Speak Easy - September 2013

Victor Pendlebury and Derek Wilton express themselves in 1984.

Interesting question from Lorenzo here:

Did Coronation Street seem dated in the 1970s and 1980s? I've read that it lost touch a bit after the 1960s.

In some ways, Lorenzo - it portrayed a cosy, old style community that many folk in the '70s and '80s could only remember fondly. But the '70s and '80s were definitely present. The rising crime rate - and even that very new terror, gun crime, were examined in the 1970s, as was rising unemployment, inflation and other topical things, and the 1980s saw the Street experiencing many changes in trends and pace, with topics such as yuppies and computers featuring, as well as more crime - and a whole new development of houses, shops and industrial units. The Rovers Return and Corner Shop were also modernised during the 1980s.

Lindsey says:

I don't think you've been featuring enough stuff from the good old Corrie days recently. You used to feature loads from magazines, newspapers, TV listings, etc. Could we have more?

Well, Linda, we have had some brilliant '60s stuff in recent months - including an aerial view of Weatherfield from a 1960s TV Times, but, just for you, here's a few TV listings pics and captions from the 1980s - Channel edition TV Times.

Would you trust Hilda? Hmmm... Rita looks none too sure in 1981... 

Eddie Yeats - the barmpot - used Mike Baldwin's flat as his own to impress the lovely CB lady Stardust Lil (Marion Willis) in 1982... Trouble ahead...

 (

Marion meets Stan Ogden... and Eddie looks none too pleased...

Speak Easy - June 2011

Above: Mrs Connie Clayton, official portrait; text below - Mrs Connie Clayton having a "natter" in the pork butchers, 1985:

"So, we've just moved into this house in Coronation Street. To be honest, I'm not that keen, but Harry likes it. Mind you, he'd settle anywhere. Seems a bit rough to me, this district, and I'm worried about Sue. She's pretty impressionable. I'm glad our Andrea's got her head screwed on - she'll be all right. Mind you, she were saying last night that she'd like a computer to help her with her studies. A computer! How daft can you get? Harry says we must look to't future. Apparently, Ernie Wise made the first mobile phone call in England during January just gone. 'We'll all have them in twenty-five years or so,' says Harry. 'And there'll be serial killers in this street and life round here'll be like a bad soap opera!' I said. He does talk wet - watches too much Tomorrow's World... Anyway, what were I sayin'? Oh aye, No 11. Ooh, you should see the outside cludgie - disgustin' in't word for it..."

And so from the thoughts of Connie Clayton, played by Susan Brown, in 1985, we pass to your questions and opinions in 2011.

Jamie asks:

Why did Philip Lowrie leave Corrie in 1968?

Reports at the time indicate that he was frustrated with the character of Dennis Tanner, who was used a great deal to comic effect in the story-lines. Mr Lowrie felt that Dennis was not being allowed to grow up, but was pleased with Dennis's final story-line in which he finally married, despite some opposition from his mother, Elsie.

Paula asks:

There was a young blonde actress around in the soaps in the early 1980s. I believe she appeared in the Southern TV soap "Together" and in Corrie, very briefly. I can picture her very clearly, but can you give me a name?

Gina Maher, Paula - she played Debbie Nuttall in The Street, daughter of Eunice Nuttall/Gee.

Albert writes:

A friend of mine says that Mavis Riley received anonymous phone calls in one plot, and had a nervous breakdown. Is this true?

Yes, and no, Albert. Mavis suffered a series of strange phone calls in February 1980, but she didn't have a nervous breakdown over them. The story-line was in comic vein and saw Eddie Yeats being mistakenly arrested as the caller. The identity of the true caller was never discovered, but Mavis had other fish to fry at the time and managed to put the incident behind her without resorting to a breakdown.

Coffee asks:

Why is this blog updated so rarely?

Because I'm working elsewhere, Coffee. I do update whenever possible though. Thanks for dropping in.

Speak Easy - February...

