Coronation Street in 1987 1987 was " Coronation Street " ' s twenty - eighth year . Production . John G . Temple ' s run as producer ended with Episode 2755 on 26th August . After five years as executive producer , Bill Podmore returned to the producer ' s chair , bringing with him his usual flair for comedy . The main event of the year was the last appearance of Hilda Ogden . Jean Alexander quit her role after 23 years as she wanted to play other parts . After so long toiling away for little reward , Hilda got a happy ending , moving into a flat attached to her employer Doctor Lowther ' s cottage in Derbyshire . Her last appearance was in the Christmas Day episode , where the residents saw her off with a surprise party in the Rovers . This was the first time " Coronation Street " went out on Christmas Day when it didn ' t fall on one of the programme ' s normal transmission days , a trend which has continued until the present day ( with the exception of 1993 ) . Sarah Louise Tilsley , the latest " Coronation Street " baby , was born in February . She was played by twins Leah and Lynsay King , and by Lynsay alone after the sad death of Leah from SIDS . The Rovers lost two of its staff for some of the year as William Tarmey took a four - month break for heart surgery , while Julie Goodyear was absent for three months to look after her seriously ill mother . Bet re - appeared as Bill Podmore was taking over as producer and deciding the future of several characters ; Bet ' s relationship with Alec Gilroy blossomed into marriage , their sparring re - establishing the Rovers as a centre for comedy . To bring Bet back into the fold in an interesting way , overseas location filming took place in Torremolinos , with Alec tracking Bet down after three months and popping the question . Podmore also decided to write out Susan Baldwin after two years . Podmore blamed the failure of Susan and Mike Baldwin ' s marriage on the casting of Susan , and dismissed Wendy Jane Walker from her role . Also , Nigel Pivaro left the programme in June to join a touring production , but was planning to return . Meanwhile , Geoff Hinsliff joined the cast as Don Brennan , who was initially a short - term character who was kept on when writers saw potential in his romance with Ivy Tilsley . Viewing figures . According to most sources , including BARB , Episode 2790 ( 25th December 1987 ) is the second highest - rated episode of " Coronation Street " of all time , with an audience of 26 , 629 , 000 viewers . This episode , along with Episode 2789 , was given a special omnibus repeat on Sunday 27th December , and the figures from each showing were added together to form the above aggregated figure . Without the omnibus showing , the episode gained an audience of 17 , 973 , 000 viewers , and the highest - rated episode of the year was Episode 2691 ( 14th January 1987 ) with 19 . 75 million viewers . The average audience for the year was 15 . 16 million viewers ( or , including the Christmas omnibus , 15 . 31 million viewers ) . The yearly average was 400 , 000 viewers down on 1986 , with eight months experiencing drops year - on - year . The biggest falls occurred in April and May , which fell by more than 1 . 5 million viewers , while the biggest gain , of nearly a million viewers , was in December . Due to " EastEnders " having a weekly omnibus and therefore taking the two top spots most weeks , " Coronation Street " was again absent from the top of the charts except for the Christmas Day episode . However , every episode charted inside the top twenty , with the " Street " outperforming its direct competition including " Doctor Who " . Who lives where . Coronation Street Rosamund Street Others