List of Coronation Street characters (1970)

Coronation Street is a British soap opera created by writer Tony Warren. It was first broadcast on ITV on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 1970, by order of first appearance.

Anita Reynolds

Anita Reynolds
Coronation Street character
Portrayed by Elisabeth Sladen
First appearance 5 January 1970
Last appearance 21 January 1970
Classification Former, recurring
Profile
Occupation Barmaid

Anita Reynolds, played by Elisabeth Sladen, made her first screen appearance on 5 January 1970. Coronation Street marked Sladen's second television appearance, after previously taking a minor part in an episode of ITV Playhouse.[1] Sladen's character became a love interest for established character Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson), "even though the firebrand builder had gone to school with her father."[1] In 2009, Sladen recalled "In Corrie, I played Anita Reynolds, Len Fairclough's new girlfriend, and I was in it for five or six episodes."[2]

Anita worked at the Flying Horse pub. When Annie Walker (Doris Speed), landlady of the Rovers Return, alienates her customers, the Flying Horse briefly becomes the first choice for the Rovers regulars, including Len Fairclough. Even though Len was nearly twenty years older than Anita, they put aside the age gap as they both like each other. Anita refuses to answer questions about the relationship from customers and even warns Maggie Clegg (Irene Sutcliffe) away from Len. Anita and Len go on a double date with Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix) and Alan Howard (Alan Browning). Anita talks with Elsie and impresses her. Anita asks Len to meet her parents, but Len begins to worry about the age gap and believes meeting Anita's parents would only increase his fears. Anita accepts Len's marriage proposal, but he gets cold feet and admits to Anita that he has doubts about their relationship. Len suggests they have a long engagement, but Anita makes it clear that she wants to get married and breaks up with him.

Frank Bradley

Frank Bradley
Coronation Street character
Portrayed by Tommy Boyle
Duration 1970, 1971, 1975
First appearance 8 July 1970
Last appearance 17 November 1975
Classification Former, recurring
Profile
Occupation Brewery drayman

Frank Bradley, played by Tommy Boyle, made his first screen appearance on 8 July 1970.[3] Frank and his friend Jud Johnson turned up looking for Ray Langton (Neville Buswell) and, after swearing that they were reformed characters, talked Ray into giving them a job.[3] Ray employed Frank and Jud to build a display cabinet for Ernest Bishop's (Stephen Hancock) shop, but they stole a camera and threatened to pin the blame on Ray, unless he helped them with a robbery. Ken Barlow (William Roache) scared Frank and Jed off by posing as a policeman.[3] A newly returned Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) was not put off by Frank's past and embarked on a "passionate affair" with him.[3] At nineteen, Frank was almost half Bet's age and she was worried that he would leave her. Bet tried to get Frank to commit to her, but he felt trapped and broke off the relationship.[3]

Tony Parsons

Tony Parsons
Coronation Street character
Portrayed by David Hill
Duration 1970–71
First appearance 5 August 1970
Last appearance 10 February 1971
Classification Former, recurring

Tony Parsons was a young boy who received harmonium lessons from Ena Sharples in 1970. Although Tony had broken into the Victoria Street Mission on 5 August 1970, Ena wanted to nurture his talent and as she was an experienced player she took Tony under her wing and got him a scholarship at a music college. In February 1971, Tony gave his first public performance at the college and Ena was in attendance, along with Tony's mother Mrs Parsons.

Mrs Parsons

Mrs Parsons
Coronation Street character
Portrayed by June Brown
Duration 1970–71
First appearance 19 August 1970
Last appearance 10 February 1971
Classification Former, recurring

Mrs Parsons, played by June Brown, made her first screen appearance on 19 August 1970. Brown appeared as Mrs Parsons for three episodes. In 1985, she joined newly launched soap opera EastEnders as Dot Cotton.[4] Dot stated that she was a fan of Coronation Street in 2010, to mark the serial's 50th anniversary.

Mrs Parsons was the mother of Tony Parsons (David Hill), a young boy who received harmonium lessons from Ena Sharples (Violet Carson) in 1970. Ena was keen that Tony's talent be encouraged and was delighted to meet Mrs Parsons so they could talk about her son. The following year, Mrs Parsons and Ena went to Tony's first public concert at his music college, where Ena had got him a scholarship the year before.

References

  1. 1 2 "Elisabeth Sladen: Actress who came to fame as Dr Who's assistant and later had her own spin-off series". The Independent (Independent Print Limited). 21 April 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Keal, Graham (13 October 2009). "How Elisabeth Sladen has rolled back the years in The Sarah Jane Adventures". Daily Record (Trinity Mirror). Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Little 2000, p.71.
  4. ↑ Shelley, Jim (31 January 2008). "Dot the drama queen". Daily Mirror (Trinity Mirror). Retrieved 18 August 2013.

External links

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