Coronation Street in 1969 1969 was " Coronation Street " ' s tenth year . Production . Transition to colour . The era of colour television began at ITV and BBC1 on Saturday 15th November . Granada was one of four regions to launch their full colour service on that date , and the first episode of " Coronation Street " which viewers saw in colour - at least , the 1 % of the population with colour sets - was Episode 928 on Monday 17th November . The programme ' s transition to colour had begun a few weeks earlier , with Episode 923 on 29th October . This episode - shot almost entirely on location at the Lake District and containing the climactic coach crash - was made in black and white but according to some sources , this occurred because the correct film stock couldn ' t be located , and executive producer H . V . Kershaw intended it to be made in colour . Whatever the case , Episode 924 , set mostly in hospital after the crash , was the first episode made with colour cameras . However , only the studio recording was in colour ; two film inserts were in monochrome , as was the title sequence . The next three episodes were made in the same way and were transmitted by the IBA in colour as test transmissions . By Episode 928 , the entire programme was being made and shown on the aforementioned four channels in colour , and the new title sequence debuted a week later in Episode 930 . In anticipation of the changeover , several of the interior sets which had looked better in black and white were redecorated , notably the Rovers Return and No . 11 ' s living room , and the outdoor Grape Street set was rebuilt in brick . The rebuilding took place in November and December , reappearing in Episode 944 the following January . Although able to weather the elements better than its wooden predecessor , the set was still only a frontage and contained no back yards or ginnel . Cast changes . The wedding of the year was intended to be Lucille Hewitt and Gordon Clegg ' s , but due to Bill Kenwright resigning after twelve months with the show , the storyline was cancelled and Gordon jilted Lucille instead . Two months after his departure , Betty Driver and William Moore joined the cast as Maggie Clegg ' s overbearing sister Betty and her policeman husband Cyril . Brought in as support for Maggie in the wake of Gordon ' s departure , Betty was taken on at the Rovers by Jack Walker almost right away , eventually to become the establishment ' s longest - serving barmaid . Other cast changes included Stephen Hancock returning as shy photographer and lay preacher Ernest Bishop , and beginning his association with future wife Emily Nugent , Anne Dyson departing as Effie Spicer , and later in the year , Patricia Fuller and Gorden Kaye joining as Sandra and Bernard Butler , Elsie Tanner ' s niece and nephew . Elsie was also given a new man who would become her husband in the form of Alan Howard , played by Alan Browning . Patricia Phoenix initially resisted the idea of Elsie marrying for the third time but she relented when producers offered give her a say in the casting . Additionally , Lucille Hewitt was absent for seven months beginning in August as Jennifer Moss took maternity leave , and Peter Adamson was suspended for two months to deal with his alcoholism . The decision to suspend Adamson was taken when he was too inebriated to play a scene , causing recording to be suspended for the first time not for a technical issue . According to Kershaw , Adamson beat the bottle at the first attempt . Viewing figures . The downward trend which had begun in 1965 continued for another year . Ratings fell by 700k viewers from 1968 to a yearly average of 15 . 07 million viewers . November and December were the only months which increased year - on - year , November marginally and December by 1 . 5 million viewers . March to May saw the biggest drops , with May falling by over two million viewers on May 1968 . The highest - rated episode of the year was Episode 854 on 26th February , in which Minnie Caldwell is located after being missing and Gordon Clegg decides not to marry Lucille Hewitt . This had an audience of 8 . 35 million homes , or 18 . 37 million viewers . In the charts , 16 episodes reached number one - half of 1968 ' s total and the lowest since 1961 . Who lives where . Coronation Street Rosamund Street Others