Coronation Street in 1994 1994 was " Coronation Street " ' s thirty - fifth year . Production . Carolyn Reynolds ' s last three episodes as producer were shown in January . Tony Wood , who would later produce " Coronation Street " from 2004 to 2006 , served as a short - term replacement until Sue Pritchard took over the position beginning with Episode 3650 on 24th January . Reynolds remained with the programme as its executive producer . For the first time , both " Coronation Street " ' s producer and executive producer were women . Writers had struggled with the character of Ivy Brennan for a number of years , leading to Ivy being led down , according to Carolyn Reynolds , " very narrow routes in terms of stories " ( " The Coronation Street Story " , 1995 ) . In consideration of Lynne Perrie ' s personal issues , including a drinking problem , Reynolds decided to dismiss Perrie from her role after 23 years . Tabloids speculated that the true reason for the sacking was that the producers were angered when Perrie dramatically changed her appearance with cosmetic surgery , getting collagen implants to create fuller lips . However , in contemporary and subsequent interviews Perrie and Reynolds denied this was a factor in her dismissal . Ivy wasn ' t given an exit , and left Weatherfield for a religious retreat four months after her last appearance in March . Bettabuy was phased out , making its final appearance in October when manager Curly Watts was confronted with a file of sexual harrassment claims against him and fired . It was replaced as a continuing supermarket setting by Firman ' s Freezers the following year . Location shooting took place in Normandy as Percy Sugden , Maud Grimes and Maureen Holdsworth visited the soldiers ' graves on the fiftieth anniversary of D - Day . Two months later , Weatherfield ' s twin town Charleville made its only appearance in the programme , although no shooting in France took place to stand in for the fictional town . On the continent for a pudding contest , the mayor and mayoress Alf and Audrey Roberts were accompanied by Fred Elliott , with John Savident making his first appearance as the vain , overweight butcher . Other actors joining the programme in 1994 included Malcolm Hebden as Norris Cole , whose initial role as the recurring nemesis of Derek Wilton continued until 1997 , Ashleigh Middleton as Sophie Webster , Kevin and Sally Webster ' s second - born , and Tracy Brabin and Joseph Gilgun as single mother Tricia Armstrong and her mischievous 10 - year - old son Jamie . Meanwhile , exits other than Lynne Perrie ' s included Eva Pope and John St . Ryan as Tanya Pooley and Charlie Whelan . Anne Kirkbride returned in May after her successful treatment for non - Hodgkin ' s Lymphoma . Her first storyline upon her return saw Deirdre Barlow find love with 21 - year - old Moroccan waiter Samir Rachid , with Al Nedjari joining the cast three days after leaving drama school . Dawn Acton also returned as Tracy Barlow in September after a nine - month absence , while Jill Summers returned in December after a year away . Viewing figures . The second hour - long edition of " Coronation Street " was shown on 18th April . As with Episode 3406 on 6th July 1992 , it was made as two separate episodes which were shown together to dent BBC One ' s 8 . 00pm offering . On 11th April , " EastEnders " had launched its third weekly episode , transmitted on Mondays at 8 . 00pm , causing ITV to employ scheduling tactics similar to those used when " Eldorado " began two years earlier . For the first time , " Coronation Street " and " EastEnders " were shown head - to - head ( albeit with " Coronation Street " having a 30 - minute head - start ) . The resulting ratings for the sections of the episodes shown opposite each other were 14 . 9 million viewers for " Coronation Street " and 8 . 1 million viewers for " EastEnders " . Again , only omnibus figures are available for this year . Ratings fell for the second year in a row , although the average of 16 . 44 million viewers represented a drop of only 2 . 2 % on 1993 , compared with 1993 ' s drop of 8 . 3 % on 1992 . Ratings were broadly in line with 1993 except in January and February when they were down by over a million viewers . June to October saw small increases on the same months in 1993 . The most - watched episode of the year was Episode 3659 on 14th February with 19 . 68 million viewers . This was the first year since the launch of the omnibus that " Coronation Street " didn ' t cross twenty million viewers . 46 episodes reached number one in the ratings , a drop of five from 1993 . Who lives where . Coronation Street Rosamund Street Others