The Road to Coronation Street
Encyclopedia
The Road to Coronation Street is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 drama first broadcast on BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....

 documenting the journey of Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

, the UK's longest-running television soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

, from conception to its first transmission in December 1960. Set predominately at Granada Studios, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 in 1960, the 75 minute long programme follows the true story of Tony Warren
Tony Warren
Anthony McVay Simpson MBE , better known by his stage name Tony Warren, is an award-winning English television scriptwriter, best known for creating the soap opera Coronation Street...

, a struggling scriptwriter who creates a vision of a television programme depicting normal life in a Manchester street of terraced houses.

Background

The Road to Coronation Street was written by Daran Little
Daran Little
Daran Little is a BAFTA Award-winning British television writer, most notable for his work on Coronation Street from 2000 until 2010.-Career:...

, a long-time archivist
Archivist
An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...

 on Coronation Street who became a scriptwriter. Little now, however, scriptwrites for Coronation Streets rival, EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

, broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

. Though Coronation Street is, and always has been, broadcast on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...

, a competing network, the idea of documenting the show on its the anniversary of its half century running was picked up by its natural rival, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

.

Filming was taking place throughout July on location in Manchester, and were even filming in Granada Studios, where much of the episode is set. The drama was being filmed on the set next door to the real life Coronation Street set, who were also filming.

Casting

The role of Tony Warren
Tony Warren
Anthony McVay Simpson MBE , better known by his stage name Tony Warren, is an award-winning English television scriptwriter, best known for creating the soap opera Coronation Street...

, Coronation Streets creator and writer, was given to actor David Dawson
David Dawson (actor)
David Dawson is a British actor. He has appeared on television in The Road to Coronation Street and Luther and on stage in Comedians, Posh and Luise Miller.-Early life:...

. Coronation Streets producer, Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

-born Harry Elton, was played by Christian McKay
Christian McKay
-Early life:McKay was born in Bury, Lancashire. His mother is a hairdresser and his father is a railway worker. He studied piano as a youth, and had performed the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 at age 21...

. Casting director Margaret Morris and her young assistant Josie Scott, who befriends Warren, were played by Jane Horrocks
Jane Horrocks
Barbara Jane Horrocks is an English voice, stage, screen and television actress, voice artist, musician, and singer. She is best known for her role as "Bubble" in the TV series Absolutely Fabulous as well as her distinctive voice....

 and Sophia Di Martino
Sophia Di Martino
Sophia Di Martino is an English actress of Italian descent, known for portraying Polly Emmerson in Casualty and Gemma Pennant in The Royal Today.-Background:...

, respectively. Derek Bennett, the director, was portrayed by Shaun Dooley
Shaun Dooley
Shaun Dooley is a British actor who regularly appears on television and in British Films.-Biography:Shaun Dooley was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. He studied at the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester between 1992 and 1995....

, while Sidney Bernstein was played by Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...

.

Jessie Wallace
Jessie Wallace
Jessie Wallace is an English actress best known for her portrayal as Kat Moon in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early life:...

 was given the role of Pat Phoenix
Pat Phoenix
Patricia "Pat" Frederica Phoenix was an English actress who became one of the first sex symbols of British television through her role of Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street.-Early life and career:Born in Ireland to Anna Maria Josephine Noonan and Tom Manfield, but moved to Manchester before...

, who herself was playing Elsie Tanner
Elsie Tanner
Elsie Tanner is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Patricia Phoenix from 1960 to 1973 and from 1976 until 1984. Elsie Tanner was one of the original core characters on Coronation Street and appeared in the very first episode...

 in Coronation Street. Wallace, a Londoner most famous for her role as Kat Moon
Kat Moon
Kathleen "Kat" Moon is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jessie Wallace. She was also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001. She appeared in the show from September 2000 to November 2004, then returned in May 2005...

 in EastEnders, "religiously" watched YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 footage of early episodes to in order to master the "old-fashioned Mancunian
Manchester dialect
Mancunian is a dialect, and the name given to the people of Manchester, England, and some of the surrounding areas within Greater Manchester, for example Salford....

" accent as she described it. Wallace also briefly had sessions with a dialect coach before filming commenced. James Roache
James Roache
James Roache is a British actor and is perhaps best known for his roles in Coronation Street as Ken Barlow's long-lost grandson James, or as his father William Roache in BBC drama The Road to Coronation Street....

 plays his father William Roache
William Roache
William Patrick Harry Roache MBE is a British actor, best known for his role as Ken Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street...

 in the drama. The elder Roache has played Ken Barlow in Coronation Street since its inception. As well as acting in The Road to Coronation Street, James was filming scenes for Coronation Street in a non-regular role as Ken Barlow's grandson at the same time. Celia Imrie
Celia Imrie
Celia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...

 played Doris Speed
Doris Speed
Doris Speed, MBE was an English actress, best known for her role as snooty Rovers Return landlady Annie Walker on Coronation Street, a role she played from 1960 to 1983.-Early life and career:...

