Ken Barlow
At the Granada Coronation Street Gift Shop in the 1990s, I dithered over souvenir key rings. Which character did I want? I finally chose Ken Barlow. He was a long…
Covid Corrie
Overnight, Covid-19 will hit Weatherfield. People who had been freely walking around Coronation Street without a corona care in the world will be masked and distancing themselves. Tonight in Britain,…
Weatherfield Brexit
Are people in Weatherfield stockpiling water, tinned food and toilet tissue? They are in real life Britain, according to news reports. People fear shortages, due to goods tied up at…
Leaving The Street
This week I only watched Monday's double episode. I decided at the end of it that I'm leaving the Street. Not forever - I hope. But for now, until something…
Corrie the Soap
When did Corrie become a soap opera? Here I mean that in the derogatory sense of the phrase, denoting melodramatic, formulaic and often illogical storytelling. About four months ago. That's…
Talking with our Vera
An interview, 1992 My name's Liz Dawn. I play Vera Duckworth. I bet all your listeners will recognize this voice! What's Vera like? Well, actually, Jack and Vera, they're the…
Coronation Street Library
Seeing that a Coronation Street adult colouring book will soon be released made me think about how big the Coronation Street library is. Reams of paper about the fictional town…
Coronation Street 50th
Coronation Street began due to a government mandate for home-grown television programming. A Canadian producer at Granada, the late Harry Elton, knew the popularity and longevity of American soaps and…
Meeting Jack Duckworth
In 1992 I went to Manchester to research Coronation Street for a CBC Radio Ideas documentary on British and American soaps. At Granada, I watched the taping of a scene…
The Death of Soaps
In April, ABC announced the cancellation of the long-running soaps All My Children and One Life to Live. They will be replaced by a cooking show and a health and…
Coronation Street: A defence of John Stape
Ok, I know John Stape is a lying weasel who spends way too much time feeling sorry for himself and plotting nasty schemes. But, at heart, he is a high…
Days of our Lives and Chex Mix
Having fallen off on my American soap viewing, I didn’t know about the new product placement on soaps until I saw the spoof of it on the Colbert Report. I…
Lifeboys: Reality tv before “Reality TV”
In the spring of 1992, I heard an interview with Pat O’Rourke, of Liverpool, on CBC Radio’s As it Happens. It was about Lifeboys, a television show that he was…
Coronation Street
Coronation Street Post Excerpts click for Scene of the Week Ken Barlow (Dec. 9/22) At the Granada Coronation Street Gift Shop in the 1990s, I dithered over souvenir key rings.…