Coronation Street Coronation Street ( often called Corrie ) is a long - running UK , first broadcast on 9th December 1960 . It was created by Tony Warren , pitched as a kitchen sink drama serial about the domestic lives of the working class in the north of England , specifically the residents of the Coronation Street in the fictional town of Weatherfield in Greater Manchester . Since 1960 it has been produced by Granada Television and for most of that time it has been one of the UK ' s highest rated shows . " Coronation Street " is often noted for its mixture of drama and comedy , usually shying away from the sensationalist and far - fetched plots associated with the genre , and for its emphasis on character - driven storylines . In a 2005 poll marking ITV ' s 50th anniversary , " Coronation Street " was voted the greatest ITV show of all time . Background . The brainchild of Tony Warren , " Coronation Street " was partly borne out of a desire by Granada bosses to produce more television drama set in the north of England , as they were contractually obliged to employ regional actors and production staff . Warren drew on his own memories of growing up in Swinton , Greater Manchester , and created " Coronation Street " ( initially " Florizel Street " ) , a working class community inhabited by " ordinary " people leading unspectacular lives . The proposal was greenlit and went into production for broadcast on ITV . Warren wrote the first twelve episodes himself , and was responsible for the creation of all the original characters , including Ken Barlow , Ena Sharples , Elsie Tanner and Annie Walker . Despite a lack of support from inside Granada , and a mixed response from critics , " Coronation Street " was a hit with viewers , who were fascinated by the normality of the series and the characters , whose use of Northern English language and dialect allowed viewers to hear local words and accents rarely heard on television before . As the programme ' s popularity grew and grew , more ITV regions started picking up " Coronation Street " and by May 1961 it was fully networked throughout the UK . In September of that year it reached the top of the television ratings , where it stayed for the rest of the year . Despite the passage of fifty years , together with changing characters , competition from other soaps and the evolution of the genre as well similar real - world communities , which the series has sometimes struggled to reflect , " Coronation Street " has remained popular and still frequently tops the ratings . Setting . The fictional setting of the soap is Coronation Street in Weatherfield , a suburb of Greater Manchester . Within the narrative of the programme , the cobbled Street was built in 1902 and consists of a row of seven terraced houses , with the Rovers Return Inn pub and Corner Shop at either end . Across the cobbles , the other side of the Street has housed a number of different buildings over the years , including a raincoat factory , Mission hall , warehouse , Community Centre and a block of two - storey maisonettes . Since 1990 , three semi - detached houses and several small business properties , including newsagent The Kabin , Audrey ' s Salon , Websters ' Auto Centre and underwear factory Underworld , have stood on the site . As the programme ' s various outdoor sets have expanded , the area surrounding Coronation Street , particularly Rosamund Street and Victoria Street , have been gradually integrated into the show , with more flats and business properties including Roy ' s Rolls , cab firm Street Cars , Barlow ' s Bookies and the Builder ' s Yard . The houses and businesses provide accommodation and work for the programme ' s characters , with the action mostly centring on the Coronation Street area , although other areas of Weatherfield are seen occasionally . Characters . When created by Tony Warren in 1960 , the Coronation Street community was noted for being largely matriarchal , reflecting Warren ' s observations about its real - world counterparts in Manchester . As a result , particularly in its early years , " Coronation Street " featured many formidable female characters , who lorded it over their long - suffering husbands , or even the whole community . Many of the programme ' s most popular characters have been women of this type , including Hilda Ogden , Annie Walker , Vera Duckworth and Bet Gilroy . As a working class community , most " Coronation Street " characters are not highly educated or particularly wealthy , with exceptions such as factory boss Mike Baldwin usually playing the role of the Street outsider , although several characters , including Annie Walker , Sally Webster , and originally Ken Barlow have considered themselves to be at least better than their " common " neighbours . The popularity and longevity of many early characters has resulted in many of them becoming archetypes of British soap operas . Elsie Tanner , the original " tart with a heart " , has had spiritual successors in Denise Osbourne and Liz McDonald , while Blanche Hunt and Maud Grimes have occupied the role of acid - tongued battle - axe originally held by Ena Sharples . Other archetypes include the grumpy old man , with examples including Albert Tatlock and Percy Sugden , and the pompous shopkeeper , illustrated by Leonard Swindley , Fred Elliott and Norris Cole . Speaking about the programme ' s use of archetypes , scriptwriter Daran Little said : " " Rather , remember that Elsie , Ena and Co . were the first of their kind ever seen on British television . If later characters are stereotypes , it ' s because they are from the same original mould . It is the hundreds of programmes that have followed which have copied " Coronation Street " . " " For much of its run , " Coronation Street " has had a strong emphasis on older characters , and still has a greater concentration of older cast members than other British soaps . Likewise , in its early years , there were few children in the show and only a handful of young characters , although the balance has somewhat shifted in recent years , with a greater diversity of character age groups . Broadcasting history . The series ' first episode was broadcast live , a common practice among British television shows at the time . Until the series was fully networked the series was broadcast twice weekly , with the Friday episode shown live and the following Wednesday episode pre - recorded immediately afterwards . In 1961 , the Friday episode was moved to Monday and all episodes started being pre - recorded . Until 1969 the series was recorded in black and white and has been in colour ever since ( with a few notable exceptions ) . Since then the show ' s output has increased from two episodes a week to five , with new weekly episodes introduced in 1989 , 1996 and 2002 . In the UK " Coronation Street " has occupied an evening slot on ITV since it started and has been the flagship show of the channel since the early 1960s . It is currently ( as of November 2012 ) broadcast at 19 . 30 and 20 . 30 on Mondays , 19 . 30 on Wednesdays and 19 . 30 and 20 . 30 on Fridays , with repeats on ITV2 and a weekend omnibus shown on ITV1 and ITV2 . New episodes " Coronation Street " are also shown in Ireland , Canada , New Zealand and Australia , with new episodes premiering several months after their original UK transmissions .