, who played the character of Annie Walker
Annie Walker
Anne "Annie" Walker is a long-standing fictional character in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was played by actress Doris Speed from the series' first episode in 1960 until Speed retired from the role 23 years and 1,746 episodes later in 1983.The character of Annie has been noted as...

, and Lynda Baron
Lynda Baron
Lynda Baron is a BAFTA-nominated English stage, film and television actress, perhaps best known for playing the extremely busty Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, the object of Arkwright's affection, in the BBC comedy series Open All Hours....

 played the role of Violet Carson
Violet Carson
Violet Helen Carson OBE was an English actress, best known for playing Ena Sharples, one of the original characters in the British soap opera Coronation Street.-Early life and career:...

, who played one of Coronation Streets most iconic characters, Ena Sharples
Ena Sharples
Ena Sharples is one of the original characters from the British soap opera Coronation Street, and was played by Violet Carson.-Development:...

. John Thomson and Michelle Holmes
Michelle Holmes
Michelle Holmes , born Corinne Michelle Cunliffe, is an English actress who has appeared in several television serials.Born in Rochdale, Lancashire, she performed in a pop band called The Dunky Dobbers....

, who had previously been members of the Coronation Street cast, appeared as H.V. Kershaw and Harry Elton's secretary respectively.

Reception

The drama achieved a peak of 852,000 viewers on its first transmission, making it the second most popular programme in BBC Four's history, behind 2008's The Curse of Steptoe
The Curse of Steptoe
The Curse of Steptoe is a television play which was first broadcast on 19 March 2008 on BBC Four as part of a season of dramas about television personalities. It stars Jason Isaacs as Harry H. Corbett and Phil Davis as Wilfrid Brambell...

at 1.41m viewers. Sam Wollaston, a critic for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

, gave a positive review, stating "The Road to Coronation Street is fond, and warm, and charming", and stated there were "fine performances" from the entire cast, in particular from David Dawson
David Dawson (actor)
David Dawson is a British actor. He has appeared on television in The Road to Coronation Street and Luther and on stage in Comedians, Posh and Luise Miller.-Early life:...

 and Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...

. Phil Hogan
Phil Hogan
Phil Hogan is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency since 1989, and is the current Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.-Early and private life:...

 for The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...

also commented on the "superb" quality of acting, and also praised Jessie Wallace personally, saying: "Watching EastEnders star Jessie Wallace storm through her audition as blowsy Street firebrand Elsie Tanner – tearing into her delinquent son Dennis for nicking two bob out of her purse – made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end." Grace Dent
Grace Dent
Grace Dent is an English journalist, author, and broadcaster. Dent writes mainly for The Guardian, where she has a weekly column on television, 'Grace Dent's TV-OD'. She also writes for magazines such as Tatler and Marie Claire. She writes a restaurant review column for the London Evening...

 of The Guardian echoed Hogan's comments, saying "Obviously, the star of this show is the sublime Jessie Wallace playing 60s megastar Pat Phoenix, who played Corrie's Elsie Tanner." Jane Simon of the Daily Mirror stated the programme was "a triumph on every level". The Road to Coronation Street has was awarded Best Single Drama at the 2011 British Academy Television Awards
British Academy Television Awards 2011
The 2011 British Academy Television Awards were held on 22 May 2011. The nominations were announced on 26 April.Graham Norton hosted the ceremony.-Nominations:*Actor**Jim Broadbent — Any Human Heart...

. Additionally, Jessie Wallace and Lynda Baron were both nominated in the Best Supporting Actress Category for their performances as Pat Phoenix and Violet Carson, respectively, however, Lauren Socha
Lauren Socha
Lauren Marie Socha is a BAFTA award winning English actress, best known for her starring role in the E4 comedy-drama television series Misfits and a co-starring role in the Channel 4 drama The Unloved. She attended St. George's RC Primary School, Burton College and Saint Benedict School and...

 won the award for her role in the E4 series Misfits
Misfits (TV series)
Misfits is a British science fiction comedy-drama television series about a group of young offenders forced to work in a community service programme, where they obtain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm. The first series started broadcasting on 12 November 2009 on E4, and was...

.

