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 British soap history. Its handling of the story, and Hayley Patterson (Julie Hesmondhalgh) ultimately "marrying" bookish nerd Roy Cropper, proved immensely popular, and was praised by transgender groups, not least in how it highlighted transgender issues, such as how she remained registered for tax purposes as a man called "Harold", leading to ridicule from her boss, Mike Baldwin. "Coronation Street" did not feature a gay resident until 2003, unlike "EastEnders" which had gay-themed storylines in the 1980s, and "Emmerdale" which has a lesbian vet and a number of other gay characters, both male and female. Recently the soap introduced its