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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Tom Ambrose

‘People are getting murdered in knicker factories!’: how Coronation Street lost the plot

The cast of Coronation Street in 1989.
Legendary … the cast of Coronation Street in 1989. Photograph: ITV/Shutterstock

Whether it’s Deirdre being sent to prison, Alan Bradley getting mown down by a Blackpool tram or “you should have stayed at the party, Maxine”, Coronation Street has provided some most memorable moments in UK soap history.

At its peak, the world’s longest-running television soap could pull in 26 million viewers an episode and its stories, such as the introduction of the transgender character Hayley Cropper, helped shape the national conversation in a way Westminster politicians could only dream of. But in recent years, Corrie has faced a backlash from fans who say they are fed up with dark, issues-based plots, an ever-increasing cast and sporadic scheduling of ITV’s flagship soap.

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