In one of her despondent moods, Mavis Riley came across a book called 1001 Ways To Fill Your Spare Time in The Kabin library. "None of them work!" she sighed. But that was 1976, and things are very different today. So, Mavis, if you fancy writing to Back On The Street from your home in the glorious Lake District and letting us know how you're getting on, we'd be very glad to hear from you. And it would be a great way for you to fill the odd minute or two!

All comments and ponderings welcome here at the Speak Easy!

And so, here we go...

Jane writes:

Your stuff about the Corrie pillar box was genius - just a pleasure to read. You're very funny, but obviously know your stuff. Watch out, Daran Little!

LOL - Mr L has watched every episode of the show, acted as archivist and written episodes. We just like looking back in our own way and sifting through old episodes and newspaper articles. We do promise accuracy though, in fact we're downright pedantic!!

Sara writes:

Loved your article about the teens in the show. I remember an episode in the '70s when Gail Potter made Mike Baldwin feel old by mentioning Stevie Wonder. "Stevie WHO?!!" said Mike. But Stevie had his first hit in the late 1960s, so you would of thought Mike would of known about him!

I've got that episode, and yes, it was funny. The Street being terribly modern in the late 1970s... never mind the Buzzcocks - let alone the Sex Pistols!

James writes:

Don't you think Phyllis Pearce was a fruitcake?

Eccentric and highly colourful she was! But there was a reality about her. She hadn't aged mentally - very much the oldest swinger in town - but in the back of her mind lurked the knowledge that she was no spring chicken any longer. She was very grateful to Martin Platt when he was nice about the dress she chosen for a dance in the late 1980s, after Gail Tilsley had made a good natured joke about what Phyllis SHOULD be wearing at her age, and she was terribly insecure about her job at the cafe. It gave her something to do, a place out there in the community, but she knew her age was against her, that the job might be taken from her and given to somebody younger, and that she stood zilch chance of getting another.

All flirty and cheerful on the surface, relentless in her pursuit of Percy Sugden, underneath it all Phyllis knew she was far from being sweet sixteen. I admired her courage - and zest for life.

That's it for now, folks - keep 'em coming. I'm off for a little lay down and a spot of Classic FM...

Speak Easy - December

Bright and breezy, free and easy - that's Speak Easy - here your voice can be heard!

Kamil writes:

Although you say you don't watch Corrie these days, you must have seen the tram crash scenes. This is definitely the least sycophantic of Corrie sites, but what was your very favorite 50th anniversary moment?

I'm afraid I don't really have one, Kamil! I have seen the tram crash and it's not my cup of tea at all, it's all down to personal taste, and I was frankly startled by reading some of the comments on an on-line forum about the episode. "Hammer time!" (remember the song?) wrote one avid viewer as the episode progressed and came to violent scenes at Number 5 involving a hammer.

My very favourite recent Corrie-related scene was in East Street, the Children In Need Coronation Street Meets EastEnders special, in which Gail indulged in an unusual "keeping up with the Joneses" scenario with an EastEnders character, basically trying to outdo her with various OTT events from her life. Helen Worth was simply brilliant in that!

Tara asks:

Why did Maurice Jones decide to rebuild the other side of the Street in 1989? The Street looked like a gloomy hole back then, and surely nobody would want to buy smart new houses there? Imagine sitting looking at the Duckies' stone cladding as you supped your Earl Grey!

The idea came about because new Executive Producer David Liddiment had seen that such developments were happening in reality in the late 1980s - new houses, shops and industrial units being built alongside older developments.

The character Maurice Jones was a builder, a businessman, and he saw an excellent opportunity to redevelop a site occupied by a small factory and ailing community centre.

Behind the scenes, the new development also fitted in well with the serial increasing its output to three episodes per week, bringing new locations and characters to the show, and drawing in other featured characters who did not actually live in the Street.

Speak Easy 5

Bright and breezy, free and easy - that's Speak Easy - here your voice can be heard!

Gary writes:

What do you make of the North/South rivalry between Coronation Street fans and EastEnders fans? Also, I read in a Coronation Street book that the London-based Press immediately got behind EastEnders in 1985, predicting that it would sweep Corrie under the carpet!

