1982: Enter The Rival!

From the "Sun", February 2, 1982. Actually the provisional title for this show, which turned out to be "Brookside", was "Meadowcroft", not "Meadowcraft" and the creator was Phil Redmond not Redmund! Still, "Coronation Street" producer Bill Podmore's confident attitude is worth noting: "I enjoy competition... especially when we are going to win."

Gordon Collins, played by Mark Burgess, was the first regular gay character in English TV soaps; Tracy Corkhill (Justine Kerrigan) got into trouble with telephone chatlines, parents, teachers - you name it; Annabelle Collins (Doreen Sloane) faced a move down in status from the leafy Wirral to rough and tumble Brookside; but for working class mum Sheila Grant, played by Sue Johnston, the Close marked a move up in the world from a grotty council estate.

Brookside is no longer with us. The socially relevant Channel 4 saga of the 1980s, which broke taboos and sought to show what life was like in modern day England, away from lovely "muriels" and cobbled streets, was compulsive viewing for the first eight years or so. However, in the 1990s, the show became increasingly sensationalised and was finally laid to rest in 2003.

For me, one of the most shocking things about Brookside was the fact that its characters actually watched soap operas! Seeing Sheila Grant doing the ironing whilst watching Coronation Street came as a great shock to me!

Brookside had quite an effect on Coronation Street and the other soaps, and without it there would probably never have been EastEnders. The soaps became grittier, more relevant, and a heavy left-wing bias often seemed evident. The trouble is, as the soaps entered the 1990s, the desire to be political and to responsibly explore controversial issues was gradually replaced by a desire to shock and sensationalise.

But the '80s era in Brookside Close really was worth watching. In my humble opinion, of course!

1981 - Real-Life Crimpers Say: "Give Aud's Back Room Salon The Snip!"

Good old Audrey Potter was always dipping in and out of daughter Gail Tilsley's life in the early-to-mid 1980s. Here's the Daily Mirror reporting on the start of one of her visits, September 23, 1981:

Sue Nicholls, who returns to CORONATION STREET (ITV 7.30) as Audrey Potter, reckons she's the only unmarried gran on TV at the moment.

She said: "I'm unmarried in the script and unmarried in real life. Not that I'm complaining either way. And I'm glad I'm in for a good chunk of the action in The Street for the next few weeks."

Tonight Audrey leaves her boy friend and moves in with daughter Gail Tilsley and family, with no sign of her stay being a short one.

"Sleeping on someone's couch wouldn't bother me," said Sue. "My sister once rented a room big enough for one with a bed that folded into the wall. I stayed with her for months without any problems."

Within a few weeks, our Aud was attracting unwelcome attention. From the Sun, 11/11/1981:

Coronation Street's Audrey Potter should hang up her hairdressing scissors, real-life crimpers said yesterday.

Audrey's back street "shop" in the series is exactly the kind of salon the Hairdressing Federation has been trying to close for years.

Blackburn Chamber of Trade in Lancashire have backed the crimpers' cause and asked Granada TV to tell Audrey - played by actress Sue Nicholls - to shut up shop.

Chamber of Trade Secretary, Albert Green, said: "The back street salons don't pay tax, rates, and are often a serious health risk."

Happy Aud in 1985 - facing the prospect of marriage to Corner Shop keeper Alf Roberts - and security at last!

Minnie Caldwell And Her Bobby

Was there ever such a sweet and gentle soul as Minnie Caldwell, who moved into No 5 Coronation Street from nearby Jubilee Terrace in 1962? Already well known in the Street as a Rovers regular, the widow Caldwell had cared for her invalid mother for years, and was a long-time friend to Ena Sharples, who lived in the vestry at the Glad Tidings Mission Hall, and Martha Longhurst of Mawdsley Street.

The three old ladies were, on most days, to be found in their second home, the Snug bar at the Rovers, drinking milk stout, keeping an eye on their neighbours, and gossiping. Well, that is to say, Ena and Martha gossiped - Minnie would usually sit there, smiling obliviously, and chipping in with occasional, often inappropriate, comments. A bit "away with the fairies" was our Minnie.

