Doctor Who Vs. Coronation Street at 60, Part 10: 1990-1995

The biggest change to the soap's schedule
since 1961 came in October 1989 with the
addition of a third weekly instalment.
Granada then decided to give the show a
dedicated production base, and the sets

were moved from the main TV studios

building to a refurbished warehouse near

the outdoor set. The new complex,

complete with individual dressing rooms,

now allowed the cast to rehearse on the

actual sets. 

Throughout 1990, new houses and

businesses (including the Kabin) began

to be integrated into storylines. A new

title sequence and videotape recording

were also introduced.

By 1992 however (just a year after

Carolyn Reynolds replaced Mervyn Watson as producer), Lord Rees

Mogg of the Broadcasting Standards Council saw the Street's all-

white cast as out of touch (the Desai family, the first regular ethic

characters, only appeared in 1999).

Then another prime-time rival launched on BBC1 that July, but

Eldorado was a flop and was cancelled after just a year on air.
The Street was victorious again in the next ratings battle, then

EastEnders debuted its own third weekly episode in 1994. Corrie

celebrated its thirty-fifth anniversary with its first one-hour special

and spin-off video release, both marking the wedding of Curly

Watts and Racquel (Kevin Kennedy and Sarah Lancashire).

These six years on the Street featured William Russell (pictured

as Ted Sullivan, from April to September 1992), and twenty-seven

other Doctor Who cast and crew connections:

• Patricia Maynard (Veronica) was Miss Winters in Robot - a role reprised for Big Finish's Sarah Jane Smith (2002)
• Tania Rodrigues (Joanne Khan) voiced Anarkali/Melissa/Isra Tech #2 for Scavenger (2014), Chief Panath for Jonah (2018), Visteron for Deeptime Frontier (2019), and Laker for Chase the Night (2020)
• Shirin Taylor (Jackie Ingram) was a Camper in (part 3 of) The Stones of Blood, and Customer in Dragonfire
• Andrew McCulloch (Travers) co-wrote Meglos
• Judy Holt (Mrs. Grice here; Lesley Kershaw, 2011/12) was Adam's Mum in The Long Game
• Milton Johns (Brendan Scott, 1991, 1993) was Benik in The Enemy of the World, Guy Crayford in The Android Invasion, and Kelner in The Invasion of Time
• Carl Forgione (Barrett) was Land in Planet of the Spiders, and Nimrod in Ghost Light
• Sally Faulkner (Mrs. Maxwell-Glover) was Isobel Watkins in The Invasion, and voiced Miss Tremayne for Winter for the Adept (2000)
• Tyrone Huggins (Dr. Bannerman) voiced Dr. Kenton Eastwood for Power Cell (2016)
• Dicken Ashworth (Horton) was Sezon in Timelash
• Catherine Cusack (Carmel) made her acting debut as the Blue Kang Leader [Drinking Fountain] in Paradise Towers
• Leslie Schofield (Brookes) was Leroy in The War Games (4), and Calib in The Face of Evil
• Colin Prockter (Halpern, 1992; Bostock, 1995; Maddocks, 2005; Clarky, 2008) was the Chef in The Long Game, and the Air Raid Warden in Victory of the Daleks
• Nigel Carrington (Brooks here; Waiter, 1989) voiced Emissary Godrin, Dr. Summersby and Announcer for The Valley of Death (2011), Sir Robert Harney for The Devil's Armada (2014), Pik Solus for Mistfall, Graham Finlay for New Horizons (both 2015), and Sir Peter Latcham for UNIT: Shutdown (2016)
• Brian Hibbard (Murray) was Kellor in Delta and the Bannermen
• Freddie Earlle (Owens) was Aldo in Warriors' Gate
• Alibe Parsons (Kathy) was Matroni Kani in Mindwarp
• Malcolm Terris (Firman) was Etnin in The Dominators (1), and the Co-Pilot in The Horns of Nimon
• Bernard Kay (Phillips) was Carl Tyler in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Saladin in The Crusade, Inspector Crossland in The Faceless Ones, Caldwell in Colony in Space, and voiced Major Dickens for Night Thoughts (2006)
• Nicholas Blane (Stapleton here; Green, 1998; Judge, 2010) was Millington in Survivors of the Flux
• John Savident (Fred Elliott, 1994-2006) was the Squire in The Visitation (1)
• Owen Aaronovitch (Estate Agent here; Jon Lindsay, 1997/8) voiced Antonio Ferrando and Control Unit for Fiesta of the Damned (2016)
• Michael Owen Morris was director of The Awakening too, following a stint on The Pirate Planet as production assistant
• Michael Kerrigan was also director of Battlefield and The Sarah Jane Adventures
• Ellie Haddington (Josie) was Professor Docherty in Last of the Time Lords
• Frank Mills (Billy Williams, 1995-97) was the Telescope Director in Terror of the Autons (1)
• Andy Devine (Photographer here; Jason, 2000) made his TV debut as an uncredited Draconian in Frontier in Space