Cast

  • Lynda Baron
    Lynda Baron
    Lynda Baron is a BAFTA-nominated English stage, film and television actress, perhaps best known for playing the extremely busty Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, the object of Arkwright's affection, in the BBC comedy series Open All Hours....

     as Violet Carson
    Violet Carson
    Violet Helen Carson OBE was an English actress, best known for playing Ena Sharples, one of the original characters in the British soap opera Coronation Street.-Early life and career:...

  • Steven Berkoff
    Steven Berkoff
    Steven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...

     as Sidney Bernstein
  • David Dawson
    David Dawson (actor)
    David Dawson is a British actor. He has appeared on television in The Road to Coronation Street and Luther and on stage in Comedians, Posh and Luise Miller.-Early life:...

     as Tony Warren
    Tony Warren
    Anthony McVay Simpson MBE , better known by his stage name Tony Warren, is an award-winning English television scriptwriter, best known for creating the soap opera Coronation Street...

  • Sophia Di Martino
    Sophia Di Martino
    Sophia Di Martino is an English actress of Italian descent, known for portraying Polly Emmerson in Casualty and Gemma Pennant in The Royal Today.-Background:...

     as Josie Scott
  • Shaun Dooley
    Shaun Dooley
    Shaun Dooley is a British actor who regularly appears on television and in British Films.-Biography:Shaun Dooley was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. He studied at the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester between 1992 and 1995....

     as Derek Bennett
  • Enid Dunn as Agnes
  • Henry Goodman
    Henry Goodman
    Henry Goodman is a British theatre actor. He trained at RADA in London alongside Jonathan Pryce.In 1988, he played George Green's brother-in-law Cyril in London's Burning. He played character roles in episodes of the popular UK police drama The Bill...

     as Cecil Bernstein
  • Michelle Holmes
    Michelle Holmes
    Michelle Holmes , born Corinne Michelle Cunliffe, is an English actress who has appeared in several television serials.Born in Rochdale, Lancashire, she performed in a pop band called The Dunky Dobbers....

     as Brenda
  • Jane Horrocks
    Jane Horrocks
    Barbara Jane Horrocks is an English voice, stage, screen and television actress, voice artist, musician, and singer. She is best known for her role as "Bubble" in the TV series Absolutely Fabulous as well as her distinctive voice....

     as Margaret Morris
  • Celia Imrie
    Celia Imrie
    Celia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...

     as Doris Speed
    Doris Speed
    Doris Speed, MBE was an English actress, best known for her role as snooty Rovers Return landlady Annie Walker on Coronation Street, a role she played from 1960 to 1983.-Early life and career:...

  • Christian McKay
    Christian McKay
    -Early life:McKay was born in Bury, Lancashire. His mother is a hairdresser and his father is a railway worker. He studied piano as a youth, and had performed the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 at age 21...

     as Harry Elton
  • Tara Moran
    Tara Moran
    Kathleen Tara Moran is an English actress.Moran's television debut was in Yorkshire Television's educational history series for schools, How We Used to Live...

     as Edna
  • Phoebe Nicholls
    Phoebe Nicholls
    Phoebe Nicholls is an English film, television, and stage actor. She is known for her roles as Cordelia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited and as the mother of John Merrick in The Elephant Man....

     as Mrs Simpson
  • James Roache
    James Roache
    James Roache is a British actor and is perhaps best known for his roles in Coronation Street as Ken Barlow's long-lost grandson James, or as his father William Roache in BBC drama The Road to Coronation Street....

     as William Roache
    William Roache
    William Patrick Harry Roache MBE is a British actor, best known for his role as Ken Barlow in the soap opera Coronation Street...

  • John Thomson as Harry Kershaw
    H. V. Kershaw
    H. V. Kershaw, also known as Harry Kershaw, from Manchester was a British television scriptwriter and dramatist best known for his long association with the top rating soap opera, Coronation Street, a programme he continued to pen scripts for until the mid-1980s...

  • Jessie Wallace
    Jessie Wallace
    Jessie Wallace is an English actress best known for her portrayal as Kat Moon in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early life:...

     as Pat Phoenix
    Pat Phoenix
    Patricia "Pat" Frederica Phoenix was an English actress who became one of the first sex symbols of British television through her role of Elsie Tanner in Coronation Street.-Early life and career:Born in Ireland to Anna Maria Josephine Noonan and Tom Manfield, but moved to Manchester before...

  • David Williams
    David Williams
    -Musicians:* David Williams , Aboriginal musician and artist* David Williams , Welsh bassist* David Williams , Welsh guitarist and bassist in Son of Dork...

    as Commissionaire
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