Whereas Ena and Martha's views on life and human nature were pickled in vinegar, Minnie beamed sweetly on all and sundry, seeing life as something rather lovely.

Margot Bryant, the actress behind Minnie Caldwell, was a member of the original Coronation Street cast, and made her on-screen debut in episode two.

Jean Alexander (Hilda Ogden) recalled how the character of Minnie originated and developed in her 1989 autobiography, The Other Side Of The Street:

Her introduction to Coronation Street was as an extra - an old lady who never said a word but submitted to Ena Sharples's withering comments on her intelligence. Then she was occasionally given the odd line which, in her inimitable way, she made funny; and so Minnie Caldwell became the character who earned so much sympathy from the viewers. What they did not know was Margot's ability to forget key words in her dialogue and substitute others that frequently made no sense. "My father had a dog once," she said. "It was a ferret..."

In the story, Minnie had always loved cats and the wedding present from her husband, Armistead, was a small, tabby kitten. Minnie and Armistead were not blessed with children, much as they would have liked them, and so the Caldwell household always included a cat for Minnie to dote on.

When she moved into Coronation Street, she brought with her a large ginger tom called Bobby. As Street producer and writer Harry Kershaw observed in his 1977 Corrie novel, Early Days, Minnie would have "cheerfully died before inflicting the slightest pain on Bobby"!

Bobby first appeared in The Street in 1962, and was originally to be called "Skippy", but Margot changed the name to Bobby. The original Bobby (left) was actually called Toby!

Toby died in 1968, and Margot Bryant was deeply upset. In the story-line, Minnie's Bobby disappeared. She thought she spotted him up on the viaduct and Stan Ogden rescued him, getting scratched in the process. Sadly the viaduct moggy was not Bobby. However, the cat was a stray and Minnie adopted him, calling him "Sonny Jim" (or "Sunny Jim", if you prefer!), which had been her affectionate nickname for her lodger, Jed Stone.

In 1969, with a little nudge from Ena Sharples, Minnie renamed the viaduct stray "Bobby".

The new Bobby did not endear himself to Albert Tatlock when he ate Albert's pigeon, Gilbert, in 1975!

Unlike Minnie, Margot Bryant never married, but, just like Minnie, she absolutely adored cats. When Eileen Derbyshire (Emily Nugent/Bishop) brought her new baby into the studios, Margot commented: "What a pity it isn't a kitten!" She took cat food out to feed the hungry strays of Venice, and grandly dubbed her own large ginger tom "The Earl of Hammersmith". She adored him so much, she gave him a life peerage, and was devastated when he died at the age of eleven.

"Of course cats understand me," she once said. "Cats are super-intelligent animals. It depends on how you treat them. If you never spoke to a child, it would never learn anything. It's just the same with cats. If you speak to them all their lives, then they understand you."

Oh dear - Minnie's in trouble! Another happy evening in the Snug at The Rovers with Ena and Martha. Ena (Violet Carson) ruled the roost, Martha (Lynne Carol) constantly sought to usurp her, but never succeeded, and Minnie, at first glance, seemed the helpless focus of barbed comments from her two "friends". But the situation, according to Harry Kershaw, was a little more complex than that. He once wrote that Minnie saved her biting wit for appropriate moments, and then her barbed comments had an edge that even Ena envied!

But despite this, a worrying weakness for gambling, and a prominent stubborn streak, Minnie was mainly sweet, meek and mild. However, Margot Bryant was exactly the opposite. "I'm tough. Very tough," she once said. Miss Bryant was well known for her tendency to prove this statement, and for her usage of what Corrie Producer Bill Podmore called "barrack room expletives". Ken Irwin in his 1970 book The Real Coronation Street, entitled his chapter on Margot Bryant The Pussy-Cat Lady... With Fangs Of Her Own.

Many are the stories detailing Margot's "tough" side and I must say when I first read of it, I was stunned. Her playing of Minnie Caldwell was so effective, the character's air of simplicity and meekness flowing out of the TV screen so strong, that I found it hard to believe Miss Bryant's own character was so different.

