The Beatles on The Street – Streetlemania!

Did anyone see ‘The Nation's Favourite Beatles Number One’ the other week? If not, then I would highly recommend streaming it from the newly renamed ITV Hub, where it will remain for another 6 days (link here).

I watched it on the train to Manchester for the Coronation Street Blog Christmas Do. It’s a cracking rock doc and I was particularly pleased to discover that when The Beatles weren’t busy shaking the world, the Fab Four liked nothing more than to watch a bit of telly and, according to former Granada Producer Johnny Hamp, Coronation Street was one of their favourite programmes.

Hamp produced the TV special ‘The Music of Lennon and McCartney’, which was filmed at the former Granada Studios on Quay Street, a site that we bloggers visited earlier this week for the very last time.

The Beatles show went out in December 1965 - when Corrie was just five years old. A lot of it can be seen on YouTube and it really is fascinating footage. During the performance, John Lennon played the harmonium on ‘We Can Work It Out’ (which came in at number 17 in the ITV poll).

But it wasn’t just any harmonium that Lennon used that day at Granada. Oh no - it was the very same instrument that Ena Sharples played in Coronation Street! Have a look at this:

Apparently, when the Granada special was being recorded, the Corrie cast kept on sticking their heads around the door to catch a glimpse of The Beatles. The cast could have got a lot closer to the band, though, according to a wonderful article I stumbled across on a Beatles fansite (available here).

The story goes that there was a proposed plot which would have seen The Beatles’ tour bus break down in Weatherfield while the band were on their way to a gig in Manchester.

Naturally, Beatlemania would soon take over and with the police unable to control the crowds, the band would knock on Ena's door in search of sanctuary (and possibly a harmonium?!!). Ena would take them in and the Fab Four would file in past her, bringing the episode to a close.

In the next episode, Ena would persuade The Beatles to perform at the Over-Sixties club. The gig would be gate-crashed by a load of teenagers and two generations would come together for an amazing concert, after which The Beatles would rush off to their other show in Manchester!

The Beatles were apparently very keen to do it but weren’t able to fit the rehearsal dates into their schedule and so the plans were scrapped. What a shame!

I like to think, though, that in the parallel universe of Coronation Street, The Beatles did in fact play Weatherfield in the 60s. Perhaps that would explain the signed Beatles programme that the Peacocks found in the attic of Number 13 a few years ago!

When I arrived at Manchester Piccadilly to catch my 7am train back to London, everything came full circle when I saw an advert for a new collection of The Beatles’ chart-topping hits.

It made me think about the vital contribution that Coronation Street and The Beatles – two great institutions that emerged from 1960s Northern England – have made to the UK’s cultural history.

And then I thought about the original Cavern Club in Liverpool, which was knocked down. It was a decision that city leaders would soon regret and the Cavern was later rebuilt using many of the original bricks.

I don’t want Manchester to make the same mistake by demolishing the old Corrie set. Wouldn’t it be great if the developers decided to keep at least some of the magic alive? 

Coronation Street is in our ears and in our eyes. It is also in our hearts. There is so much history in those cobbles and it would be a tragedy for it all to be bulldozed for flats and shops.

By Martin Leay

You can follow Martin on Twitter @mpleay

You can listen to Martin on the Happy Sundays show on Croydon Radio

Deirdre: A Life on Coronation Street - official ITV tribute to a soap icon. Available here.

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Can you identify this 1960s Coronation Street live sketch?

With thanks to @grahamh75 on twitter for alerting us to this long forgotten live Coronation Street sketch.  We're not sure, but it might be a Royal Variety performance.

It features Corrie characters Minnie Caldwell, Elsie and Dennis Tanner, Sunny Jim, Ena Sharples and Len Fairclough.  If you can identify it, do please leave a comment.



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Fans vote first episode as fave 1960s Corrie moment

Coronation Street Blog readers have voted for the very first episode as their favourite moment from 1960s Corrie. This of course occurred in December 1960. A low turnout of just 82 voted (most probably because many can't remember the 1960s!) and 22 (26.83%) voted for the first episode.

 

In second place came Martha Longhurst's death with 16 votes (19.51%). This occurred in May 1964. In third place, receiving 11 votes (13.41%) came Ena Sharples and Elsie Tanner's fight in November 1961 over Elsie accusing Ena of sending her a poison pen letter. Ena was innocent - it was actually Elsie's estranged hubby Arnold.

