Coronation Street in 1997 1997 was " Coronation Street " ' s thirty - eighth year . Production . New producer , new broom . 1997 marked one of the key turning points in " Coronation Street " history . After being the producer since 1994 , Sue Pritchard left the programme in January . Executive producer Carolyn Reynolds appointed Brian Park as Pritchard ' s replacement , in one of her last acts before departing the series herself . Unlike most producers , Park was given a very specific brief by ITV . Since the introduction of the Sunday episode , it had continually rated lower than the rest of the week by several million viewers , dragging " Coronation Street " ' s ratings average below that of " EastEnders " . The fall in ratings was concentrated in the London area , and as such Carlton and LWT threatened to move the programme out of peak viewing hours . Additionally , ITV was concerned about a PR bias against " Coronation Street " , with " The Sun " and " The Mirror " attacking the programme for being old - fashioned compared with " EastEnders " . Granada took their complaints to heart and instructed Park to target younger viewers , a demographic which was singled out as not being interested in the programme . Having not been a regular viewer of " Coronation Street " since the 1960s , Park was sympathetic to the tabloid press ' " fuddy - duddy " impression of it . Upon discovering that writers were reluctant to let go of characters despite not having any storylines for them , Park insisted that they get rid of them . On his first day in the job , he dismissed actors Peter Baldwin , Geoff Hinsliff , Lee Warburton , Emily Aston , Maggie Norris , Nicholas Cochrane , Peter Armitage , Frank Mills , Sherrie Hewson , Anita Carey , and Eve Steele from their parts . Baldwin ' s axing came as a particular shock to the cast due to his longevity in the role and the popularity of Derek and Mavis Wilton , but Park - who had the job of implementing a decision which in fact preceded his arrival - believed that it was the correct choice as Thelma Barlow had recently given her resignation after wrestling with the idea for the past two years , and it was felt that Derek on his own wouldn ' t work . Derek died of a heart attack following a road rage incident six months before the end of Thelma Barlow ' s contract , giving viewers the opportunity to see Mavis react to his death and begin to adjust to widowhood . His funeral marked the last appearance of Malcolm Hebden in the recurring part of Derek ' s nemesis Norris Cole until he was brought back as a main cast member in 1999 . News of " Coronation Street " ' s biggest cast cull to date gained an immediate reaction from the press , with " Daily Mirror " columnist Victor Lewis - Smith describing Park as a " smiling axeman " terrorising the " Street " . The press attention played into ITV ' s hands , with Park giving interviews for the " The Guardian " ( and the " Manchester Evening News " ) to explain what he wanted to achieve on the programme : " I ' m going to fight tooth and nail not to become the TV equivalent of the heritage trail . I suppose the stately home analogy is correct . We have to keep it going into the next millennium , adapt it and attract younger viewers without losing the old ones and destroying what makes it singular . " Clearing the deadwood . By the time Park ' s first credited episode was shown on 16th March , viewers had already seen the last of several characters , some of whom were not given on - screen exits ; Billy Williams was not seen again after 14th February , and died off - screen of a heart attack in November , Anne Malone left Weatherfield in February after trying to frame Samantha Failsworth for shoplifting , Claire and Becky Palmer left Des Barnes ' s life after Claire caught Des sans trousers outside No . 7 , and Tony Horrocks vanished soon after accidentally killing Joyce Smedley with his car . Having considered quitting a number of times , Geoff Hinsliff felt no bitterness about his sacking . For Don ' s exit , the writers crafted a revenge plot which , while on the surface far - fetched , was consistent with the way the character had progressed since Ivy ' s death . Continuing to wallow in misery and self - pity , Don kidnapped Alma Baldwin in his taxi and tried to gain her sympathy after Mike sold him the garage which went bust under Don ' s management . The hour - long episode climaxed with a spectacular scene in which Don ' s cab plunged into the canal with him and Alma inside . After spending six months in Strangeways , Don re - appeared in October , where he escaped and returned to Coronation Street to kill Mike , only to meet a fiery end himself when he drove Mike ' s car into the viaduct . From this point onwards , stunt sequences such as this because a more regular staple in " Coronation Street " ' s storytelling arsenal . The three remaining axed actors departed later in the year . Maureen Holdsworth ran off to Germany with Bill Webster in October , less than two weeks after marrying Fred Elliott , while Andy McDonald left to make a new life in Barcelona in November . October also marked Thelma Barlow ' s final appearance as Mavis , as she left Rita ' s side to run a B & B in Cartmel , as well as Bill Waddington as Percy Sugden . After complaining to the press about the increase in " raunchy " storylines and announcing his intention to quit , Waddington was dismissed from the show . The intention was for Emily Bishop to find Percy dead from a heart attack , but Waddington refused to film his death scenes and another exit was quickly devised , with Percy leaving the street to live in a flat at Mayfield Court retirement complex . Meanwhile , after three years playing Tricia Armstrong , Tracy Brabin quit the show . After giving birth to son Brad , Tricia and Jamie Armstrong left Weatherfield with Tricia ' s new partner Ray Thorpe . The new generation . In their place came a horde of new characters , including a new family to take over No . 