I can only put it down to superb acting!

Born in Hull, doctor's daughter Margot followed her sister onto the stage. During her years as Minnie Caldwell, she bought a flat in Brighton (or Hove, according to one source), rented another in the Hammersmith district of London, and displayed a strong spirit of adventure - travelling all over the world. Her love of travel came about during her time as an entertainer with ENSA during World War II. Of the Coronation Street cast, she was probably most friendly with Jean Alexander - who shared her love of cats!

Back to the on-screen story: Jed Stone was a cheeky Scouse lad, out to make a bit of brass, and not too choosy about how he went about it. Of course, he had a heart of gold and was devoted to Minnie. He called her "Ma", she called him "Sonny Jim", and he moved into No 5 as a sort of lodger/substitute son figure.

Minnie was heartbroken when he went to prison for receiving stolen blankets in 1966.

Kenneth Cope, who played Jed, presented the Margot Bryant tribute programme Remembering Minnie Caldwell, after her death in 1988. In the 1990s, he said: "I think Margot liked Jed because it gave her a good story-line. If she had a lodger she suddenly wasn't one of a trio, she had a background which was not necessarily involved with the three of them in the Snug. I found playing with her smashing because I could rabbit on quickly and she'd bring me back with the slowness of it all."

Eek!! December 1970, and Minnie and Bobby were held hostage by American serviceman Joe Donnelli (Shane Rimmer). Joe had murdered Steve Tanner in 1968. Lodging with Minnie in 1970, he pulled out a gun and confessed. It was a messy affair - far different from the usual evenings at No 5, with Bobby lazing by the fire whilst Minnie told him the day's events. Stan Ogden became involved and, finally, Joe turned the gun and shot himself.

April 1976, and Rita Littlewood (Barbara Mullaney) had a bit of a gob on her because of yet another hitch in her stormy love life. Because of this, she was uncharacteristically hard-hearted when Minnie dithered over choosing an Easter egg for a friend's great-niece. Rita told her, quite forcefully, that she really hadn't the time to stand there whilst Minnie agonised over two eggs which were basically the same.

The Kabin scene occurred in Margot's penultimate Corrie episode, broadcast in April 1976, and was, I believe, the very last time Minnie was bullied in Weatherfield!

Minnie was absent for some months, and the story was spun that she was away staying with an old friend called Handel Gartside (Harry Markham), who had appeared in the show some years before. In October '76, Handel turned up in the Street to tell Ena that Minnie was staying with him. The reason for Minnie's non-return to say her farewells was, apparently, that she wanted to give Ena no chance to persuade her to stay at No 5.

The real-life reason behind Minnie's absence from her own on-screen farewell was that Margot Bryant had been in increasingly poor health for some years and was having great difficulty in remembering her lines. Street Producer Bill Podmore wrote in his autobiography, Coronation Street - The Inside Story (1990), about Margot's return to The Street after a period of illness:

Margot came back for a while, but it became increasingly difficult for her to memorise her lines. She began cutting them from the script and sticking them to the back of her handbag. But when it became obvious to everyone that she was reading during a recording, it had sadly reached the stage where it would have been unfair to ask her to carry on a moment longer. She wasn't at all well. There were more periods of illness, until finally we found her a place in a beautiful Cheshire nursing home where she spent the remainder of her days happily and in comfort.

Back to Minnie's final departure in the story-line of 1976, and Handel Gartside told Ena that Minnie would like her to have some item of her personal paraphernalia as a keepsake. Ena selected a picture of a cat (of course!) which had hung in Minnie's living room for many years - one of several!

"Take care of her for me..." - Ena, speaking to Handel Gartside.

Despite her bullying ways, particularly in the Street's early years, Ena cared a great deal for Minnie. And Minnie had said, back in 1969: "I wouldn't like to live to be a hundred. Ena mightn't be alive. And I wouldn't want to be alive if Ena wasn't alive."

The two women had been friends for many years and, when times were hard or personal problems pressing, had always been there for each other.

