Coronation Street is the longest-running drama series in the world still in production, which debuted on Dec. 9, 1960.
This British serial drama chronicles the lives of the residents who live on a street in Weatherfield, a fictional town in the north of England.
Some TV executives had their doubts about the program, calling the characters’ northern speech “the language of the music halls.” But its workaday setting, memorable characters, dramatic storylines and tart northern humour were a hit.
READ MORE: Liz Dawn dead: Vera of ‘Coronation Street’ dies at 77
Coronation Street still has millions of regular viewers and a surprising range of fans around the world. Prince Charles once made a cameo appearance, and his wife Camilla pulled a pint in fictional pub the Rovers Return Inn during a 2010 visit to the set. The late poet laureate John Betjeman compared Corrie to the novels of Charles Dickens, while Snoop Dogg recorded a message for its 50th anniversary.
Global News has put together a list of some of Coronation Street‘s biggest stars, taking a look at when they first joined the soap opera and how they look now.
Gail Rodwell (Helen Worth)
First Appearance: July 29, 1974
Address: 8 Coronation Street
Gail Rodwell (previously Tilsley, Platt, Hillman and McIntyre) first appeared on the Coronation Street cobbles in 1974. She is a long-standing Coronation Street resident, daughter of Audrey Roberts and mother of Nick Tilsley, Sarah and David Platt. She is also the grandmother of Bethany, Lilly and Harry Platt as well as the step-grandmother of Max Turner. Gail married Michael Rodwell in 2015. Unfortunately, after a struggling year of marriage, Michael died of a heart attack.
David Platt (Jack P Shepherd)
First Appearance: Dec. 26, 1990
Address: 8 Coronation Street
David Platt, the son of Martin Platt and Gail Rodwell, first appeared on Coronation Street on Dec. 26, 1990. He is the half-brother of Nick Tilsley and Sarah Platt. Jack P Shepherd took on the role of David in April 2000 at the age of 11. Now, the 30-year-old actor is the widowed husband of Kylie, stepfather of Max Turner and father of Lily Platt. David is a hairdresser at Audrey’s Salon.
Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien)
First Appearance: Feb. 2, 1987
Address: 8 Coronation Street
Sarah Platt is the daughter of Gail Rodwell and the late Brian Tilsley and adoptive daughter of Martin Platt. She is the older half-sister of David and the younger sister of Nick Tilsley. She is also the mother of Bethany and Harry, as well as Billy, who passed away two days after birth. Sarah is currently a barmaid at the Rovers Return Inn.
Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls)
First Appearance: April 16, 1979
Address: 5 Grasmere Drive
Audrey Roberts is the mother of Gail Rodwell and Stephen Potter. She is the owner of Audrey’s Salon, located on Coronation Street. She was the third wife and widow of Alf Roberts. She is the grandmother of Sarah Platt, David Platt and Nick Tilsley.
Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard)
First Appearance: Oct. 27, 1989
Address: 15a Victoria Street
Liz McDonald is the ex-wife of Jim McDonald and the mother of Steve and Andy. Her only daughter Katie died shortly after her birth. She is currently a receptionist at Rosamund Street Medical Centre. She is also the grandmother of Amy Barlow, Oliver Battersby and the late Ruairi McDonald. Liz used to work behind the bar at the Rovers Return Inn, which her and her son Steve used to own before selling the pub to Peter Barlow and Toyah Battersby.
Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson)
First Appearance: Dec. 6, 1989
Address: 15a Victoria Street
Steve McDonald is the son of Jim and Liz McDonald and the twin brother of Andy and the older brother of the late Katie McDonald. He has a daughter, Amy, with Tracy Barlow. He shares his son Olivier with Leanne Battersby and he was also father to Ruairir, who was stillborn. Steve is the co-owner of the taxi company, Street Cars.
Steve first appeared on Coronation Street in 1989. (You can compare the two clips below).
Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford)
First Appearance: Jan. 24, 1977
Address: 1 Coronation Street
Tracy Barlow is the daughter of the late Deirdre Barlow and Ray Langton. She was raised by Deirdre and her second husband, Ken Barlow, who adopted her after Ray lost touch with his family. Tracy’s siblings include her adoptive half-brother Peter Barlow, her adoptive half-sister the late Susan Barlow, her adoptive half-brother Daniel Osbournce and her adoptive half-brother Lawrence Cunningham. Tracy has one daughter with Steve McDonald, named Amy.
Ken Barlow (William Roache)
First Appearance: Dec. 9, 1960
Address: 1 Coronation Street
Ken Barlow is a long-standing Coronation Street resident. He was born in the flat located at 3 Coronation Street in 1939. He is the father of Lawrence Cunningham, Peter Barlow, the late Susan Barlow, Daniel Osbourne and the adoptive father of Tracy Barlow. He currently lives at 1 Coronation Street with Tracy and her daughter Amy.
Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne)
First Appearance: April 5, 1965
Address: Rovers Return Inn
Peter Barlow is the son of Ken and Valerie Barlow and the father of Simon. He is also the current landlord of the pub, Rovers Return Inn. Peter is the half-brother of Lawrence Cunningham, Daniel Osbourne and Tracy Barlow. His twin sister, Susan Barlow, was killed in a car crash.