 

Ena Sharples and Annie Walker getting drunk in October 1964 came fourth with 6 votes (7.32%). Close behind with 5 votes (6.1%) came Elsie Tanner's fight with Hilda Ogden in June 1968 when Hilda falsely accused Elsie of having an affair with Stan. And both Elsie Tanner's fight with Annie Walker in March 1967 when Annie again falsely accused Elsie of having an affair with Jack; and the first colour episode shown in November 1969 received 4 votes (4.88%).

 

In seventh place came Ken Barlow and Len Fairclough's fight in February 1962 over an article Ken wrote; Ena and Elsie's fight over the fact that Ena was evicting Elsie from her house in January 1965; and the train crash in May 1967, all receiving 3 votes (3.66%).

 

The following all received 1 vote (1.22%): Emily Nugent jilting Leonard Swindley in July 1964; Harry Hewitt's death in September 1967 when he was crushed by a van; the coach crash in October 1969; Vera Lomax' death in January 1967; and Linda Cheveski leaving her husband Ivan.

 

The following received 0 votes (0%): Christine Hardman's attempted suicide when she went on top of the factory roof in June 1962; Sheila Birtles' attempted suicide in September 1963; No. 7 collapsing in August 1965; Steve and Elsie Tanner's wedding in September 1967; and Valerie Barlow being kept hostage by Frank Riley in August 1967.

 

Happy with the results? I personally thought that Elsie Tanner's wedding would've been fairly high considering it was a ratings grabber. I was shocked that it didn't receive any votes at all!

 

If you haven't, you can vote for your favourite Corrie villain here. Voting closes on Monday, 7th October.

 

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Corrie A-Z: S is for the Sixties

As we all know, this was the decade that our favourite show began! First airing on the 9th of December 1960, the show was only commissioned for thirteen episodes but viewers were immediately drawn to the serial set in Manchester, despite no critical acclaim. Viewers enjoyed watching the ins and outs of ‘ordinary’ working-class characters, something that hadn’t been portrayed on television before. The show also made use of the Lancashire dialect of ‘eh chuck’ and ‘nowt’ and suddenly another dialect was heard on TV screens apart from the Queen’s English. The serial consiste

d of 21 original characters, which you can read about here.

 

Storylines in the early years included Ken Barlow battling against his working-class background. Ken was one of the few characters to have gone to university and symbolized the growth of globalization and the decline of communities. His clashes with his dad Frank and Len Fairclough caused tension in the early years of the show’s history. Another early storyline was the rivalry between battleaxe Ena Sharples and street siren Elsie Tanner. They had two memorable showdowns: in 1961 when Elsie accused Ena of sending her a poison pen-letter and in 1965 when Ena, as Elsie’s new landlady, attempted to evict her. Other characters who were involved in storylines during the early 1960s included Jack and Walker, Harry and Concepta Hewitt, Minnie Caldwell, Martha Longhurst, Leonard Swindley, Emily Nugent and Christine Hardman.

 

In 1964, new producer Tim Aspinall decided that the show needed a shake-up (a precursor to Brian Park if you like) and decided to axe several characters. The biggest casualty was Rovers cleaner Martha Longhurst, who occupied the Rovers snug with fellow OAPs Ena and Minnie. Viewers and cast-members alike protested against the axing of Martha but they were defeated and Martha died of a heart attack in the snug. But while the show lost a popular character, it gained two characters that would become Corrie legends: Stan and Hilda Ogden!

 

Coronation Street immediately won over the viewers and by March 1961 had reached the No. 1 slot and remained there for the rest of the year. Around 15 million regularly watched the show, which was about three quarters of the audience. By 1964, the programme attracted over 20 million viewers.

 

For the remainder of the decade, storylines included the marriage of Ken and Valerie Barlow that included the birth of their twins Peter and Susan in 1965 and Valerie being kept hostage by rapist Frank Riley in 1968; the various liaisons of Elsie Tanner that included her wedding to old flame Steve Tanner that was a huge ratings winner in 1967; the train crashing off the viaduct to the street in 1967; the murder of Steve Tanner in 1968; and a coach crash in 1969.