Ena closes Minnie's door for the last time. When she next visits the house, it will belong to a brash London businessman called Michael Vernon Baldwin.

Things certainly changed, as Mike's brief time at the house - shared out of wedlock with Rovers barmaid Bet Lynch - was followed by the Langtons' - Ray, Deirdre and baby Tracy's - brief "happy families" era (before Deirdre was attacked under the viaduct and Ray had an affair), then by the turbulent Tilsleys.

Minnie - and, of course, her Bobby - faded into Street history. And, in today's Coronation Street of explosions and serial killers, a very distant piece of Street history they seem!

This blog post is dedicated to the memory of Margot Bryant - 1897-1988.

More About Archie Street...

Richard has written to say nice things about Back On The Street (ta very much, luv), and is particularly interested in our Archie Street article. Archie Street, of course, contained the terrace which was used as the template for the original Coronation Street exterior architecture.

Do you have a picture of Archie Street shot from the other end, featuring the pub? asks Richard.

Well, Richard, I do have a pic of Archie Street as seen from St Clement's churchyard in the 1960s, but there is no sign of a pub on the corner - furthermore the corner frontage does not appear to have been altered in any way, either.

I have seen the closing credits to several early Corrie episodes featuring the Archie Street houses, and there appears to be a large pub (representing the Rovers) and a building which doubled as Ena's vestry (which was actually on the other side of the street in the story) on the corner. But was this simply achieved by cutting up various photographs and placing them side-by-side - snipping out the extra houses (the Archie Street terrace had more than Coronation Street) - and adding pub and vestry frontages from other locations, so that when filmed close up all would appear to be one continuous terrace?

If some kind soul out there has already solved this puzzle, I'd be very grateful to hear from them.

And thanks again to Richard for getting in touch.

The Original Coronation Street Opening Titles Cat - The Mysterious Moggy...

What is the history behind the first cat seen in the Coronation Street opening titles? Well, a little detective work indicates that the cat was actually filmed around spring 1969. The moggy was caught on camera whilst a Granada film crew was out filming scenes of back streets and high rise blocks in colour - to be used for The Street's new opening titles when the show made the transition to colour later in 1969.

But the cat scene was not selected for the new title sequence - and did not make its screen debut until 1976!

Bill Podmore, who took over as the show's producer in 1976, wrote in his book Coronation Street - The Inside Story (1990):

When I took charge of the Street its opening sequence niggled me. The quick-changing views over the slated rooftops of Salford, where the imaginary Weatherfield is supposedly set, seemed to be out of time with the slow, haunting refrains of Eric Spear's signature tune.

I asked to see all the sequence film, shot years before in the backstreets of Old Trafford and Lower Broughton. Although much of it lay on the cutting room floor, it was reassembled into a continuous film. Suddenly, on walked that wonderful cat. When it curled up in the spring sunshine I knew I had found the perfect clip. It looked exactly as though it had contentedly sat down to watch the programme, and from that day the Coronation Street cat became almost as famous as any character on the show. It provided us with an enduring mystery, too. Any number of people, impostors all, insisted they were the owners, but its true identity was never discovered.

Minnie Caldwell (Margot Bryant), with her beloved cat, Bobby. Many viewers thought the cat in the opening titles was Bobby! This lovely snap is courtesy of Flaming Nora over at the Coronation Street Blog. Ta, chuck! Over here at Back On The Street, we have more Minnie, Margot and Bobby in the pipeline.

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!).

Suddenly... It's 1985!

Eee, chuck, do you remember 1985? Curly Watts, Terry Duckworth and Kevin Webster spent loads of time yacking and moaning in the Rovers, Audrey Potter got her man - local grocer and councillor Alfred Roberts, and somebody sat on Percy Sugden's Christmas pudding (remember who?).

What a year!

When Was Coronation Street Shortened To Corrie?

Coronation Street - "The Street" in the 1970s, "Corrie" in the 1980s.

I've had a couple of e-mails asking when and why the Coronation Street title began to be shortened to "Corrie". Some folks, it seems, remember a time before it was so.

