Coronation Street fans can often be found calling for a return of the classic days of the long-running soap. And if you were to look back on more than 65 years of Weatherfield history, it’s clear things used to be very different.

It was in 1960 that Granada commissioned a script, and Tony Warren went on to write the first 13 episodes of the ITV show, which he originally called Florizel Street, until tea lady Agnes commented that ‘Florizel’ sounded like detergent.

Warren trawled the streets of Salford to find what he thought would be the perfect street upon which to model his creation, eventually choosing Archie Street, which has since been demolished. In the show’s fictional history, the street was built in 1902 and named in honour of King Edward VII’s coronation.

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The soap, given 7pm slot on Wednesday and Friday evenings, set out to examine “the driving forces behind life in a working-class street in the North of England”, wrote Warren in a pitch for his bosses, “and, in doing so, entertain.”

Warren continued to write for Granada Television on a full-time basis until 1968. After this, he remained as a consultant to the show until he passed away, visiting the famous set and meeting the cast and crew during breaks in filming to offer feedback and praise on storylines and performances.

The episode was broadcast live on ITV from Studio 2 at Granada Television’s Quay Street studios in Manchester at 7.00pm. Fifteen minutes after the episode went out, episode two was videotaped.

But what happened in that first episode of Coronation Street, aired on December 9, 1960, and watched by 7.7 million viewers? According to a more recent synopsis, Florrie Lindley takes over the corner shop, and Ken Barlow clashes with his father Frank.

The first episode of Coronation Street aired in December 9, 1960(Image: Granada Television)

While that is correct, as Florrie took over the corner shop from Elsie Lappin, who is retiring but staying on a short while to show her the ropes, Ken, who still remains in Weatherfield today, played by actor William ‘Bill’ Roache, clashed with his father Frank Barlow over a date with a college friend.

At No. 3, Frank accused his son of being too snobbish and embarrassed by his working-class family, before the 21-year-old student, who was dating fellow student Susan Cunningham, headed to the Rovers Return Inn, then run by Annie Walker, where he befriended Dennis Tanner.

It came after, over at No. 11, viewers saw Elsie Tanner berating her 18-year-old son, Dennis, who had recently been released from prison for theft. Also, Elsie’s daughter, Linda Cheveski, came to inform her that she had separated from her husband, Ivan Cheveski and is planning a divorce, but didn’t give a reason as to why.

The episode ended with a caption to viewers which read : “Next Episode: Wednesday 14th December 7pm” These continued until episode 91, which aired on October 25, 1961, and they were only featured again after episode 98, which aired on November 20, 1961.

The original cast of Coronation Street in the Granada TV Centre car park in Manchester(Image: PA)

The first episode of Corrie has been re-aired on a number of occasions, first in December 1990 when the soap reached its 30th anniversary, then again in December 2000 on the evening of the show’s 40th anniversary, and for the show’s 50th anniversary celebrations on December 6, 2010. It was last aired on ITV3 in the week of the programme’s 60th anniversary celebrations on December 7, 2020

According to The Telegraph, there was a never-broadcast “dry run” of the first episode, during which the production team felt Nita Valerie, who was playing Ena Sharples, was “completely wrong” for the role. “The character of Ena was going to be cut,” Daran Little, who told the story of the show’s creation in his 2010 drama The Road to Coronation Street, said.

A further recasting was also deemed a failure, “until writer Tony Warren remembered the fierce Violet Carson, who’d threatened to smack his bum when he was 12”.

In 2010, Coronation Street became the longest-running soap opera in the world. Some of those who follow the long-running show may not know that Corrie is popular in Canada, and cast members sometimes host meet and greets after the Canadian fans travel to the UK in a pilgrimage to the set at MediaCityUK in Trafford.