Tony Warren's passing has made news all over the world and so it should. His creation is currently the longest running soap on television and the Guinness Book of Records says so! There are tributes pouring in, from the media and from fans. My social media pages and feeds are filled with it (mainly because at least half of my contacts and friends are Corrie fans!).
Last night on The National (our 10 o'clock news hour), CBC showed a two minute tribute to Mr. Warren. Their feature is online here.
A fan that's featured on another CBC article and in the video from The National is Christine Warren (no relation!). You may know her from her wonderful website. It's filled with trivia, games and interviews. Christine was also instrumental in giving me a wonderful gift 10 years ago, a private visit to Granada studios to see the indoor and outdoor Corrie set.
There's a short clip of Christine speaking on the first clip but there's more from her tribute, and you can see that article and a video here.
Christine talks about her experience with Coronation Street, remembering when it first appeared.
"It was gritty and it was real. They were real people. They would get up in the morning and their hair would be in curlers. They looked like we did when we got up. It took off."
She speculates that Tony Warren was shocked that the show took off and became so huge, and probably remained surprised until he died.
CBC relates what most of us fans know. Tony was gay in a time where it was illegal and considered himself an outsider. That gave him the edge, when it came to observing people, listening to dialogue.
For me, Coronation Street changed my life as it has for many others. Because of my love for the show, it was one of the first things I searched for when I got online in the mid 1990s. That led me to an email list and later to a chat room. I made friends for life and even found a lovely man who I've married. I've travelled and stayed with friends I met online, I've visited the set in Manchester several times, mainly due to associations with other fans that had connections. I've met several of the actors because of a local group of fans that have organized special events here in Halifax and other fans/friends in Manchester. I've taken part in a CBC documentary called Corrie Crazy. (watch that here on CBC's video site)
None of this would have been possible without Tony Warren's insistence on being allowed to write that first episode for Harry Elton in 1960. Tony's story was made into a BBC television movie called The Road to Coronation Street. That's available on DVD and very much worth watching.
Tony Warren will be missed but has left a legacy that will live on. As Christine says:
"He's left something behind that can't be matched"
Indeed.
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