As it happens, so do I. It's one of those things that you can get a million different explanations for if you look around the Web, but I prefer to rely on popular TV programmes, radio programmes, magazines and newspapers of the past - plus my trivia-loving memory banks!

It was in the 1980s that Coronation Street became widely shortened to Corrie. In the 1960s and 1970s, the title was sometimes shortened to "The Street", but back in those days it was not openly respectable for youngsters and teenagers to watch soaps. Particularly boys. Soaps were considered "fogey" and "for women". Most open watchers, being of mature and steady temperaments, were quite happy to trundle out the entire mouthful when they discussed the show.

In November 1982, Brookside burst upon our TV screens. Soap-loving kiddies at last came out of the closet, and peer group converts swelled their ranks, as this subversive cul de sac, with its heavy left wing bias, suddenly made soap respectable for the young to watch. And the Brookside ripples spread out to the other UK soaps. It was followed by the strife-ridden saga EastEnders (1985), and the not-as-subversive-but-high-youth-content Australian imports Neighbours (first UK screening 1986) and Home And Away (first UK screening 1989). Before the decade ended all soaps were happily courting youthful audiences.

Back in 1982/'83/'84, one of the most noticeable effects of Brookside was the nationwide explosion of what I call "Scouse speak" - slang popular in Liverpool. Suddenly Christmas was "Chrimbo", police officers were "bizzies" and electricity was "'leccy". The name shortening became a huge trend - and, as part of it, Brookside became "Brookie" and Coronation Street became "Corrie".

Pop magazines like Smash Hits took up the trendy, zappy, youthful Corrie chorus, and that was that. Coronation Street became widely known as "Corrie" - and it has been ever since.

Dustin Gee And Les Dennis - Vera and Mavis

TV Times, July 1985.

Rick, "Mavis Riley's Number One Fan", has been in touch again to ask for further information about Dustin Gee and Les Dennis, and how they came to double-up for Mavis Riley and Vera Duckworth in the famous "Well, I don't really know!" sketches of the 1980s.

It all began on Russ Abbot's Madhouse, a popular comedy sketch show which began in 1980. Mr Abbot, his zany characters and line-up of supporting stars, created one of the most popular shows on telly, and it was on this show that Les Dennis and Dustin Gee first "did" Mavis and Vera.

An early '80s sketch featured Russ selling sketches from a barrow.

"We had to pop up from behind the barrow doing particular impressions, but we got the sequence a bit wrong," explained Dustin Gee. "Russ had already got Mavis Riley beside him and he said: 'And what am I bid for a Bet Lynch?' I said, 'You can't have a Bet Lynch, but here's a Vera Duckworth,' because I was halfway dressed as Vera. I appeared and began talking to 'Mavis' in character. After that, we began to appear more regularly, eventually on Live From Her Majesty's as well as The Royal Variety Show."

Although I have hundreds of Corrie episodes, I don't have a single one in which the real Mavis actually says "I don't really know!" But, thanks to Dustin and Les, this phrase is still widely associated with her!

Tarty, worldly Vera and twittering, innocent Mavis were an excellent combination for some good, saucy fun. "You know what you need... cock," said Dustin's Vera to her unlikely pal. The slight pause turned Vera's familiar habit of calling everybody "cock" into something rather naughtier!

Sadly, whilst the Gee/Dennis partnership was at its height in 1986, Dustin Gee died of a heart attack, at the age of 43.

But the memories - and the laughter - remain.

Mavis Riley 1987 Screen Caps - Shoulder Pads?

Rick, apparently "Mavis Riley's Number One Fan", has written to ask if I have any screen caps of Mavis left over from the 1987 "Bridlington" post. Yes, Rick - I do - and I've uploaded them for you. Rick also asks if...

... I think Mavis is wearing shoulder pads under her coat in these scenes...

... well, Rick, I think so...

... but I don't really know!

1979: The ITV Strike - ARRGGGHHH!!!

The Daily Star, August 28, 1979 - "Shake Down To 1979" - yeah, right! The ultimate year of that grim decade brought us the murder of Earl Mountbatten of Burma and a host of other grisly events.

