baker 15,250,000 2
51 2529 Wednesday 26th June Bob Mason Howard Baker 16,200,000 1
52 2530 Monday 1st July Adele Rose Nicholas Ferguson
Gareth Morgan
13,950,000 3
53 2531 Wednesday 3rd July H.V. Kershaw Nicholas Ferguson
Gareth Morgan
14,550,000 2
54 2532 Monday 8th July Peter Whalley Bill Gilmour 14,650,000 2
55 2533 Wednesday 10th July Julian Roach Bill Gilmour 15,100,000 1
56 2534 Monday 15th July Leslie Duxbury Gareth Morgan 16,400,000 1
57 2535 Wednesday 17th July H.V. Kershaw Gareth Morgan 12,800,000 4
58 2536 Monday 22nd July Tony Perrin Brian Mills 16,850,000 1
59 2537 Wednesday 24th July John Stevenson Brian Mills 14,900,000 2
60 2538 Monday 29th July Barry Hill Bill Gilmour 16,700,000 1
61 2539 Wednesday 31st July Adele Rose Bill Gilmour 16,100,000 2
62 2540 Monday 5th August H.V. Kershaw Nicholas Ferguson 15,000,000 3
63 2541 Wednesday 7th August Barry Hill Nicholas Ferguson 16,450,000 1
64 2542 Monday 12th August John Stevenson Brian Mills 14,200,000 3
65 2543 Wednesday 14th August Leslie Duxbury Brian Mills 15,650,000 1
66 2544 Monday 19th August Peter Whalley Howard Baker 14,050,000 3
67 2545 Wednesday 21st August Julian Roach Howard Baker 14,900,000 1
68 2546 Monday 26th August Tony Perrin Bill Gilmour 14,250,000 5
69 2547 Wednesday 28th August Barry Hill Bill Gilmour 15,050,000 4
70 2548 Monday 2nd September Bob Mason Gareth Morgan 16,450,000 1
71 2549 Wednesday 4th September Leslie Duxbury Gareth Morgan 15,300,000 5
72 2550 Monday 9th September Peter Whalley Brian Mills 15,450,000 2
73 2551 Wednesday 11th September H.V. Kershaw Brian Mills 13,900,000 5
74 2552 Monday 16th September H.V. Kershaw Malcolm Taylor 15,650,000 2
75 2553 Wednesday 18th September Peter Whalley Malcolm Taylor 15,000,000 5
76 2554 Monday 23rd September Adele Rose Howard Baker 15,950,000 2
77 2555 Wednesday 25th September Stephen Mallatratt Howard Baker 14,950,000 5
78 2556 Monday 30th September Julian Roach Gareth Morgan 15,950,000 5
79 2557 Wednesday 2nd October John Stevenson Gareth Morgan 15,550,000 6
80 2558 Monday 7th October John Stevenson Bill Gilmour 16,200,000 5
81 2559 Wednesday 9th October Leslie Duxbury Bill Gilmour 16,700,000 3
82 2560 Monday 14th October Tony Perrin Howard Baker 15,850,000 5
83 2561 Wednesday 16th October Barry Hill Howard Baker 15,900,000 4
84 2562 Monday 21st October Adele Rose Gareth Morgan 16,150,000 3
85 2563 Wednesday 23rd October Peter Tonkinson Gareth Morgan 15,400,000 4
86 2564 Monday 28th October Adele Rose Bill Gilmour 16,750,000 3
87 2565 Wednesday 30th October Leslie Duxbury Bill Gilmour 16,350,000 4
88 2566 Monday 4th November Barry Hill Howard Baker 17,400,000 3
89 2567 Wednesday 6th November H.V. Kershaw Howard Baker 15,550,000 4
90 2568 Monday 11th November Peter Whalley Gareth Morgan 16,800,000 3
91 2569 Wednesday 13th November Bob Mason Gareth Morgan 16,800,000 3
92 2570 Monday 18th November H.V. Kershaw Bill Gilmour 17,900,000 3
93 2571 Wednesday 20th November Tony Perrin Bill Gilmour 15,150,000 4
94 2572 Monday 25th November Barry Hill Patrick Lau 16,900,000 3
95 2573 Wednesday 27th November John Stevenson Patrick Lau 16,650,000 4
96 2574 Monday 2nd December Leslie Duxbury Gareth Morgan 16,100,000 4
97 2575 Wednesday 4th December Peter Whalley Gareth Morgan 15,450,000 5
98 2576 Monday 9th December John Stevenson Bill Gilmour 16,100,000 3
99 2577 Wednesday 11th December Peter Whalley Bill Gilmour 15,800,000 4
100 2578 Monday 16th December Barry Hill Malcolm Taylor 14,650,000 5
101 2579 Wednesday 18th December Leslie Duxbury Malcolm Taylor 15,300,000 3
102 2580 Monday 23rd December H.V. Kershaw Gareth Morgan 16,200,000 6
103 2581 Wednesday 25th December Julian Roach Gareth Morgan 12,450,000 8th in ITV top ten
104 2582 Monday 30th December Tony Perrin Bill Gilmour 15,900,000 7

Storylines[]

Who lives where[]

Coronation Street

Rosamund Street

Others

Awards and nominations[]

Royal Television Society Awards

Coronation Street in the 1980s
1980198119821983198419851986198719881989
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