THE BIRTH OF AN ICON
It is a national institution, captivating millions and transcending generations for six decades. But Coronation Street was nearly axed after its very first episode. On December 9, 1960, viewers were introduced to an idealistic young student called Ken Barlow, snobby Rovers Return landlady Annie Walker and glamorous siren Elsie Tanner, desperately trying to keep her jailbird son Dennis on the straight and narrow.
It was a show that broke the mould with its depiction of the everyday lives of folk living on a fictional street in gloomy Weatherfield, a town the soap’s writer Tony Warren said was “four miles in any one direction from the centre of Manchester”. But not everyone approved.
Granada Television’s general manager declared he couldn’t find a “single redeeming quality” in the programme and ordered a substitute to be found quick smart. The Daily Mirror’s TV critic Ken Irwin famously said it was “doomed”.
Corrie was the brainchild of Warren, who grew up in Salford, Greater Manchester. The former child actor was working as a promotions scriptwriter penning copy about aeroplanes when he clambered up on to a filing cabinet and said he wasn’t going to come down until he could write about something he knew.
Then just 24, he was given a day to come up with a script and returned with the story of life on the cobbles of a working class street.
Initially commissioned for 13 episodes, the soap was known as Florizel Street until Agnes the tea lady at the TV studios said it sounded like a disinfectant. The new name, Coronation Street, reflected the fact its houses would have been built around the time of Edward VII’s coronation.
Warren’s characters had warmth, impeccable comic timing and razor sharp wit and despite the initial reservations from execs and critics, viewers found them irresistible.
When Martha Longhurst was unexpectedly killed off, wreaths and bouquets were left outside the TV studios by distraught fans. And in 1967, when Elsie married US Army sergeant Steve Tanner, 20 million people tuned in – the sort of audience a royal wedding would normally command.
Famous fans included Prime Minister Harold Wilson who gave the cast a sherry party at 10 Downing Street and TV presenter Russell Harty, who said: “There was life before Coronation Street – but it didn’t add up to much.”
As a child, Warren had hidden under the kitchen table at his grandmother’s house eavesdropping on the adults and the first episode showed Elsie scowling into a mirror saying: “Ee, Elsie, you’re just about ready for the knacker’s yard”, a line he took from his aunt Lily.
As a young writer, Warren loved listening to the straight-talking regulars in his local greasy spoon cafe and Manchester’s underground gay scene provided rich material thanks to the quick humour of its drag queens – perfect inspiration for strong female characters including his “witches’ coven” of street gossips Ena Sharples, Martha Longhurst and Minnie Caldwell.
“I grew up in a matriarchal society,” said Warren, who died in 2016. “All the men were at war and I was surrounded by strong women. I expected that, when the men came back, they would take over and bugles would sound at the end of the street and tom-toms would be beaten.
“It wasn’t a bit like that. The women just raised their voices to be heard and went on just as they had done before.”
Warren also skilfully touched on the growing class conflict of the times with his early storyline of university student Ken clashing with his father Frank, who thought he had ideas above his station.
Viewers lapped it up and that replacement programme was never needed.
SCORN AGAIN Ena had a fearsome reputation and often clashed with Elsie Tanner, below left