1982: "At Last We Had A Real Street"

Daily Mirror, 22/2/1982 - Hilda (Jean Alexander) takes a look at Number 13 as work on the new exterior set progresses.

The 5th of May 1982 saw the Queen visiting the new exterior set of Coronation Street with the Duke of Edinburgh. Work had begun on the set in the November of 1981, and the new set was an impressive sight to behold - making the old exterior facade look positively ridiculous.

An invitation to the 1982 Royal tour of the new Coronation Street exterior set for Peter Tonkinson, story-line writer.

Here's how HV Kershaw, the man who oversaw the building of the old exterior brick facade in late 1969, wrote about the 1982 innovation in his book, The Street Where I Live (1985 edition):

Construction took 49,000 old bricks and 6,500 roof slates, reclaimed from demolition sites in South East Lancashire. The viaduct needed a further 29,000 bricks and to provide an authentic finish special black mortar had been used, mixed to the original Victorian specification using an ash ingredient. TV aerials and chimneys sprouted where none had been before. At last we had a real street.

The Queen and Prince Phillip stroll the famous cobbles.

1966 - Coronation Street In Australia...

Arrival in Australia: Pat Phoenix, Arthur Leslie and Doris Speed.

Coronation Street had been seen on-screen in Australia for three years, to avid response, and on 17 March 1966, Doris Speed, Pat Phoenix and Arthur Leslie (better known as Annie Walker, Elsie Tanner and Jack Walker to Street fans), together with the show's executive producer, Harry Kershaw, set out for "Down Under" to meet the fans on a three week tour. Granada Press Officer Norman Frisby was already there - having departed from England on 12 March. The tour came about via an invitation from the three Channel 9 stations which screened the show in Aus. - TCN 9 Sydney, GRV 9 Melbourne and NSW 9 Adelaide.

A wonderful first hand account of the trip exists in HV Kershaw's excellent book The Street Where I Live. First published to celebrate the show's 21st anniversary in 1981, an updated version was published in 1985 to celebrate the 25th anniversary.

Here's a brief extract:

The cynic might rightfully argue that the happy-go-lucky Lancashire bonhomie was now second nature to all "Coronation Street" artists but anyone looking down, say, at twenty thousand upturned smiling faces at the new City of Elizabeth and listening to their cheers of welcome could well have been forgiven for becoming a little 'difficult'. But Pat, Doris and Arthur stayed on an even keel. Not only did they carry out a gruelling programme, they each had time for the spontaneous gesture. I remember one morning in Adelaide, standing outside the Hotel Australia waiting with the party to move off on another well-filled day when a thirty-year-old woman pushed her way through the watching fans and nervously approached Pat Phoenix. Her mother, she explained, a great "Street" fan, was bed-ridden and, sorely disappointed at having missed a sight of her favourites, had asked if she might have an autograph.

'Where do you live?' asked Pat. The woman told her. 'Where's that?' Pat asked Rob Carless, our South Australian host. Five minutes away by car, said Rob. 'Come on!' said Pat and the surprised woman found herself being bundled into a limousine and driven home. Not that her surprise was anything to her mother's when, sitting up in bed she watched as the door opened and a glamorous, smiling Elsie Tanner popped her head round, said 'Hello, love! They tell me you're poorly!' and stayed for a chat and a cup of tea.

The secret of the tour's success was perhaps best summed up by a sardonic member of the Australian Press corps. We had been warned that the Aussie journalist was the most murderous of the breed but the trip was going so well we took our courage in both hands and agreed to a full-scale Press reception. The junket was held at the Great Eastern Hotel in Littlehampton in the hills above Adelaide and, after a wary start, artists, assassins and associates began to enjoy the boar's heads and barons of beef, the Foster's lager and the native (and excellent) champagne. At two o'clock in the morning I was buttonholed by a gaunt Pressman who pressed a glass of something-or-other in my hand and plied me with a few searching questions. Then he paused and looked at me.

'I'll tell you something!' he said. 'When we heard that you Poms were coming over we got out the knives and we sharpened them good. We were really going to carve you up!" His eyes flickered to Pat and Doris, fresh as the morning dew, Pat regaling one group with some tale of home, Doris holding court with another. And, between them, Arthur Leslie demonstrating to a bleary band of reporters the gentle art of opening a champagne bottle. 'But these bastards...!' the Pressman went on, his voice full of wonder, '... these bastards'd charm the birds from the bleedin' trees!'

In Search Of Mr Papagopolous...

Just who was Mr Papagopolous, the owner of the Gamma Garments chain of haberdashery shops in the Coronation Street serial in the 1960s?

When Miss Emily Nugent merged her baby linen business with Mr Leonard Swindley's haberdashery emporium in Rosamund Street, Weatherfield, way back in 1961, both were hoping that the venture would be successful.

There was no reason why not: Miss N and Mr S were of like mind, already knowing each other well from their work at the Mission Of Glad Tidings in Coronation Street and, in Mr Swindley's case, haberdashery was well and truly in the blood. However, the two were soon facing the harsh reality that their business was heading for bankruptcy.

