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,
Storylines of Coronation Street felt like "the wallpaper, or a piece of furniture that's been around forever... it's like [they've] been married for twenty years." In an unscripted move, Ken, blinded by anger, grabbed Deirdre by the throat and started to strangle her. Anne Kirkbride, who did not know of the sudden change in direction, reacted with more conviction, she admitted later, than had she known of the action beforehand. Eventually, Deirdre began to have doubts about staying with Mike Baldwin. The writers of the series scheduled the episode, in which Deirdre reconciled with Ken, effectively ending her relationship with Mike Baldwin, on the