Rita Tanner (Barbara Knox)
First Appearance: Dec. 2, 1964
Address: 10a Coronation Street
Rita Tanner is the owner of the newsagents shop, The Kabin. She is also the estranged wife of Dennis Tanner. She was first seen on the cobbles when she was working as a nightclub singer.
Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall)
First Appearance: Nov. 30, 1998
Address: 9 Coronation Street
Tyrone Dobbs is the son of Darren and Jackie Dobbs and partner of Fiz Stape. He has one daughter, Ruby Soames. He is the co-owner of Websters’ Auto Centre and a taxi driver at Street Cars.
Fiz Stape (Jennie McAlpine)
First Appearance: April 21, 2001
Address: 9 Coronation Street
Fiz Stape is the daughter of Cilla Brown, partner of Tyrone Dobbs and mother of Hope Stape. She is also the half-sister of Chesney Brown. She was fostered by Roy and Hayley Cropper for a short time and had a relationship with Kirk Sutherland. Fiz is a machinist at Underworld.
Chesney Brown (Sam Aston)
First Appearance: Nov. 10, 2003
Address: 5 Coronation Street
Chesney Brown (previously Battersby-Brown) is the half-brother of Billy Brown and Fiz Stape. Leanne Battersby is also his adoptive half-sister. He is the manager of Dev Alahan’s kebab shop, Prima Doner. Chesney has one son, named Joseph. His son’s mother, Katy Armstrong, died in a car crash in Portugal in October 2017, leaving Chesney as a single father.
Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie)
First Appearance: May 19, 2000
Address: 2a Coronation Street
Maria Connor works as a hairdresser at Audrey’s Salon. She’s the younger sister of Kirk Sutherland and the mother of Liam Connor Jr.
Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh)
First Appearance: April 3, 2006
Address: 9 Victoria Court
Michelle Connor is the daughter of Barry and Helen Conner. She is the sister to the late Paul Connor and Liam Conner. She’s also the mother of Alex Neeson and Ruairi Mcdonald. Ruairi was the son of Steve Mcdonald but was born prematurely at just 23 weeks and pronounced dead moments after his birth. She currently lives at 9 Victoria Court with her boyfriend Robert Preston after her divorce from Steve.
Roy Cropper (David Neilson)
First Appearance: July 19, 1995
Address: Roy’s Rolls
Roy Cropper first made his appearance on the Coronation Street cobbles in 1995. He was originally a secondary character but he was given a more prominent role in 1997. He owns the café, Roy’s Rolls, where he also lives in the apartment above the shop.
Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson)
First Appearance: July 4, 1997
Address: Rovers Return Inn
Leanne Battersby is the daughter of Les Battersby and Stella Price. She’s the half-sister of Eva Price, Toyah Battersby, Greg Kelly and adoptive sister of Chesney Brown. She is the mother of Olivier Battersby, who she had with Steve McDonald. She is also the adoptive mother of Simon Barlow, Peter Barlow’s birth son.
Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor)
First Appearance: July 4, 1997
Address: Rovers Return Inn
Toyah Battersby is the daughter of Janice Battersby and step-sister to Leanne Battersby. She married Toby Chapman in 2011 but later had an affair with Leanne’s ex-husband Peter Barlow in mid-2016. She returned to Weatherfield after leaving Toby and now owns the Rovers Return Inn with Peter.
Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell)
First Appearance: Oct. 19, 1983
Address: 13 Coronation Street
Kevin Webster is the majority owner of Websters’ Auto Centre car repair garage on Coronation Street. He has been married to Sally Webster (now Metcalfe) twice and is the father of Rosie, Sophie and Jack Webster. His first son, Jake, died shortly after birth.
Sally Metcalfe (Sally Dynevor)
First Appearance: Jan. 27, 1986
Address: 4 Coronation Street
Sally Metcalfe (previously Webster) is a Coronation resident since 1986. She is the wife of Tim Metcalfe, ex-wife of Kevin Webster and the mother of Rosie and Sophie Webster. Sally works as a machinist at Underworld and she began her political career on the local council and later progressed to become mayor of Weatherfield.
Sophie Webster (Brooke Vincent)
First Appearance: Nov. 4, 1994
Address: 4 Coronation Street
Sophie Webster is the youngest daughter of Kevin and Sally Webster. She has an older sister, Rosie, and two younger half-brothers Jake (who died shortly after his birth) and Jack. Sophie previously worked at the Corner Shop for Dev Alahan but is now a window cleaner for Tim Metcalfe (her mother’s second husband).
Sean Tully (Anthony Cotton)
First Appearance: July 13, 2003
Address: 3 Coronation Street
Sean Tully is a machinist at Underworld and a bartender at the Rovers Return. Sean has one child named Dylan.
Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin)
First Appearance: Sept. 10, 1999
Address: 7 Coronation Street
Devendra (Dev) Alahan is the owner of a chain of seven shops in the Manchester area and bought the Corner Shop on Coronation Street from his uncle, Ravi Desai. Dev also owns the Prima Doner, which is a kebab shop on Victoria Street. Dev has four children, Amber Kalirai, Shareen and the twins, Aadi Alahan and Asha Alahan. Dev’s wife, Sunita, died as a result of a pub fire.
READ MORE: ‘Coronation Street’ creator Tony Warren dies at 79
Who is your favourite Coronation Street character? Let us know in the comments below.
—With files from the Associated Press
Comments