Coronation Street place at university, and thus found his working-class background—as well as his parents, Frank and Ida (Frank Pemberton and Noel Dyson)—something of an embarrassment. The character was one of the few to have experienced life outside of Coronation Street. In some ways this predicts the growth of globalisation, and the decline of similar communities. In an episode from 1961, Barlow declares: "You can't go on just thinking about your own street these days. We're living with people on the other side of the world. There's more to worry about than Elsie Tanner and her boyfriends." Roache is the only remaining
Coronation Street soap opera, "EastEnders" in 1985. Like "Brookside", "EastEnders" had a more gritty premise than "Coronation Street", although unlike "Brookside" it tended to steer clear of blue language and politicised stories. While ratings for "Coronation Street" remained consistent throughout the decade, "EastEnders" regularly obtained higher viewing figures due to its omnibus episodes shown at weekends. The "Coronation Street" episode broadcast on 2 January 1985 attracted 21.40 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode in the shows history based on a single showing. Subsequent episodes would achieve higher figures when the original broadcast and omnibus edition figures were combined. With prime time