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) did not get out of her sight. A couple of years later, after Alma's relationship with Ken failed because of her feelings for Mike, Mike and Alma finally married. Mike once again had his own business, the underwear factory "Underworld". In 1998, Mike was seduced by Julia Stone, who blackmailed him for large sums of cash. When Alma discovered this, she left Mike; once they had divorced, she reverted to her maiden name of Halliwell. Unable to win Alma back, Mike settled with loud-mouthed machinist Linda Sykes (Jacqueline Pirie), who was interested only in his money. His long-lost son, Mark