Coronation Street in 1970 1970 was " Coronation Street " ' s eleventh year . Production . Now in colour , " Coronation Street " began the decade with a new producer , June Howson , its second female producer . Howson was in charge from March to October , while H . V . Kershaw remained as writer and executive producer . Following Howson ' s arrival , the characters of Bernard and Sandra Butler and Audrey and Dickie Fleming departed one - by - one , significantly reducing the programme ' s younger cast . This was the only year in " Coronation Street " history where no new characters were introduced , although there were returns from Kenneth Farrington as Billy Walker , Sandra Gough as Irma Barlow and Julie Goodyear as Bet Lynch , all for long stints . Writers wanted to bring Alan Rothwell back with Gough to keep Irma and David Barlow together , but Rothwell was busy with theatre work at the time . Wanting Irma to return as a free agent , the writers killed off both David and their son Darren in an off - screen car crash in Australia , with the news relayed the news to the residents of Coronation Street via a long - distance telephone call . Kenneth Farrington ' s return to the programme followed Arthur Leslie ' s passing on 30th June . Leslie had died after suffering a heart attack , aged 70 . His death was a devastating blow to the cast and crew , particularly Doris Speed who seriously considered quitting her role of Annie Walker . Out of respect to Leslie ' s family , the characters in " Coronation Street " learned of Jack Walker ' s death between episodes and his funeral was held in Derby . After Annie returned as the sole Rovers landlord , her character transitioned from being one half of a bedrock couple to empress of her own kingdom , where the staff knew to toe the line . As the programme approached its 1000th episode , a technician ' s strike at Granada halted production at the station between 26th May and 20th June , resulting in eight episodes going unrecorded . " Coronation Street " belatedly reached the milestone in August , although due to a change in production codes , the 999th episode was heralded as the 1000th . Industrial action affected " Coronation Street " again later in the year as it celebrated another milestone : its tenth anniversary . On 13th November , just under a year after Granada went into colour , ACTT members went on strike pending a pay rise for using the new colour equipment . From that day onwards , all ITV stations transmitted their programmes in black and white , even those which had been recorded in colour . For a three - month period , " Coronation Street " was recorded and shown in monochrome , although no changes were made to the sets to reflect this fact . Viewing figures . 1970 was a successful year for " Coronation Street " . After reaching a peak in 1964 , overall ratings had declined year - on - year . 1970 bucked the trend , with an average figure of 16 . 26 million viewers , the highest of the decade , increasing by 1 . 2 million on 1969 . December was the only month where ratings fell year - on - year , while April , July and August rose by more than 10 % on 1969 . Episode 955 on 18th February was the highest - rated episode of the year , with 19 . 47 million viewers or 8 . 85 million homes , the highest peak since 1967 . Despite the reduced episode count , the number of episodes which reached number one in the ratings was 24 , an increase of eight over 1969 , but less than in 1967 or 1968 . Storylines . June . " Note : Only two episodes were transmitted in this month due to strike action - see " Production " above " [ [ Image : Episode1011 . jpg | thumb | right | 160px | [ [ Annie Walker | Annie ] ] has doubts about her ability to run the [ [ Rovers ] ] alone . ] ] [ [ Image : Episode1029 . jpg | thumb | right | 160px | [ [ Bet Lynch | Bet ] ] takes up with [ [ Gary Strauss ] ] ] ] [ [ Image : Episode1036 . JPG | thumb | right | 160px | Stan in danger . . . ] ] Who lives where . Coronation Street [ [ Rosamund Street ] ] [ [ Victoria Street ] ] [ [ Category : 1970 ] ] [ [ Category : Coronation Street year - by - year ] ]