Yate the Entertainer. Eating places in the centre include McDonald's, Boswells and Wetherspoons. During the 1980s and into the mid-1990s, the shopping centre hosted Yate’s annual festival. On opening day a celebrity launched the festival by releasing balloons and stayed to sign autographs. Celebrities have included Carole Lee Scott, in character as Grotbags (from Rod Hull and Emu's enemy), Timmy Mallett, Keith Chegwin, Ross Kemp ("EastEnders"<nowiki>'</nowiki> Grant Mitchell), Ken Morley ("Coronation Street"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Reg Holdsworth), David Neilson ("Coronation Street"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Roy Cropper), Beverley Callard ("Coronation Street"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Liz McDonald), Bob Carolgees and Spit the Dog, and the Milky Bar Kid. The festival also brought
Humour in Coronation Street from the scene of the crime. Coerced into performance in compensation for attacking Les in an earlier appearance, rock band Status Quo played at the reception. But the party was ruined when: Humour in Coronation Street Humour has featured strongly in "Coronation Street" since the programme's inception on 9 December 1960 airing on British Television. Reflecting on "Coronation Street"s survival for over five decades, former archivist and scriptwriter Daran Little suggests that most observers attribute the show's success to "two aspects: the mixture of comedy and drama, and the strength of the female characters." While most Coronation Street characters are