Courtesy of ITV Global Entertainment Ltd

Britain's longest-running television soap opera began broadcasting live in twice-weekly episodes in 1960. Creator Tony Warren, in a memorandum to Granada executives, wrote that its purpose was to explore "the driving forces behind life in a working-class street in the north of England" and "to entertain by examining a community of this kind."

Criticised - unfairly - for avoiding the tougher social realities addressed by other soaps, its writers latterly have tackled Alzheimer's disease, transsexualism, teenage pregnancy, bigamy and mental abuse. Only politics, it would seem, is off limits. But while retaining a strong regional identity and an unthreatening sense of working-class community, 'the Street' has largely preferred to entertain rather than engage in contemporary realism.

Celebrated for the quality of its writing (Jack Rosenthal, Paul Abbott, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Jonathan Harvey have all contributed episodes), the drama draws its emotional and structural strength from its ability to move effortlessly from the deeply moving to the downright silly - suicides are contemplated while parties swing. The oft-quoted statement that the show is 'character-led, not issue-led' is true. Vibrant writing, supported by fine acting, has created unique characters with whom viewers strongly identify. They can also become memorable archetypes - moral tyrant Ena Sharples; cruel-tongued busybody Blanche Hunt; Annie Walker, with aspirations to a better life in Babbacombe; intellectual idealist Ken Barlow.

Warren, openly homosexual, was greatly influenced by the matriarchal society he saw around him. Strong women have always been Coronation Street's stock-in-trade, a comic camp sensibility permeating the entire show. Characterisation is strengthened by beautifully observed iconic costuming: Elsie Tanner advancing along the cobbles wearing a belted trench coat and stilettos, Bet Lynch's animal prints, Roy Cropper's depressing shopping bag.

In almost fifty years, the show has strayed little from Warren's vision. Now five weekly episodes embrace many more storylines, the comedy element is consistently stronger, younger characters have equal prominence but, although location shooting has become more prevalent, the show still feels most comfortable in the confined and familiar spaces of the Kabin, Roy's Rolls café or the Rovers Return.

The Street feels contemporary yet retains a timeless quality. Unmoved in its primetime slot, it still regularly attracts audiences over 18 million. The soap's former archivist and writer, Daran Little, accounted for its critical and popular success: "I want to be entertained, I want to have a laugh and I want to be moved. For me that's what Coronation Street does."

Olwen Terris

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