50 Years of Coronation Street: The (Very) Unofficial Story

Coronation Street has been a hit with viewers since it first came on screen in December 1960. In this comprehensive look at "Corrie," writer Sean Egan takes us on a trip down memory lane that encompasses the moving marriages, unforgettable deaths, iconic storylines, and high profiles of many of the Street's most famous residents, both beloved—Hilda and Stan Ogden, Emily Bishop, Rita Sullivan, and Kevin and Sally Webster—and despised—Ena Sharples, Annie Walker, Mike Baldwin, and Gary Windass. It also includes the wider brush strokes of its history, such as how Coronation Street spawned a whole soap industry, from EastEnders to Hollyoaks; how its multiple revamps reflected the changes in working class aspiration over the years, from loos to stone cladding; how some programs sharing the same time-slot died, but others, such as Blakes 7, flourished; and how the fans and actors coped with the ever-increasing number of shows. From Ken and Deirdre's marriage, Mike Baldwin's Alzheimer's-related death, and Deirdre's wrongful imprisonment, to off-set intrigues (in real life, Ken Barlow is a druid) and upheavals (Ivy Brennan actress Lynne Perrie's wildly inappropriate collagen implants saw her written out of the show), this is a fascinating compendium of behind-the-scenes stories for Coronation Street's many fans.