Hmmm... well, there's certainly no evidence of that in the newspapers I have from 1985, Gary!
In fact, Sun newspaper TV writer Charles Catchpole actually took a swipe at Midlands-based soap Crossroads when he wrote his review of the first EastEnders episode!

Coronation Street was, and is, very much of the North of England, very much of Lancashire, but the characters were, and I suppose are, universal. We working class folk all had Elsie Tanners, Len Faircloughs and Mrs Sharples living in our localities, and that was why it succeded. That's what made it complete and utter magic way beyond county borders.

The North/South rivalry "thing" was not something I ever encountered in my Street fan days, and as there's so much claptrap written on the internet, so much juvenile baiting, it's not something I can take seriously. Certain recent books on Street history also puzzle me when it comes to that point. England is a tiny country on a tiny island. The fact that Coronation Street was - and is - a hit across that country - and also in the neighbouring countries of the UK - and abroad, is something to be celebrated.

I'm from the East of England and I adored the show, wrote to Producer Bill Podmore and members of the cast many times in the mid-to-late 1970s, and it helped me through some pretty bad times when I was a child and into my early teens.

From the old lady from Kent who lives next door to me and has watched The Street from the beginning, only ever missing about twelve episodes in all that time, to my Glaswegian uncle-in-law, who was so dedicated to Bet Lynch/Gilroy it became a family joke, The Street is a hit. A young Polish man I work with, who only arrived here a few years ago, is absolutely hooked, and in fact I know people of many different origins who like the show.

As I said, Coronation Street is very much of the North of England. But its characters are recognisable to many different people, simply because they are people - and that's why its appeal is so wide!

And building up petty rivalry and bitchery based on location is not something I am familiar with, nor can have any truck with.

Life's too short.

Lorraine asks:

Could you update this blog more often? I'd like to see more regular stuff. I'm particularly looking forward to the continuation of your screen grab partition cubes, dealing with individual years in the Street's history.

I'm really glad you like the blog, Lorraine - and thanks for saying so!

I don't have a huge amount of time, and I'm a one-man-show here, so that's why updates are irregular. I am trying to update as frequently as possible, though.

In the pipeline, I have more of the "cubes" you mention, a look at early Street architecture as drawn by the original designer, Denis Parkin, a peep at an architectural quirk at the Ogdens', more Sadistic '60s, Savage '70s and Evil '80s, more cliffhanger quizzes, and a look at how the Daily Mirror celebrated the Street's 20th anniversary in 1980.

Please keep popping in.

Speak Easy - 3 - CONTAINS 50th ANNIVERSARY TRAM CRASH SPOILER

Back to The Speak Easy, where your views can be heard... Free and easy, bright and breezy, that's Speak Easy.

Justin has written:

I wept to see that the Corner Shop has been destroyed by the tram crash for the 50th anniversary. It was the place where the very first scene was set in 1960. What are these people doing to Corrie? Jean Alexander asked Brian Park why he was destroying Corrie in 1997 - but now things are so much worse.

It's certainly a strong story-line, Justin! I'm sorry you wept to see the Corner Shop destroyed. It does hold many fond memories, and was one of the original meeting places (The Rovers being the other) when the show began.

The Corner Shop was transformed by Alf Roberts into a mini market in 1985.

Claire writes:

Only this blog would feature a post about Victor Pendlebury's resemblance to Stan Ogden! As Corrie blogs go, yours is quirky, insightful and unique. Keep it up!

Claire, I really appreciate your kind words. Thank you. And I enjoy writing the blog so I intend to keep it going!

Gavin writes:

Where do you get all your screen grabs from?

I have a lot of 1970s episodes, Gavin, from Granada Plus and 1980s episodes from Canadian TV broadcasts. Some of the '80s discs are in a sorry state, so it's taking me lots of time to transfer them to playable discs, but once I have there'll be lots more screen caps.

Speak Easy - 2 - When Was The Golden Age Of Coronation Street? Reality Bites - It WASN'T The 1970s!

