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,
Coronation Street in its place. "Coronation Street" returned to ITV screens with a regular scheduled time closer to the end of 1979. "Coronation Street" had little competition within its prime time slot, and certain critics suggested that the programme had grown complacent, moving away from socially viable storylines and again presenting a dated view of working class life. Between 1980 and 1989, "Coronation Street" underwent some of the biggest changes since its launch. By May 1984, William Roache (Ken Barlow) stood as the only original cast member, after the departures of Violet Carson (Ena Sharples) in 1980, Doris Speed (Annie Walker) in