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,
Steve McDonald (Coronation Street) for the soap defended the controversial storyline saying; "We are a realistic drama and we did flag up the fact there was going to be violence in the Steve McDonald episode. We are mindful that "Coronation Street" has a large family audience and endeavour to appeal to young and old at all times." In 2008, a leading policeman blamed "Coronation Street" for glamorising drink driving. He pointed out that Street's cab driver McDonald was regularly seen drinking in the Rovers Return – setting a bad example to drivers. In February 2009, Steve McDonald was voted the nation's favourite soap character