You couldn't even watch your favourite soap to escape the grim realities from August to October as ITV was knocked off the air by a technicians' strike.

And in those days we only had three TV channels and, as BBC2 was decidedly "minority interest", that left the vast majority of us with BBC1. Videos? Sadly not. Only 5% of UK households had a VCR in 1980, they were expensive beasts, so in 1979 we were really stuck. Should we read? Should we talk? How could we spend our time without ITV? I fidgeted. And moped.

How I missed The Street! I ached for it! Deirdre had just received a letter from husband Ray in Holland that had reduced her to tears. What was going on?

Well, it seems life in The Street was continuing in our enforced absence...

From the Daily Star:

Coronation Street's best kept secret is out... Brian and Gail have got married.

And the Daily Star has beaten the ITV blackout to bring millions of Street addicts exclusive pictures of the happy event.

They were snapped by housewife Mary Watson, of Rutbleglen, Glasgow, who spotted the "wedding" party while visiting her sister in Salford.

"I couldn't believe my luck," said Street fan Mary.

"I was wondering what had happened to Brian and Gail - then suddenly there they were in front of me."

The stars came out in force to watch Gail - actress Helen Worth - and Brian, played by Christopher Quinten, tie the knot.

Gail wore white, and Brian's mum and dad, Bert and Ivy (Peter Dudley and Lynne Perrie) looked suitably impressed.

Cheryl Murray, who plays Gail's sexy pal, Suzie Birchall, made a radiant bridesmaid.

Said Mary: "I couldn't resist taking the pictures. The blackout may go on for ever, and some people would never know what had happened to the couple."

A spokesman for Granada TV said last night that they had been "swamped" with inquiries about Brian and Gail since the technicians' strike forced the show off the air two weeks ago.

Now you can stop biting your nails, folks, thanks to Mary's candid camera.

Say "Cheese!"

The wedding pic! Left to right: Audrey Potter (Sue Nicholls), Suzie Birchall (Cheryl Murray) Gail (Helen Worth) and Brian Tilsley (Christopher Quinten), and Ivy (Lynne Perrie) and Bert Tilsley (Peter Dudley).

Here's Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) and Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson) welcoming us back to The Street after the Strike had ended in October 1979. This was a special "reminder" scene, screened just before the first post-Strike episode was shown.

Len was alone at first: "Welcome back! We've missed yer! Now, I suppose I'd better remind you what was going on in our little street when you were here last. Well, there's always a bit of excitement about a wedding - can't imagine why! Gail and Brian are about to get hitched..."

As Len ran through current events, Bet, apparently on her way into work at The Rovers, joined him and asked if he'd heard about the letter Deirdre had received "from that rat Langton in Holland".

"What letter?" asked Len.

"Mind yer own business, it's nowt to do wi' you!" Bet teased. "I suppose I'll be seeing your ugly mug in there later?" - indicating The Rovers, and after a quick farewell, she went inside.

"See what I mean? It never changes, does it? There's always something going on!" said Len to us, the telly audience. "See you later!"

And the Granada logo flashed up and the opening credits began, and we Corrie junkies settled back for our first fix in ages.

BLISS!!

1985: The Brazen Hussy!

"Who is best Coronation Street Lover Boy" - Nigel Pivaro (Terry Duckworth) or Christopher Quinten (Brian Tilsley)? - asked the Sun in January 1985.

And somebody who er... knew both the chaps well gave her informed opinion!

So, we here at "Back On The Street" climbed in our Tardis, set the coordinates, whipped through the Time Tunnel, and asked a typical 1980s Weatherfield person who she thought the wicked bean-spiller, the naughty teller of bedtime tales was:

"Flippin' 'eck - it'll be that Dulcie Froggatt, that's who it'll be. Ooh, this neighbourhood's gone right downhill. Now, I'm not one to gossip, you can ask anyone, ask Ida Clough, she'll tell yer, but I don't 'old with this sort o' thing.

