{"id":64698,"date":"2020-12-11T16:23:14","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T16:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=64698"},"modified":"2020-12-11T16:24:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T16:24:13","slug":"worlds-longest-running-tv-soap-coronation-street-turns-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=64698","title":{"rendered":"World\u2019s longest-running TV soap, Coronation Street, turns 60"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"LONDON, Dec 9, 2020 (BSS\/AFP) \u2013 The world\u2019s longest-running TV soap opera,<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Britain\u2019s cosy working-class series \u201cCoronation Street,\u201d celebrates 60 years
\non screen on Wednesday, defying social changes and the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Pealing cathedral bells, a discussion in parliament and stamps featuring
\ncharacters were among the special events marking the anniversary.<\/p>\n

The series revolving around a corner shop and pub in a fictional town in
\nnorthern England called Weatherfield was first aired on December 7, 1960.<\/p>\n

It was expected to run for a couple of months but it proved an instant hit.<\/p>\n

Since then the show, with its battleaxe matriarchs, cobbled streets and
\nnostalgic trumpet-led theme music, has kept its place as one of the top-rated
\nshows on commercial channel ITV.<\/p>\n

Known as \u201cCorrie\u201d for short, a decade ago it became the world\u2019s longest-
\nrunning television soap opera, still lagging behind the 69-year-old BBC radio
\nshow The Archers.<\/p>\n

It vies for ratings with the BBC\u2019s darker \u201cEastenders\u201d, set in a fictional
\neast London borough, which is a comparative newcomer at 35.<\/p>\n

John Whiston, the head of ITV in the North, has described Coronation Street
\nas \u201ca guide to humanity with a little bit of comfort blanket thrown in along
\nwith a little bit of sharp, northern wit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s speciality is \u201cstrong women and feckless men\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

While characteristically English, the show has an international audience
\ntoo, particularly in Canada, where it has aired on CBC since the 1960s.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerations of Canadians have grown up with Corrie in their homes,\u201d said
\nSally Catto, CBC\u2019s general manager of entertainment, factual and sports
\nprogramming.<\/p>\n

\u2013 \u2018Dramatic flashes\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n

Coronation Street\u2019s national treasure status at home has even seen it play
\na role in public life.<\/p>\n

Margaret Thatcher visited the set in 1990 while prime minister.<\/p>\n

As the daughter of a grocery store owner, she lambasted the corner shop for
\nselling alcohol, the minister for media and data, John Whittingdale,
\nreminisced in parliament last week.<\/p>\n

In 1998, the boundary between fiction and fact blurred as Labour prime
\nminister Tony Blair said he was ordering an investigation into the case of
\ncharacter Deirdre Rachid, wrongfully jailed for fraud.<\/p>\n

In real life, Blair\u2019s father-in-law, Tony Booth, was a former actor on the
\nshow.<\/p>\n

Critics have accused the show of losing some of its character and salty
\nhumour, and resorting to sensational events to win ratings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always about strong women. Over the past decade they\u2019ve moved from
\ncharacter to dramatic flashes of action,\u201d the Sunday Times critic Gillian
\nReynolds lamented in August.<\/p>\n

Indeed the show\u2019s dramatic high points have included a tram crashing off a
\nviaduct on its 50th anniversary. Altogether there have been 146 deaths,
\nincluding 24 murders.<\/p>\n

Yet the show has won praise for groundbreaking storylines, including the
\nfirst trans character in a British soap opera, Hayley Cropper, in the late
\n1990s.<\/p>\n

Its audience has fallen from its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, when top-
\nrating episodes would gain over 20 million viewers.<\/p>\n

Reflecting a wider shift away from scheduled television, episodes now may
\nhave seven or eight million viewers, including those watching online.<\/p>\n

To celebrate 60 years, Salford Cathedral near where the show is filmed will
\nring its bell for two minutes in memory of the show\u2019s late creator Tony
\nWarren, who was born in the city.<\/p>\n

Royal Mail has also issued stamps showing classic scenes.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Covid scenes \u2013<\/p>\n

The coronavirus pandemic forced the soap to stop production from March to
\nJune, when it began producing socially distanced episodes, using camera
\ntricks to make characters look closer.<\/p>\n

The makers admitted they cancelled a dramatic storyline planned for the
\n60th anniversary because the virus made it impracticable.<\/p>\n

But The Times newspaper praised the stripped-back Covid-era show for
\nbringing a \u201csense of real life back to storylines\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Whittingdale accused the show of a lack of realism, arguing
\nthat as Weatherfield is based on Salford in Greater Manchester, it would be
\nunder the harshest Tier 3 anti-virus restrictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fear that it is almost certain that Weatherfield would still be in Tier
\n3,\u201d he said during a parliamentary debate on December 2.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that this would mean that the pub, the Rovers Return, \u201cwould
\nbe able to supply only a takeaway service\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Conservative minister was speaking as a former actress in the show and
\nnow Labour MP, Tracy Brabin, led a debate for the anniversary.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is one thing in our country that can cross political divides, it
\nis our love of \u2018Coronation Street,'\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON, Dec 9, 2020 (BSS\/AFP) \u2013 The world\u2019s longest-running TV soap opera, Britain\u2019s cosy working-class series \u201cCoronation Street,\u201d celebrates 60 years on screen on Wednesday, defying social changes and the pandemic. Pealing cathedral bells, a discussion in parliament and stamps featuring characters were among the special events marking the anniversary. The series revolving around a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":64699,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[230],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\t\n