There was only one thing to do - Swindley's became part of a chain of shops called Gamma Garments. Mr Swindley was manager and Miss Nugent his assistant in the new regime, so things hadn't really changed very much. Or had they? The very mention of Gamma's owner, Mr Papagopolous, was enough to send Miss Nugent and Mr Swindley into a panic. This Greek businessman was not to be trifled with - and he was certainly not in the business for the love of it.

The Greek tycoon suddenly had a couple of English wallies in his employ. "Oh, Mr Swindley! Somehow I always saw you as more of a Batchelor of Arts..."

Mr S and Miss N were no longer their own bosses, simply struggling to stay afloat financially, and answerable to nobody else. They now had a boss. And, to all intents and purposes, a pretty terrifying one at that!

So, what did this fearsome Street character look like? And who played him? The answer to Question One is we don't really know, and the answer to Question Two is nobody. Despite Mr P's talent at sending Miss Nugent and Mr Swindley into a spin, the closest we ever came to encountering him was in "No, Mr Papagopolous.... yes, Mr Papagopolous.... but of course, Mr Papagoplous..." style telephone conversations with Mr Swindley and Miss Nugent. And, of course, we never actually heard what Mr P was saying first hand and never heard his voice - his missives were always relayed by Mr S or Miss N!

Forever off-screen but often referred to, Mr Papagopolous was rather like Arthur Daley's "'Er indoors" in the 1980s - a mysterious, unseen presence.

So, what do we actually know about Mr P? Well, we know he was Greek, we know he owned a chain of stores called Gamma Garments, we know he was a tough, even ruthless boss - and we know that his staff (well, at least Mr Swindley and Miss Nugent at the Rosamund Street branch!) were greatly in awe of him.

So, is there any further information to be gleaned?

For a strong mental image of the man I recommend HV Kershaw's 1977 novel Elsie Tanner Fights Back. Mr Kershaw was involved with The Street since its inception and fulfilled several roles over the years - script editor, producer, executive producer, script writer and novelist. He wrote the three Coronation Street novels, Early Days, Trouble At The Rovers and Elsie Tanner Fights Back from 1976-1977. Each novel covered stories from an early 1960s year of The Street's existence.

In Elsie Tanner Fights Back, which was set in 1963, Mr Kershaw decided to have some fun and write Mr Papagopolous into a scene with Mr Swindley. As Mr Kershaw was heavily involved in The Street during the Papagopolous era, his vision of the character is obviously important.

Miss Nugent was facing the sack from the shop - because profits were down. Mr Swindley embarked on a bus ride to Manchester, to Gamma's head office at Sunlight House, to plead Miss Nugent's case with Mr Papagopolous.

Mr Kershaw spelt the surname "Papagopolos" - minus the 'u'.

The first thing we discover in Mr Kershaw's Gamma chapter is that Mr P's first name is Spiros and his initials S.N.

Mr Papagopolous weighed seventeen stones, four pounds; he was olive skinned and his head was fringed with jet black, greasy hair; his eyes were dark and lifeless; his mouth full-lipped and crowned by twin pencil lines of moustache.

His manner was cold, and business-like ("How are you?" asked Mr Swindley. "I'm waiting, Swindley, that's how I am! Waiting for you to tell me what you want!" said Mr Papagopolous).

When Mr Swindley advanced his case for keeping Miss Nugent on at the Rosamund Street branch of Gamma Garments, he went so far as to describe her as his "right hand".

"In Piraeus we have a saying," said Mr Papagopolous. "If your right hand interferes with business, cut it off!"

Mr P was very canny. He decided that Mr Swindley's obvious devotion to Miss Nugent could be used to his advantage - driving Swindley to put more effort into improving business at Gamma Garments. Mr Swindley offered a twenty per cent increase. Mr P agreed that Miss Nugent could stay on, but warned him:

"You'll have to tell her that if business doesn't improve, somebody would have to go! And this time it could be you!"

"But of course!" said Swindley, wondering what kind of a trap he'd walked into.

"Twenty per cent, you say! I'll give you three weeks! Okay?"

"What can I say?" asked Swindley.

"Say 'good-bye!' said Papagopolos.

The character of Spiros Papagopolous was also mentioned in the 1985 publication Coronation Street - 25 Years, but in 1992, the epic saga of Corrie history, Weatherfield Life, by Daran Little and Bill Hill, referred to him as Niklos!

So, what became of Mr Papagopolous and Gamma Garments? Well, Mr P went bankrupt in the summer of 1968, the year after the transformation of Gamma into a trendy boutique.

Arthur Lowe (Mr Swindley) left the show in 1965, taking Mr Swindley into a comedy spin-off series called Pardon The Expression and then into the short-lived Turn Off The Lights, another sitcom, this time featuring Mr Swindley as a ghost hunter. After his encounters with Mr Papagopolous, Mr S must have developed nerves of steel!

In 1968, Arthur Lowe became better known as Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army.

Eileen Derbyshire (Emily Nugent) remains with Corrie to this day, although for Emily, with all she has endured over the years, Gamma Garments and Mr Papagoplous are now probably very dim and distant memories indeed!