"Talkin' o' Dulcie Froggatt, I were on me way up Back Gas Street last Friday when me flamin' 'eel came off right outside Maggie Gartside's..."

And so on. And on. And on.

Actually, It wasn't Dulcie Froggatt who had been passing judgement, but a young page three pin-up who had enjoyed the... er... company of both Terry and Brian. Er, Nigel and Chris, I mean. Sorry.

So, who did she deem the best in the... er... romance department? Well, chuck, I'd tell ya, but as we're now living in the sophisticated 21st Century and not the tawdry 1980s, I'm sure you wouldn't be interested.

And anyway - we don't hold with gossip round here!

1987: Sally Webster - Upwardly Mobile Harpie

Even way back in 1987, Mrs Sally Webster of Coronation Street, Weatherfield, was showing signs of being an upwardly mobile harpie. She'd come blinking from the shadows of Arkwright Street, straight from the bosom of a dog-rough family, to win her way into young Kevin's affections.

Even Hilda Ogden (or "Mrs Ogdin", as Sally called her) was soon on-side after initial suspicions. Kev and Sal married in 1986, moved into the flat over the Corner Shop the following year, and then the whinging, in Sally's inimitable (thank God) nasal twang, started.

In 1987, Sal wanted Kev to borrow £18,000 to buy Brian Tilsley's garage.

"You definitely promised me you were going to't bank to see about borrowin' some money!" said Sal, when Kev arrived home from grease monkeying one night.

"Yeah, well I went to the bank as a matter of fact!" snarled Kev, he of the '80s 'tache.

"Oh yer did, did yer? Now, did yer ask to see a bank manager?!" twanged Sal.

"No, I'll tell ya wot I did," replied Kev Magnum Webster, "I asked to see a bank statement! And you know how much we've got in there, you an' me, between us? Fifty-five pounds - and you expect me to ask the manager for £18,000?!! Me feet'ud never've touched the floor!"

Sal wasn't having any of this tripe. "Other people do it!" she squawked.

Kev looked amazingly like that bloke out of Hall & Oates as he told Sal all about himself: "Yeah, well I'm not other people, am I? I'm not one of these tycoons like Mike Baldwin! I'll tell you what I am - I'm the type of bloke who goes to work in the mornin', comes 'ome at night, gets 'is wages in his hand Friday afternoon... I'm not the type of bloke who goes poncin' around with bank managers, accountants and things like that!"

"Well, you could be!" whined Sal.

"Yeah, well I don't wanna be, do I?" bawled Kev, boinging about like Zebedee. "And you're wrong, 'cos if I tried it, it wouldn't work! So, if you don't like me the way I am, then you shouldn't've married me!"

And Kev went all dejected-looking.

"I do like ya!" said Sal, after a lengthy pause.

"I'll tell you summat else, as well," Kev started boinging again. "If I did what you wanted an' got a load of debt 'angin' round me neck, and went into this garage business... I'd make a mess of it. So it's no good you shovin' me into it!"

Another lengthy pause. Then Sal twanged back into action: "I do like you the way you are, Kev, honest I do!"

"Yeah, well, it's as well 'cos you're stuck with me now!" said Kev.

"Well, don't be grumpy!" wheedled Sal.

"I'm not!" The Tache was outraged.

"Yeah, you are!" said Sal, firmly.

Kev's fire died. "Come 'ere!" he said.

And the row was over.

But, as we all know, the trouble was just beginning.

1976: Aggro At The Gatsby

In answer to Flaming Nora's request for some screen caps of Miss Rita Littlewood in her nightclub singer heyday, here's the lady herself in full flow at Ralph Lancaster's Gatsby Club (with its retro Upstairs, Downstairs decor) in 1976. This was a little cracker of a story-line.

Elsie Howard (as was) and Len Fairclough were in the audience, as were Ray and Deirdre Langton. Elsie was not impressed with Rita's performance. Not usually the jealous type, Elsie would happily get the claws out for Rita. She hadn't wanted Len herself when marriage was offered back in the '60s. But she certainly didn't want Rita to have him.

Len thoroughly enjoyed having two women at odds over him, and told Elsie: "You know, if you'd worked your cards right, you could have married me!"

