Coronation Street is a British soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Ken Barlow is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by William Roache. Barlow was created by Tony Warren as one of Coronation Street's original characters and December 2020 marked Ken's 60th anniversary onscreen. He debuted in the soap's first episode on 9 December 1960. Having appeared in the role continuously since that date, Roache is the longest-serving actor in a televised soap opera, and was honoured at the 2010 Guinness World Records ceremony for the achievement, having surpassed actor Don Hastings from the American soap opera As the World Turns, who previously held this title. Roache stated in 2010 that he had no plans to leave the role and would remain in Coronation Street for as long as the producers would have him. In November 2020, Roache was again presented with the Guinness World Record for the longest serving TV soap star in the world for his six decades in Coronation Street.
ITV3 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first launched on Monday 1 November 2004 at 9pm, replacing Plus (Granada). ITV3 is the sixth-largest UK television channel by audience share and the largest after the five main terrestrial services, the position which was previously held by its sister station ITV2. The channel is known for repeats of ITV dramas, and including sequential reruns of Agatha Christie's Poirot, Classic Coronation Street, Classic Emmerdale, Heartbeat, Inspector Morse and A Touch of Frost, amongst others.
Anne Kirkbride was an English actress, known for her long-running role as Deirdre Barlow in the ITV soap Coronation Street, which she played for 42 years from 1972 to 2014. For this role, she posthumously received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2015 British Soap Awards.
Deirdre Barlow was a fictional character from the English ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Anne Kirkbride. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 November 1972. Her final appearance was on 8 October 2014.
Kenneth William Farrington is a retired English actor. He first came to fame playing the role of Billy Walker, wayward son of publican Annie, in ITV's long-running soap opera, Coronation Street. Following a brief period as a film actor, Farrington secured the role of power-hungry Tom King in Emmerdale. After the character's high-profile death in December 2006, Farrington largely retired from acting, although he has appeared in occasional TV roles since then.
Emily Bishop is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by Eileen Derbyshire, the character is the longest-standing female character in the serial, having first appeared on-screen during an episode which aired on 21 December 1960, played by an uncredited walk on actress. From January onwards, she was played by Eileen Derbyshire. Derbyshire announced in November 2015 that she would be taking a retirement from the show and Emily departed on New Year's Day 2016 after 55 years on screen. It was announced on 9 August 2019 that Derbyshire had agreed to briefly reprise the role. She made a brief cameo on 9 October 2019 for Ken Barlow's 80th birthday celebration.
Blanche Hunt is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was originally played by Patricia Cutts; however, the actress died by suicide after appearing in just two episodes in August 1974. Maggie Jones took over the role, playing Blanche in over 840 episodes from 1974 to her death in December 2009. The character subsequently died off screen in May 2010. Blanche was the mother of Deirdre Barlow, grandmother of Tracy Barlow and great-grandmother of Amy Barlow. Her storylines have revolved around her family life, various romances and her "acerbic tongue". The character's "gallows humour" has been well received by critics, and saw Jones win The British Soap Award for "Best Comedy Performance" in 2005 and 2008. Blanche has been described as "a true Coronation Street icon".
Michael Vernon "Mike" Baldwin is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by Johnny Briggs. He first appeared on 11 October 1976 and became one of the show's central characters until his final appearance on 7 April 2006.
Norris Cole is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Malcolm Hebden. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 11 March 1994. Hebden had previously played the role of Carlos, Mavis Riley's Spanish boyfriend, in one episode in 1974. Norris appeared on a recurring basis, until he was written out in April 1997 by Brian Park. However, two years later; the character was reintroduced on a regular basis. Hebden continued to appear on the soap until December 2017 after suffering a heart attack. Following his recovery, he made several guest returns, before his retirement from acting in January 2021 due to his health. The character was killed off-screen on 15 September 2021.
