Coronation Street

Late 1989/early 1990.

Building of the new houses started in late 1989. Des and Steph were the first people to move into the new houses in February 1990. I think the reason for the new houses was to introduce more characters because it went to 3 times a week however Des and Steph were the only new characters as the Wiltons and Platt's all lived elsewhere before moving in.

I remember during the Alan Bradley storyline in late 1989 when Reet disappeared everyone thought Alan had killed her and buried her body in the building site. They had to dig it up. Of course Reet was really in Blackpool singing under her stage name 'Rita Littlewood' which is why Alan ended up following her and getting killed by a tram.

Did everyone like tonight's episode, yet another guest appearance by Liz Dawn as Vera and Bill Tarmey as Jack

Despite the fact that it's been done 100s of times before, it was Corrie at it's best

The stripper storyline was a let down, she barely walked into the Rovers before being bundled out. A missed opportunity there I felt.

To be fair, The Daily Star is usually very reliable when it comes to soap spoilers, hence the apology.

I'm glad they didn't make anything more of it tbh. When I first heard about it I thought it was going to be cringe worthy, slapstick comedy so I was glad it was only a minor thing. Tonight's episode was fantastic. It's sad that Liz and Bill have to appear less and less for reasons beyond anybody's control, but tonight's episode was a reminder of what brilliant characters they really are. In times when the show is accused of focusing on the younger characters more (an accusation which I feel is completely unfounded anyway) it is nice to have an episode where two legendary characters are at the centre.

Wonderfully done.

I liked the stuff with Jack and Vera tonight. We also got a guest appearance by Betty.

Liz Dawn's health doesn't seem good at all though - she had to balance herself on the back of a chair in the living room. That said, its always brilliant to see Jack and Vera - who'd have thought Jack is older than Ken Barlow!

Yes, it's always good to see Jack and Vera making appearances... it was a bit of a nice surprise that they appeared on numerous occasions in tonight's episode, as opposed to the odd scene here and there. It is, in a way, sad that Liz Dawn's spate of ill health is quite evident in the show, but it's still nice to see her carrying on.



The reason why there are old bricks on the back of No. 7 is because the back wall did not collapse, but the rest of it did; even on the 1968-82 set, a wall is clearly seen behind the infamous park bench. The new bricks surrounding the back windows are because in the '60s, Street residents did not have bathrooms in that place; they were only box rooms which had no windows. One explanation would be that when the rooms were converted into bathrooms, windows were added.

Their fleeting appearances are always worth waiting for. In a way seeing less of them is a good thing, it makes their appearances all the more special. Good to dedicate most of an epi to them.

It's nice they've been kept together all these years; a remarkable feat in real life these days, let alone soapland!

I think their marriage thrives on a healthy paradox. They row all the time and 'hate' each other in public, yet they have a very strong loving bond. They'd be lost without each other.

Vera would have nobody to nag, pester or care for. Jack would have no reason to hide in the bookies or Rovers; nobody to "mither" him or to make snide remarks about!

So cheers to Jack and Vera!

Loved the Platt family counselling session. Gail gets more and more like Ivy Brennan/Tilsley doesn't she!

Thanks for that explanation on the bathroom windows, never thought of that. Guess the bathrooms could have been built into the existing rear bedrooms and windows added.

I always thought the whole of number 7 was demolished and the wall we see on the old set between 5 and 9 was just built to fill the gap.

Did the 68-82 set have rear yards? I was 12 when the new set was built so barely remember the old one. Infact I used to think the rovers was number 1 and 1, 3 and 5 were 3, 5 & 7

This thread is almost at 5000 posts - a landmark achievement!