Coronation Street 1980s: Part 1

Coronation Street celebrates its 50th anniversary on 9 December, and here at '80s Actual we've been getting all dewy-eyed remembering The Street in years gone by.

With the help of our sister blog, Back On The Street, we've got some glimpses of Coronation Street as it was in the 1980s. We're beginning late in the decade and working backwards!

Eee, 1988 on't Street... Do you remember, chuck? Derek Wilton (Peter Baldwin) and Mavis Riley (Thelma Barlow) made it to the altar - oops, I mean registry office - second time lucky - though Mavis wasn't impressed by a couple of smutty comments from Sally Webster (Sally Dynevor) at the Corner Shop when she and Derek returned from honeymoon. Marriage was not just about that sort of thing, she lectured Sally.

Quite right too...

Meanwhile, Rovers barmaid Gloria Todd (Sue Jenkins) had been feeling her biological clock ticking for some time. So, when she fell for a fella, perhaps marriage - maybe even kids - lay around the corner? Trouble was, the fella belonged to Rovers cleaner Sandra Stubbs (Sally Watts). Gloria couldn't help herself, although she felt terrible. She began seeing Sandra's fella and they really seemed to "click". Gloria was horrified when Sandra turned up for a natter at her flat one evening when she was entertaining Mr Wonderful.

Finally, she confessed all to Sandra and got a pint of beer in her face for her trouble. Gloria left the Rovers after the incident.

Alan Bradley (Mark Eden) had left Rita Fairclough (Barbara Knox) and was living in a bedsit away from the Street. Rita was completely besotted with the man, and begged him to return to No 7. Alan refused, but changed his mind when the bank refused to finance his business's move to new premises. Alan returned to Rita and daughter Jenny (Sally Anne Matthews) for his own benefit - with a plan in mind. He also secretly continued to see Carole Burns (Irene Skillington).

Here's some Corrie trivia for you: Did you know that Mark Eden first appeared in the show in 1981, playing a man Elsie Tanner (Patricia Phoenix) rather liked? He was called Wally Randle and sadly, did not feel the same way about Elsie!

Terry Duckworth (Nigel Pivaro) made Vera (Liz Dawn) so proud when he began work for Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs) in 1988. His work was mainly chauffeuring (Mike had been banned from driving), but there were prospects. When Terry took a married girlfriend out in Mike's Jag and her husband sprayed "STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE" down one side, the writing was on the wall as far as Terry's career at Baldwin's Casuals was concerned. Vera was distraught. Terry left the Street just before Christmas, feeling that he no longer had much in common with old pals like Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell) and that it was time to move on again.

Pump Up The Jam...

Flippin' 'eck! 1989! What a year it was! Rita Fairclough was nearly smothered by Alan Bradley, and a tram dominated the end of that saga... but what ELSE happened down Weatherfield way?

Well, one half of the Street disappeared and new buildings rose in its place, courtesy of one Maurice Jones (Alan Moore).

Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride) (note her squarer framed glasses and nice '80s perm below) found out that Ken had been up to naughties with former town hall mole Wendy Crozier (Roberta Kerr). The icy atmosphere at No 1 ruined Tracy's Christmas.

The McDonald family moved into No 11 and Jim and Liz (Charles Lawson and Beverley Callard) made their first visit to The Rovers Return, where they tried to suss out their new neighbours and soon began making friends.

Meanwhile, the Corner Shop suffered a direct hit - from a football, causing the front window to fall out. The McDonald twins, Steve and Andy (Simon Gregson and Nicholas Cochrane), were responsible. The Roberts household was already under strain as Alf and Audrey's attempt to buy a new house had fallen through and they'd gone to live in the flat above the shop. Audrey (Sue Nicholls) was not pleased. "It's only temporary," wheedled Alf (Bryan Mosley), taking her a nice early morning cuppa. "LIFE'S only temporary!" snapped Audrey.

And for Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy) his new job as assistant manager (trainee) at Bettabuys Supermarket, which he began in October 1989, was fraught with complications. Manager Reg Holdsworth (Ken Morley) asked him to write reports on all the staff, and then announced his intention to use them as the basis for making redundancies in January 1990.

Curly was gobsmacked - particularly as his landlady, Vera Duckworth (Liz Dawn), was on the redundancies list.

The Duckworths had much to celebrate earlier in 1989 (well, at least Vera did!) when they had their house stone clad!