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March 2014 www.tvbeurope.com


Coronation Streethas seen many changes in its 53-year history. Over five decades it’s grown from two to five episodes per week and seen countless technical and production advances


TVBEurope 37 The Workflow


Theword on the Street


The new specially built external set ofCoronation Street


IT’S APPROACHING 1900 hours on 9 December 1960. In the production gallery of Studio 2 of Granada Television’s Manchester headquarters, the PA to director Derek Bennett is counting down to the start of a new 13-part drama series featuring the residents of a fictitious street in the city’s suburbs. Little did anyone know that when the Granada logo appeared on screen and the now familiar strains of the theme music were heard, that Coronation Street would still be


running more than 50 years and 8000 episodes later. At its peak, well over 25 million viewers tuned in to watch the happenings of Weatherfield (as the fictitious suburb is called). “Coronation Street has seen


many changes in its 53-year history. Over five decades it’s grown from two to five episodes per week and seen countless technical and production advances, including the introduction of colour pictures in 1969, wide screen in 2002 and high definition in 2010,” states the


Philip Stevens walks along one of the most famous streets in British TV and reviews the history of the long-running soap


current executive producer, Kieran Roberts. However, the most recent of the changes has involved the production moving to a completely new 7.7acre purpose- built studio block and exterior set located close to MediaCity UK — Salford’s production centre just outside of Manchester. Centrepiece is the construction of the actual street and surrounding buildings. To provide a thoroughly authentic feel, nearly half of the facing bricks used to


construct the buildings were reclaimed from a derelict Salford street. In addition, a total of 54,000 cobble stones have been laid on the new street — with these being reclaimed from Salford and the canalside in nearby Eccles.


The early days So, what is the story behind the production of Corrie (as the programme is now affectionately known)? Marconi MkIII cameras were used on that first episode in


1960. Broadcasting in 405 lines and with lens turrets (it would be some years before zoom lenses became the norm), the camera moves had to be carefully choreographed by the director for the live show involving a large number of different sets in a relatively small studio. Initially, the programme was


shown twice a week. The Friday episode would be transmitted live, immediately followed by a recording of the upcoming Wednesday’s show. Although


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