The opening bars of Ronnie Hunt’s cornet solo are evocative for millions of Britons: for some they are a signal to settle before the box to watch the latest events in Weatherfield; for others they prompt a grab for the remote. Corrie is a national institution, not bad for a programme envisaged as a brief glimpse into northern life when first commissioned in 1960.
Over the years the nature of the programme has changed: in the early days it often veered towards the comic, characters like Minnie Caldwell and Ena Sharples providing almost Shakespearean caricature counterfoils to more serious stuff; of late it has covered issues of rape, trans-sexuality, kidnap, drugs and prostitution. But there is somehow a soul within the programme that doesn’t change, an amalgam of community, life in a northern town, and existence never far from economic worries.
Something not often thought of when we consider The Street is some of the surprising names it has featured: our greatest comic actor of the 20th century, Arthur Lowe ; Burnley-born Sir Ian McKellen ; novelist Beryl Bainbridge ; Sir Ben Kingsley who was in the show in the 1960s; Joanna Lumley appeared as Ken Barlow’s girlfriend in 1973; and Prunella Scales pre-Fawlty Towers played a bus conductress way back in 1961. Some got their breaks or early work in the series; some engineered appearances on a show they love, as do millions of others – Ken and Deirdre’s 1981 wedding drew more viewers than that of Prince Charles to Diana Spencer just after it.
More British Institutions
Afternoon Tea
Allotments
April Fools Day
Big Ben
Binge Drinking
Black Cabs
Bonfire Night
British Sense of Humour
Brown Windsor Soup
Burns Night
Cadburys
Castles
Changing the Guard
City of London
Coronation Street
Cowes Week
Cricket
Crufts
Dad’s Army
E-Type Jag
Eccentricity
English Country Garden
Fish and Chips
Fish Fingers
Fox Hunting
Full English Breakfast
Gin and Tonic
Glastonbury
Glorious Goodwood
Grand National
Grouse Shooting
Harrods
Highland Games
Hogmanay
James Bond
John Bull
King Arthur
Land Rover
Lloyds of London
London to Brighton Veteran Car Rally
Marks and Spencer
Monty Python
Morecambe and Wise
Old School Tie
Oxbridge
Panto
Picnics
Pimms
Point-to-Point
Punch and Judy
Queueing
Real Ale
Red Arrows
Red Telephone Boxes
Remembrance Poppies
Robin Hood
Rolls Royce
Royal Ascot
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Savile Row Suits
School Discos
School Sports Day
Seaside Piers
Speakers’ Corner
Stag Nights
Stiff Upper Lip
Strawberries and Cream
Street Markets
Summer Festivals
Sunday Roasts
The Archers
The BBC
The Beano
The Boat Race
The Brass Band
The British Bobby
The Bulldog
The Church of England
The Cup Final
The Curry House
The English Rose
The Garden Shed
The Honours System
The Kilt
The Last Night at the Proms
The London Bus
The Mini
The National Trust
The NHS
The Oak
The Pub
The Queen’s Speech
The Rolling Stones
The Royal Christmas Message
The Spitfire
The V Sign
The Village Fete
The Weather
Travelling Fairs
Trooping the Colour
Village Greens
Wedgwood
Wellington Boots
Wimbledon
Wine Gums
Yeomen of the Guard
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