Back to The Speak Easy, where your views can be heard... Free and easy, bright and breezy, that's Speak Easy.

Christine has been reading up on Corrie history on-line and writes:

I keep reading that the Street's "Golden Age" was the 1970s, I even read it on some DVD blurb, but I disagree. Does nobody remember how bad the first half of that decade was for Coronation Street, and how the show tumbled in the ratings?

Well yes, Christine, I do. Some people seem to feel the need to make out that the 1970s are the be-all-and-end-all in a variety of ways, and I don't quite understand why.

Street historians also need to back up their assertions with more than "a lot of people think the 1970s were Corrie's Golden Age," which is something I've recently read on-line. Why do they? Is it really that many people? Is the belief based on reality? Was it? What do the ratings and media of the time tell you?

Personally, I find the majority of episodes from around 1970-1974 very painful to watch! It was the low point of the Street's career in my humble opinion. And the ratings dropped disastrously. The show's ratings were consistently higher in the 1980s than they were in the 1970s, too. Bill Podmore wrote of the problems the Street was experiencing before he became producer in his 1990 autobiography, Coronation Street - The Inside Story.

My own favourite era is the 1960s - I'm too young to remember, but I've thoroughly enjoyed all the episodes I've seen from that decade. My favourite era as a viewer was from 1976-1983. Things don't have to neatly fit into decades!

And the disappearance of the last of the original 1960s characters marked a new Corrie low point for me.

I run a few blogs - including some about recent decades, and the amount of nonsense I've come across whilst researching the 1970s you wouldn't believe!

It's as though the 1970s are also the 1960s and 1980s.

Strange how some people delude themselves. A lot of what we believe is based on hot air and hype.

And sadly the WWW. has not helped.

Mind you, lovey, here you get only the best information. I mean, would we seek to delude? By the way, the boiled ham's very nice today, and I think I've got some sweet piccalilli in't back...

Speak Easy

Here at Back On The Street I like to encourage a relaxed atmosphere. I welcome all e-mails on topics relevant (pertaining to the first three decades of The Street). Sometimes I receive e-mails on topics irrelevant, like the one featured below, but I still welcome them because I'm such a nice, easy-going person...

"Disgruntled Scot" writes:

I suppose the "British" Soap Awards will only feature English soaps this year, as per usual? What about the Scots soap "River City" - and I'm sure the Welsh have their own soap too. It's pure English arrogance to hi-jack Britishness for English glory! Also, Ireland is featured on the Awards logo - but that is not part of Britain. Northern Ireland is part of the UK, but not Britain, and Southern Ireland is independent.

I say:

Oooh, 'eck! Well, I don't watch modern day soaps, let alone the Soap Awards, so I suggest you write to the people behind the Awards. I don't think any sleight is intended. People often say "British" when they mean "English" and vice-versa. Since devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, this has become more of an issue. You make some interesting points, but there's not a lot I can say or do!

Kare asks:

I'd love to see some stuff about Gloria Todd, Rovers barmaid in the '80s.

And so you shall, Kare - we'll be delving into the life and times of Ms Todd soon.

Alan is on the Sandra Gough trail:

Loved her in The Street and Emmerdale. Didn't she play two roles in the latter?

Yes, she did, Alan - she was Malt Shovel barmaid Doreen in Emmerdale Farm in the mid-1980s and Nellie Dingle in Emmerdale during the 1990s.

And, finally for this batch, Lyndsey asks:

I seem to recall Corrie episodes when Ena had a head injury and was featured unconscious in hospital scenes - but with her hairnet still on! Did I dream this - because it seems ridiculous!

No, you didn't dream it, Lyndsey - the scenes were from 1977, when Ena fell over one of little Tracy Langton's toys and ended up in a coma. The hairnet stayed on throughout her hospital stay. It was a bit daft - but the net was such an Ena trademark that I suppose the production team decided it must remain - and hang realism! It reminds me of Kenneth Cope, Jed Stone, who insisted on keeping his character's flat cap on for a scene featuring Jed in bed in the 1960s (nothing saucy, I can assure you!).