This Is Coronation Street
A lovely introduction to a 40-plus-years-old television tradition,This Is Coronation Streetincludes a highly entertaining, 75-minute documentary aboutCoronation Street, the long-running British drama, followed by the series' first five, black-and-white episodes out of 1960. The former gathers the show's creators, original stars, and other luminaries to discussCoronation Street's deep and sustained impact on pop culture, its early and realistic reflections of northern English society, and the ways in which the series' penetration of class barriers set the stage for so-called kitchen sink dramas (e.g.,Saturday Night and Sunday Morning) in British cinema.  All very interesting, but seeing the first live-broadcast shows themselves is a real eye-opener. Written with remarkable fluidity and strengthened by textured dialogue and seamless performances,Coronation Streettoday looks not only like a prototype for London's nastier evening soap,Eastenders, but such gritty ensemble American programs from the '70s asHill Street Blues.--Tom Keogh