EXPLOSIVE STORYLINES
Carnage came to the cobbles of Coronation Street 10 years ago in a gripping live episode to mark its 50th anniversary. A gas explosion at The Joinery bar caused a tram to veer off the viaduct at the end of the famous street, ploughing into the Corner Shop and The Kabin.
Incredible pyrotechnics and special effects ensured the disaster was the most spectacular in the soap’s history.
But for the residents of Weatherfield, the human cost of the crash was devastating.
Viewers had seen Rita Sullivan buried in The Kabin but later discovered the much-loved character had escaped with minor injuries.
Peter Barlow, on the other hand, had faced a life or death struggle out of the rubble after being caught up at the bar with Ashley Peacock and Nick Platt, who risked their lives to drag him to safety.
The businessman spent months in a wheelchair as he recovered from his injuries, with his struggles causing him to lapse back into alcoholism.
Sadly after rescuing Nick, long-serving loveable butcher Ashley died when he was felled by a falling beam.
Another victim was Molly Dobbs, who told a shocked Sally Webster about her affair with her husband Kevin before she took her last breath. Molly and Kevin’s baby boy Jack was rescued.
A third seriously injured victim was found at the site of the crash but things weren’t all they seemed. Teacher turned killer John Stape had bludgeoned his colleague Charlotte Hoyle with a hammer before moving her to the crash site. Charlotte later died in hospital.
The fourth victim of the tragedy was an unnamed taxi driver who was driving past when the accident happened.
The storyline was billed Four Funerals and a Wedding and emergency nuptials took place at the hospital bed of Peter Barlow, who tied the knot with Leanne Battersby fearing his end was near.
The live episode also saw murderer Stape’s unwitting wife Fiz give birth prematurely to her daughter Hope, with actress Jennie McAlpine becoming the first star to act out a live birth in a soap.
But the tram crash wasn’t the first such tragedy to hit Coronation Street.
In 1967, a train had derailed off the very same viaduct, with one person left dead.
And in one of Corrie’s most watched episodes ever in 1989, villain Alan Bradley was killed when he was struck by a tram in Blackpool as he pursued his long-suffering ex-girlfriend Rita Sullivan.
Caught up in calamity again this time around, the newsagent had to ask: “What is it about me and trams?”
END OF THE LINE Incredible explosion in live episode
Rita in the Kabin, but she was rescued
IN THE RUBBLE Becky McDonald tries to free pal Sunita Alahan