Tracy McDonald is a fictional character and a main antagonist from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was born on-screen during the episode broadcast on 24 January 1977. She was played by Christabel Finch until 21 November 1983. Holly Chamarette played the role from 8 July 1985 until 23 March 1988. Dawn Acton played the role from 12 December 1988, until 14 June 1995, Acton reprised the role in November 1996, and departed in December 1997. She reprised the role once again on 14 March 1999 and made her final appearance as Tracy on 10 October 1999. Kate Ford took over the role from 25 December 2002, until 8 April 2007. Ford reprised the role for a brief stint from late May to early June 2010, before returning full-time from 24 December 2010 onward.
The Rovers Return Inn is a fictional pub in the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street.
Amy Barlow is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by Elle Mulvaney. She was born on screen during the episode broadcast on 9 February 2004. To date, the character has been portrayed by eight child actors; Holly Bowyer, Rebecca Pike, Louisa Morris, Rachel and Sarah Corker, Madison Hampson, Amber Chadwick and Elle Mulvaney, making her the most recast character in Coronation Street. Although Amy's surname has stayed Barlow, Chadwick was credited as Amy McDonald for three episodes from 2009 to 2010.
Peter Barlow is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Chris Gascoyne from 2000. The character of Peter was born on screen during an episode broadcast on 5 April 1965, he was born along with his twin sister Susan to parents Ken and Valerie Barlow. Gascoyne made his first appearance in the role during the 40th anniversary live episode airing on 8 December 2000. Gascoyne left the role in 2003 and returned in 2007 for a brief stint before returning full-time in 2008. In January 2014 it was confirmed that Gascoyne would be leaving once again. His final scenes aired on 14 November 2014. In April 2015, it was announced that Gascoyne would reprise the role for two episodes for the funeral of Deirdre Barlow and Peter returned on 15 July 2015 and left once again the following day. In July 2016, it was announced that Peter would be returning as a regular character, with his return airing on 17 October 2016.
Coronation StreetLive is a live episode of the British soap opera Coronation Street which was broadcast on Friday 8 December 2000 as part of the show's 40th anniversary celebrations. The episode was an hour long and aired at 8:00pm. It aired one hour after a repeat of the first episode, and included an introduction by actor William Roache from the soap's outdoor set, where last-minute preparations for the live episode were under way. The episode was number 4945 in the series and was the first live edition to be broadcast since Episode 17, which aired on 3 February 1961. It was seen by 17 million viewers.
Lewis Archer is a fictional character from the British soap opera Coronation Street, played by Nigel Havers. The character was created and introduced as a love interest for Audrey Roberts. Executive producer Kim Crowther revealed the team wanted an actor who was slightly younger than Audrey and who was very charming. Various actors were considered for the part, but the casting director suggested Havers as she knew he was a big fan of the show. The actor said he could not turn down a chance to appear in Coronation Street as his character had an interesting story arc. Havers was contracted until July 2010 and he made his debut as Lewis in the episode broadcast on 18 December 2009.
Coronation StreetLive is a live episode of the British soap opera Coronation Street, which was first broadcast on Thursday 9 December 2010 on ITV. The special live edition was to celebrate fifty years of the programme being on air. The sixty-minute episode was directed by Tony Prescott, who had directed the soap's 40th anniversary live episode in December 2000. The episode, the 7487th in the series, was written by Jan McVerry and produced by Phil Collinson for ITV Studios. It was filmed at the Granada Studios complex in Manchester.
The 20th National Television Awards were held at The O2 Arena on 21 January 2015. The event was presented by Dermot O'Leary, who himself was again nominated for an award. The ceremony was broadcast live on ITV.
Kate Oates is a British television producer, who was born in Nottingham and graduated from Warwick University. She began her career working as a researcher and editorial assistant for Germaine Greer, before becoming a script editor for the soap opera Crossroads. In 2003, she joined the radio soap The Archers as a producer, a position which Oates credits as the majority of her training. After resigning from this job, Oates began working on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as a script editor, during which time she assisted with the soap's fortieth anniversary celebrations and worked on British Soap Award-winning storylines. She remained in the position until 2012 when she joined Coronation Street as the assistant producer.
