Coronation Street in 1990 1990 was " Coronation Street " ' s thirty - first year . Production . Granada continued to boost " Coronation Street " ' s production values , with the programme ' s production base being moved out of the main Granada studios complex and into Stage One , a refurbished warehouse next to the outdoor set which served as its own dedicated studio . Stage One included a green room , make - up complex , wardrobe and props departments , permanent dressing rooms for the actors , and enough studio space that the main sets could stand permanently . This meant that there were now no restrictions on the number of sets which could appear in each episode , and the actors could rehearse in the real sets . The keys were handed over in a special ceremony by Granada chairman David Plowright . The new houses and shops were completed in February , and gradually became occupied . Newlyweds Des and Steph Barnes , played by Philip Middlemiss and Amelia Bullmore , took over No . 6 , and ruffled a few feathers when , to win a bet with Des , Steph lured Kevin Webster upstairs and shaved off his moustache . The Barnes were a flashy , well - off young couple - branded as yuppies in the media - who exemplified producer Mervyn Watson ' s notion of the new Coronation Street attracting a different kind of character . No . 4 was bought by Mavis and Derek Wilton , as a consequence of Rita Fairclough upping sticks and transferring The Kabin from Rosamund Street to Unit 10 in Coronation Street . Rita also moved out of No . 7 and into the flat above the new Kabin , paving the way for No . 7 to become a student house , with Jenny Bradley and her friend Felicity Khan renting from Rita . After six months playing Flick , Rita Wolf left the programme and Flick ' s room at No . 7 was taken by another new character , career - minded design student Angie Freeman , played by Deborah McAndrew . The other new properties remained empty for the time being . Other new characters included Jackie Ingram , a woman pursued by Mike Baldwin for nefarious reasons , and Phil Jennings , a shady businessman introduced as a love interest for Deirdre Barlow . They were played by Shirin Taylor and Tommy Boyle . Also , two new child actors joined the cast as Gail Tilsley and Sally Webster gave birth to David and Rosie at Christmas . Thomas Ormson and Emma Collinge played those characters until 2000 . In June , the year ' s ITV telethon included a " Coronation Street " mini - episode in which Hilda Ogden returned to the street to check up on her old friends and reveal that her employer Doctor Lowther had proposed to her . Featuring Jean Alexander ' s return to the role after three years , the episode no longer exists in the ITV archives . A new title sequence debuted with Episode 3134 on 15th October . The new sequence was similar to its predecessor , except for being shot on videotape in accordance with the programme ' s house style since 1988 . Due to the popularity of the cat from the 1976 titles , a competition was held on ITV ' s " This Morning " programme to cast a cat to star in the new montage . The winner was Frisky , owned by Jon - Paul Rimington of Leeds who was paid a one - off fee of £200 for his services . For " Coronation Street " ' s thirtieth anniversary in December , Cilla Black hosted a special 90 - minute programme marking three decades of the show , entitled " Happy Birthday Coronation Street " . A month earlier , Windsong Video Productions released ten video compilations of archive episodes of the " Street " , each focusing on a single year and presented by a member of the present cast who was working on the programme in the year in question . Again , the programme itself did nothing to mark the occasion . Viewing figures . 45 episodes reached the top of the charts ( the same number as 1989 ) , and for the second year in a row no episodes charted outside the top 20 . Note that due to the BARB rankings considering only aggregated figures , " Coronation Street " ' s competition for the top places was mostly limited to other soap operas . Going by first showings only , the average figure for the year was 15 . 02 million viewers , a 500k drop on 1989 . Four months rose year - on - year , with the biggest rise occurring in January , while the biggest drop - of over two million viewers - took place in August . Including the repeats , the average was down significantly on 1989 , dropping by more than two million viewers to 17 . 38 million viewers . From September , ITV stations began dropping the omnibus repeat , resulting in only Granada and UTV showing " Coronation Street " at the weekend by 1992 . All months fell year - on - year , with March ' s average decreasing by almost five million viewers . By either method of counting , the highest - rated episode of the year was the New Year ' s Day episode , Episode 3012 ( 1st January 1990 ) , which drew an audience of 19 . 22 million viewers on its initial showing and 3 . 61 million at the weekend , giving a total of 22 . 83 million viewers , the decade ' s peak audience figure . Who lives where . Coronation Street Rosamund Street Others