Coronation Street in 1993 1993 was " Coronation Street " ' s thirty - fourth year . Production . Carolyn Reynolds was producer for a second year , after which she took up the position of executive producer which she held for most of the next twelve years . The Corner Shop received a facelift courtesy of new owner Brendan Scott , former Bettabuy manager , who beat Reg Holdsworth to the punch . Scott ' s transformation of the shop into an old - fashioned grocery included restoring the counter to its former position , facing the door , and introducing a darker colour scheme . Other changes - such as serving customers in a boater and dressing assistant Deirdre Barlow in a mop cap and frilly apron - were temporary . After Scott died of a heart attack in the shop , it spent a brief period again under Alf Roberts ' s ownership before it was sold to Reg . The programme ' s first mixed race marriage was planned between the characters of Andy McDonald and Amy Nelson , a newcomer played by Louise Duprey . Andy and Amy ' s relationship was developed over six months , with Andy giving up university so that he , Amy and her son Dominic could be a family , causing a rift between Andy , Jim and Liz . Shortly after the recording of Episode 3601 , Duprey had a nervous breakdown , having struggled with the pressures of fame . The wedding plans were shelved and the character was only seen once more , in Episode 3609 in which she was played by Melanie Brown . The programme ' s first mixed race marriage took place the following year , between Deirdre and Samir Rachid . Caroline Milmoe left the cast when her character Lisa Duckworth was killed off in a road accident . As there was no Christmas Day episode this year ( for the only time since 1987 ) , the storyline climaxed the evening before , in which Jack Duckworth disowned Terry after discovering that he had sold his son Tommy to Lisa ' s parents . Brian Hibbard left after eight months as Doug Murray , while Deborah McAndrew also departed , with her character Angie Freeman leaving for a job in Mexico . Newcomers included Sherrie Hewson as scatter - brained Maureen Naylor , Elizabeth Bradley as " Medusa on wheels " Maud Grimes , " Coronation Street " ' s first wheelchair - bound character , and John St . Ryan as lorry driver Charlie Whelan , brought in as a love interest for Bet Gilroy . Spiteful barmaid Tanya Pooley , played by Eva Pope , was also introduced , first seen at Liz McDonald ' s pub The Queens which appeared from May onwards . Jenny Bradley also made a temporary comeback , with Sally Ann Matthews reprising her role for ten episodes . December marked the last appearances of Deirdre Barlow and Phyllis Pearce for five and twelve months respectively , as Anne Kirkbride took time off to be treated for non - Hodgkin ' s Lymphoma , and Jill Summers for abdominal abscess . Viewing figures . Omnibus figures were down by 1 . 5 million viewers on 1992 . The average for the year was 16 . 81 million viewers . Note that the number of ITV stations which showed the omnibus varied from month to month ; in September , all stations agreed to country - wide repeats of individual episodes on Mondays , Wednesdays and Fridays at 12 . 55pm , a situation which remained until December when Granada and Ulster reverted to weekend repeats . Figures for the initial showings of each episode are not available for this year . The highest - rated episode of the year was Episode 3518 on 22nd March . 51 episodes reached number one - the third time in history ( after 1962 and 1965 ) that fifty or more " Coronation Street " episodes topped the charts in a single year and last to date . Again , no episodes dropped out of the top twenty . Who lives where . Coronation Street Rosamund Street Others