 

Despite its huge popularity, Coronation Street was criticised by some for portraying an outdated urban working class with many stating that 1960s Corrie portrayed 1950s life. But many viewers stated that many of the scenarios on the terraced street, like mending a bike in front of the fire, mirrored the lives of many British communities. Critics called for the show to reflect the rebellious 1960s with stories of homosexuality and drugs but the show dropped them in fear of upsetting viewers.

 

Did you start watching Corrie in the 1960s? Did you watch the first episode or the early episodes?

 

What’s your favourite moment from the 1960s? Vote in the poll below. And if you haven't yet, you can vote for your favourite Corrie moment from the 1970s here.
 

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EXCLUSIVE: The woman who dressed the Coronation Street icons

Coronation Street fans who watched the ITV programme Goodbye Granadaland a few weeks ago will have seen a lady by the name of Edna Walker interviewed on the show.

Edna was the original Head of Wardrobe when Coronation Street started in 1960.

She's the lady who dressed the women - and men - who went on to become some of our best loved and well known Coronation Street icons.

In an exclusive interview here on the Coronation Street Blog, Edna's spoken to me about her time on the show dressing the Coronation Street iconic characters such as Elsie Tanner, Ena Sharples and Annie Walker.

The interview's long with some great pictures. To give it the room it deserves, it's here on corrie.net.

I hope Corrie fans enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed speaking to Edna and writing her memories to share.

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The faces of 1960s Corrie

Inspired by Daran Little's 40 years of Coronation Street and having done some research on Corriepedia, I have come up with the top 12 faces of Coronation Street in every decade.

In the first of five posts, I look at the top 12 faces of Corrie in the 1960s. These are the faces who appeared the most during the decade.



1. Annie Walker (781 episodes, 1960-1969)
2. Jack Walker (773 episodes, 1960-1969)
3. Elsie Tanner (765 episodes, 1960-1969)
4. Len Fairclough (745 episodes, 1961-1969)
5. Ena Sharples (708 episodes, 1960-1969)
6. Minnie Caldwell (655 episodes, 1960-1969)
7. Ken Barlow (645 episodes, 1960-1969)
8. Albert Tatlock (605 episodes, 1960-1969)
9. Valerie Tatlock/Barlow (560 episodes, 1961-1969)
10. Lucille Hewitt (498 episodes, 1960-1969)
11. Emily Nugent (490 episodes, 1961-1969)
12. Dennis Taner (461 episodes, 1960-1968)

Average age: 44

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Wanted - Coronation Street 1968 episodes 801 and 802

Are you sitting at home with a pile of old Coronation Street episodes from the 1960s?  I'm after two particular episodes - numbers 801 and 802 - from January 1968.

If anyone has the episodes at home and can help out by sharing them with me please email me glenda.young@btinternet.com

Thank you!


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Can you guess the mystery Corrie man?

Can you guess who this is in the picture below?  When this little lad grew up he became an actor and starred in many Coronation Street episodes of the 1960s and '70s. With thanks to Coronation Street Blog reader - and cousin of the actor - Greg Robertson for allowing us to use this picture and for sending it in to us.

To find out who the actor is, click here.

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What did the Rovers look like in 1964?

KornerKabin of the Digital Spy soap forums brought up an interesting video of a 1964 episode in which there is an exterior shot of the Rovers Return, the only problem being, it looks nothing like the Rovers we know today!

Although in the 1960's end credits the Rovers looked different from this version too, and not only that, the Mission Hall was right next door to it, and even the street looked different back then, as each house had it's own bay window, instead of the joined ones that started to appear as the 1960's went on.

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Watch: Original Corrie filming footage from 1963

With thanks to Corrie fan John Tomlinson, who emailed us about this smashing bit of old Corrie filming from 1963.  It's film of bygone Salford and starting at 5.10 is colour 8mm cine camera footage of the location filming in Ordsall for Jerry Booth's wedding to Myra Dickinson in 1963 (the actual episode is on the Network 1963 DVD). Glimpsed are Violet Carson (Ena Sharples), Margot Bryant (Minnie Caldwell), William Roache (Ken Barlow), Graham Haberfield and Susan Jameson. Also seen are the large crowds that caused such problems for Granada that they stopped soon filming in Ordsall and eventually built their own street set.