"Ooh, you don't begrudge me one little stroke of luck, do yer?!!" grinned Elsie.

Apparently Elsie didn't reckon much to Len's potential as a husband (and recalling his marriage to Nellie, perhaps it wasn't surprising), nor did she fancy working for him as Rita did.

Elsie tried some heavy sarcasm: "You know, there's nothing I'd like better than to work for you - for insults and peanuts. Mind you, she [indicating Miss Littlewood] deserves it!"

Rita was on great form that night and had some news for Len: she'd been offered a month's singing contract in Torquay; Len made it plain that if she took it, she'd lose her job and the flat over The Kabin. To put it simply, the green eyed monster had claimed Len that night, just as it had Elsie: he was worried that Rita might fall under the spell of her agent or some other handsome devil whilst away from his earthy aura.

Rita began to seethe as Len told her not to expect a job when she got back - "and you'd better take your bits and pieces with yer, 'cos they're gonna be on the street when you get back!"

"Go on, take a poke at me!" Len goaded.

So, she did, knocking him from his bar stool to the floor, where he lay unconscious.

"Will you get a doctor, somebody?!" cried Ray.

"Oh my god!" said Rita.

Nowadays, the whole incident would have been recorded on CCTV installed at the club, and Rita would have been hauled off down the police station, charged, and on the DNA Database before you could say "Ooh, 'eck! What's Mavis going to say?!"

But this was the 20th Century and the whole incident was simply put down to Rita having a "red headed" moment.

Which I think was rather a better way of going about things!

1987: Mavis Riley - The Culture Vulture Jet Setter

Thelma Barlow, as Mavis Riley, stepped into the Street spinster role left vacant by Emily Nugent and made it all her own. In the best traditions of the Street, Mavis filled the gap left by the newly-wed Mrs Bishop, but was also very much a character in her own right.

I loved Mavis.

In the 1980s, the character stepped further into the spotlight as the Street suffered the loss of several members of its early cast.

The character of Mavis was delightfully "sent up" in the '80s by comedians Les Dennis and Dustin Gee, who paired her with Vera Duckworth (not something which happened much in the series!) for some brilliantly funny sketches. "I don't really know!" said Mr Dennis - in OTT Mavis tones. Although I have accumulated hundreds of '80s era Corrie episodes, I don't believe I have a single one where Mavis actually utters these words. If she did say it, it was a rare occurrence. But, thanks to Mr Dennis, "I don't really know!" become a much parroted catchphrase up and down the land.

I've just been watching a Corrie episode from 1987, in which Mavis seems squeakier and funnier than ever before. Was the impressionist influencing the original, I wonder?!

But, although it's fun to have a laugh at Mavis, it's important to remember the serious side to the character...

This was the woman who wrote a novel in the mid-1970s and a radio play in the early-1980s; the woman who could cook foreign dishes before cooking foreign dishes was popular in Weatherfield; the woman who sought to broaden her horizons, through reading, evening classes and travel. This was a sensitive, cultured woman.

In 1987, Ken Barlow was in conversation with Mavis at The Rovers one lunchtime. Mavis, of course, was bogged down by her earthy surroundings, and had succumbed to a gentle grumble about one of the customers at The Kabin...

"She's one of these women who always complain about how big her paper bill is, and this morning she tells me that the whole family's off to the Costa Del Sol for a fortnight!"

Ken: "Well, lucky for some!"

Mavis: "I mean, not that I'd fancy it meself really - I've never been one for lying about in a bathing costume."

Ken (teasing): "You go in for this nude business, do you, Mavis - total freedom and all that?!"

Mavis (going all giggly and silly): "Oh, Ken! The very idea! Not that I think there's anything wrong with it, but... no, I've never been one for lying about on a beach all day. When I go on holiday I go more for the atmosphere. You know, ancient cities, different cultures, the romance of history."

Ken: "Yes, well, it sounds very nice. Have you got anything lined up for this summer?"

Mavis: "No, not definitely. I thought I might try Bridlington."