Coronation Street in 1989 1989 was " Coronation Street " ' s thirtieth year . Production . Departure of Bill Podmore . Episode 2906 on 1st February was the last episode to carry a credit for Bill Podmore , the man who had guided " Coronation Street " since 1976 and was the driving force behind what is widely considered to be the programme ' s " golden age " . After standing down as producer , Podmore retired from television . One of his last decisions as producer was to kill off Brian Tilsley . In 1988 , Christopher Quinten married his partner and moved to the US . Podmore agreed for Quinten to continue as Brian part - time , but the storyliners struggled to devise a plausible way to temporarily write Brian out which would not retread old ground , and they unanimously decided that the best option was to kill him off . His death in a stabbing outside a nightclub was the second time a Coronation Street resident had been murdered . Rejuvenation under David Liddiment . David Liddiment had been at " Coronation Street " since 1988 , participating in story conferences , and he received his first credit as executive producer in Episode 2907 on 6th February . Podmore ' s direct replacement , Mervyn Watson , became the programme ' s producer at the same time , returning to the job after four years away . Over the course of the year , the pair would mastermind one of the most seismic updates in the programme ' s history . Liddiment ' s first objective was to update the way " Coronation Street " was made . By 1989 , the show was still being made in much the same way as when it stopped being live . Liddiment ' s view was that it looked like a product of an earlier time , especially in comparison with rival soaps " EastEnders " , which had a dedicated studio , and " Brookside " , which was shot in real custom - built houses . " Coronation Street " had begun to move towards a more authentic , streamlined look the year before when it became fully videotaped , with location scenes now recorded using PSCs ( portable single cameras ) which required less preparation than film work . This allowed more scenes to be shot on location , in accordance with Liddiment ' s desire to open out the world of Weatherfield as much as possible to add variety to the programme ' s settings . Having been granted additional studio space , " Coronation Street " featured more sets per episode , and the number of scenes in each instalment was increased to quicken the pacing . Expansion and the Friday episode . With " Coronation Street " reinvigorated by an increase in production values and viewing figures , Granada ' s director of programmes Steve Morrison sounded out David Liddiment about the possibility of adding a third weekly episode , to be transmitted at 7 . 30pm on Fridays . Liddiment was keen , but had doubts : " I was very nervous . I didn ' t want to go down in the " Street " ' s distinguished history as the man who killed the golden goose . We had already made the decision to increase the volume of location material and we were looking at a schedule to give us more time on location and the same time in the studio . I didn ' t want the process we ' d started , of increasing the production values of an episode , to be neutralised by the need to make a third episode . I wanted to ensure we could continue to enhance the production values of the programme and do a third episode . But there was a kind of rhythm about Monday , Wednesday and Friday , and the fact that " Neighbours " and " Home and Away " were being shown five days a week with healthy audiences was , I felt , indicative of our ability to hold an audience for an extra episode . " ( " Coronation Street : Celebrating Thirty Years " , Graeme Kay , 1990 ) On offering Granada ' s proposal to the network , Morrison remarked that they " snapped his hand off " . To meet the demands of producing an extra 52 episodes a year without overworking the cast , a bumper crop of actors were signed to the programme in 1989 . In March , brassy barmaid Tina Fowler played by Michelle Holmes made her first appearance , and in April Stuart Wolfenden joined as young mechanic Mark Casey , and Amanda Barrie returned as Alma Sedgewick , now a full - time character . Meanwhile , Sally Watts and Lisa Lewis left the cast . With the Friday episode scheduled for October , room for more new characters was created via a major storyline in which builder Maurice Jones bought up the Community Centre and Baldwin ' s Casuals and demolished them to make way for a new development of houses , shop units , business premises and flats . The idea for the new houses came to David Liddiment when he walked around Salford and saw pockets of modern houses being built alongside old terraces . As well as providing a vehicle for new characters ( and rehousing some established characters ) , the new development was significant in heralding the demise of Baldwin ' s factory , resulting in Vera Duckworth and Ivy Brennan having to look for work elsewhere , Emily Bishop taking retirement , and a new direction for Mike Baldwin as he found himself having to start from the bottom . The building work was seen prominently in the show from September onwards and carried on into 1990 . To replace the factory , a new ongoing workplace was introduced in the form of Bettabuy supermarket , with newly - graduated Curly Watts as assistant manager and Vera among its staff . In keeping with the producers ' desire for authenticity , all scenes at Bettabuy were recorded on location in an Eccles branch of Morrisons . The supermarket also employed young Kimberley Taylor , a new love interest for Curly played by Suzanne Hall , and Reg Holdsworth , the branch ' s vain buffoon of a manager . Reg was planned as a temporary character , with Curly eventually taking over his job , but Ken Morley impressed producers so much with his portrayal that he was kept on , and Reg and Curly were instead developed as a comedic double - act . " Coronation Street " went three times a week with Episode 2981 on 20th October . The previous episode had seen the villainous Alan Bradley released from Risley after serving enough time on remand for fraud and assaulting Rita Fairclough . Alan posing as the late Len Fairclough to get a loan from the building society and Rita finding out had been a popular storyline earlier in the year , and it was felt that Alan ' s return would be a big enough draw for viewers to tune in on the new day . The storyline climaxed on 8th December , in which Alan was hit by a tram while furiously chasing Rita across Blackpool ' s Promenade . For the move to three episodes , the production process was changed with the cast now working six days a week : Sunday and Monday on location , Tuesday and Wednesday in rehearsal and Thursday and Friday in studio . The actors enjoyed the pay of an additional episode a week but some complaints were voiced , such as by Bill Waddington who brusquely said that it was , " bloody hard work . " The last newcomers of the year were Jim and Liz McDonald , an ex - army sergeant and his wife , and their 15 - year - old twin sons Steve and Andy , in an attempt to boost the programme ' s youth demographic . The McDonalds took over No . 11 in December . Simon Gregson and Nicholas Cochrane tried out for their parts when casting directors asked for auditionees at their school in south Manchester . Charles Lawson and Beverley Callard were involved in the casting of Steve and Andy . Viewing figures . The " Coronation Street " omnibus launched on Sunday 22nd January . From the first week of its run , the programme reclaimed the top two positions in the national rankings from " EastEnders " , and a further 44 episodes in 1989 reached the top spot . Note that these figures represent the sum total of the original showings and the omnibus , a practice which had enabled " EastEnders " to take the top spots consistently since late 1985 . Single - showing figures are available for this year , and these figures will be considered separately from the aggregated figures given by BARB . Discounting the omnibus , the average for the year was 15 . 5 million viewers , a 5 % increase on 1988 and the highest since 1985 . Nine months gained on 1988 , especially March , April , June , August and September which made gains of approximately two million and over 10 % . By this method of counting , the highest - rated episode of the year was Episode 2919 ( 20th March 1989 ) with 19 . 01 million viewers . Counting the omnibus , the yearly average climbs to 19 . 86 million viewers , and the most - watched episode was Episode 2918 ( 15th March 1989 ) with 26 . 93 million viewers . This is the programme ' s highest BARB rating of all time . Who lives where . Coronation Street Rosamund Street Others