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,
Betty Williams (Coronation Street) of the Street’s great traditional characters who seem to have been there forever. It’s always been our aim to keep a great mix of contemporary stories with older, more traditional characters. Comedy and tragedy combined with very clever writing has always been a trademark of the Street." Actor Rob James-Collier, who played Liam Connor in the soap, has deemed Betty to be one of "Coronation Street"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s two best characters, alongside Jack Duckworth (Bill Tarmey). He explained: "Betty Driver, who plays Betty can have no more than a couple of lines in a scene, but she’ll steal it off all the