5 , which had been sold to the council after Don went to prison . Les and Janice Battersby , and their teenager daughters Leanne and Toyah , arrived in the street in July . The Battersbys were a new creed of character ; loud , obnoxious , thieving , and self - centred , they were referred to in the press as a " problem family " , designed to upset the other street residents . For maximum impact , their early storylines showed them at their worst , with Les headbutting Curly Watts when a sleep - deprived Curly threw the girls ' CD player out the window . Anticipating accusations of dragging the programme downmarket ( despite the idea for the family preceding him ) , Park told the " Manchester Evening News " : " People don ' t like innovation and change and they have selective memories - they thought the Ogdens were pretty rough at first - but the Battersbys follow in the Ogden ' s great tradition . After a whlle , familiarity breeds contempt . " The first member of the family to appear was Janice , played by Vicky Entwistle , as a member of Mike Baldwin ' s workforce . Other new characters included hunky mechanic Chris Collins played by Matthew Marsden , and troubled teen Zoe Tattersall , and Joanne Froggatt as teenager Zoe . In February , Denise Welch joined the cast as Natalie Horrocks , mother of Tony , who replaced her son as Kevin Webster ' s partner at the garage . Welch was immediately brought to the forefront of the programme in a storyline which came about when Brian Park noticed that neither Kevin nor Sally Webster had ever had an affair ; Park decided that Kevin would find himself the arms of older woman Natalie . Sally Whittaker took maternity leave during the storyline ; upon her return Sophie Webster was recast , with Emma Woodward replacing original actress Ashleigh Middleton . Actors joining in the latter half of the year included Holly Newman as Lorraine Brownlow , Martin Hancock as Emily Bishop ' s eco - warrior nephew and new lodger Geoffrey " Spider " Nugent , and Adam Rickitt as Nick Tilsley , who re - appeared on the programme for Don Brennan ' s funeral in October . Warren Jackson had planned to come back as Nick after completing his GCSEs , but Park took the opportunity to recast with someone more photogenic who could attract the elusive teen audience who watched " Home and Away " and " Neighbours " . Lastly , Deborah McAndrew was brought back full - time as Angie Freeman . Bryan Mosley was absent for most of the year after suffering a major heart attack on 3rd February , shortly after recording his scenes for Episode 4159 . He returned eight months later in Episode 4294 . In consideration for Mosley ' s health , Alf ' s role was much reduced . Structural changes . As well as shaking up the cast and characters , Park pushed for bolder and longer storylines , prioritising telling compelling storylines over the writing of individual scripts in order to weave more intricate plots . Story conferences were halved in length , with greater responsibility placed on the story associates which increased in number from three to five , with Ann McManus acting as story / script editor . Some writers were upset at this transfer of power away from them , and the team lost Tom Elliott , Julian Roach , Barry Hill and its longest - serving writer Adele Rose , all of whom resigned , Rose after disagreeing with Park on a storyline . Despite not previously being a fan of the programme , two of Park ' s biggest changes harkened back to the show ' s past . The Rovers Return changed hands , with Jack and Vera Duckworth selling half of the pub to Alec Gilroy to settle a huge VAT bill , while , after Baldwin ' s Sportswear was gutted in a fire , Mike Baldwin went into business with Angie Freeman , opening lingerie factory Underworld in the empty unit in Coronation Street . Firman ' s Freezers continued to appear , with Park keen to maintain the amount of comedy in scripts . A small change to the title sequence was made in Episode 4168 ( 30th March 1997 ) . After a few years without a regular title caption ( with the title instead appearing over various shots of activity in the street ) , the sequence was standardised , now ending with its fifth shot which showed a cat relaxing in the back yards ( shown at the top of the page ) . Viva Las Vegas . Following the success of 1995 ' s direct - to - video spin - off entitled " Coronation Street - The Feature Length Special " , the experiment was repeated , with a different set of characters having an overseas adventure . Written by former story associate Russell T . Davies , " " focused on the Duckworths as they flew to Las Vegas to renew their wedding vows . Hairdressers Maxine Heavey and Fiona Middleton featured in a story of their own , as their attempts to find fun in Vegas often backfired . Neville Buswell - by 1997 working as a bank manager in Vegas - was tracked down and made a cameo appearance as his old character Ray Langton ( although this was ignored when the character returned to the main show in 2005 ) . The events of the special , as well as the set up within " Coronation Street " , took place in late May but the VHS wasn ' t released until 17th November of that year . Viewing figures . In a crucial year for the programme , " Coronation Street " logged its lowest average of the decade , with an aggregated figure of 14 . 93 million viewers , representing a loss of 800 , 000 viewers from 1996 . The drop is mostly due to the poor performance of the Sunday episode , introduced the previous November ; the last three months of 1997 were up on the same months in 1996 , while the biggest drops all occurred in the first half of the year . June was the only month outside the last quarter up on 1996 , rising by 700 , 000 viewers . The highest - rated episode of the year was Episode 4301 ( 17th November 1997 ) , which gained an audience of 18 . 03 million viewers ( again , an aggregated figure including the omnibus repeat ) . This was the lowest peak in any year since the omnibus began in 1989 . Meanwhile , " Coronation Street " ' s strangehold on the charts continued , with 43 episodes reaching number one - a drop of only two episodes , while no episodes fell outside the top twenty for the sixth time of the decade . Storylines . To be added . Who lives where . Coronation Street Rosamund Street Victoria Street Others Awards and nominations . Bafta Awards TV Quick Awards National Television Awards Mental Health Media Awards Royal Television Society ( North West ) Awards