The Road to Coronation Street the character of Annie Walker, and Lynda Baron played the role of Violet Carson, who played one of "Coronation Street"s most iconic characters, Ena Sharples. John Thomson and Michelle Holmes, who had previously been members of the Coronation Street cast, appeared as H.V. Kershaw and Harry Elton's secretary respectively. The drama achieved a peak of 852,000 viewers on its first transmission, making it the second most popular programme in BBC Four's history, behind 2008's "The Curse of Steptoe" at 1.41m viewers. Sam Wollaston, a critic for "The Guardian", gave a positive review, stating ""The Road to Coronation Street" is fond,
Mike Baldwin (Coronation Street) Redman (Paul Fox), came to Weatherfield, and Mike took him on at the factory as manager. However, on his wedding night, Mike found out that Mark and Linda had been having an affair. At first, he blamed Mark but he soon enraged Linda by choosing to spend time with Alma, who was dying of cervical cancer. At this point, he realised that marrying Linda was a mistake. Following Alma's death, he ended the marriage and Linda slept with Mike's new business associate in revenge. She also caused a stir at Fred Elliott's (John Savident) wedding to her mother, Eve Sykes