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,
Jim McDonald (Coronation Street) there is', 'so I did', 'so you are', et al., meant there were far fewer sentences to write." Claire Hodgson of the "Daily Mirror" said that setting fire to Gwen's furniture, threatening Liz, hangovers, fights in the Rovers Return and robbing the bank were some of Jim's "most outrageous" moments on the show. Lorna Cooper writing for MSN said that she wanted Jim back in "Coronation Street" full-time and brand him and Liz a "knock-off version of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton." Jim McDonald (Coronation Street) Jim McDonald is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, "Coronation Street",