“The Street” Script Was Left In “Pending” Tray

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32350, 16 July 1970, Page 3

“The Street” Script Was Left In “Pending” Tray

(By GRAHAM ALLAN) Too dreary, the field of action is restricted, the accents are too strong. This was the first reaction of television executives to a low* budget stop-gap series which first appeared on British screens 10 years ago.

Who dreamed that it would become the most successful series on television, that 1000 episodes later it would be , showing in over a dozen countries to an audience of countless millions? The secret behind its unflaggingly crisp production and high script standards is a Weekly routine, planned like a military operation, and which hasn’t varied for almost a decade. In her office at Granada headquarters in Manchester, "Coronation Street's” producer, June Howson, explained to me how she keeps “Coronation Street” ticking over smoothly. “A story-line conference is held at which the plot of the serial is decided for two months ahead. “We have two full-time story-line writers, six fulltime writers who work on each script and a pool of freelance writers. All these attend the story-line conference with me. “It’s not just a case of working out intricacies of the plot Each artist’s contract has varying stipulations on how many episodes he is doing, or stipulations that he has to be written out over a certain period. “All these things have to be taken into consideration before we can decide on the general story line. And, of course, it is not just one story. In ‘Coronation Street’ there are several stories going on at once. Exact Timing

“After this conference, the story-line writers go away and break down each episode, scene by scene, for the next two months,” June Howson explains.

“They come back to me with this, and we discuss amendments. The next step is then what we call a commission conference. At this, the story outlines we have agreed are given to different writers for development into a full shooting script “They only have between 10 days and a fortnight to produce the script “It has to be exactly 24} minutes and the need for movement as well as conversation' has to be borne in mind.

“It’s not easy when there are so many characters involved and the words written have to be completely typical of the characters concerned otherwise we’d be in trouble with the viewers.”

The finished script is then given to one of the show’s three directors, who has two weeks to prepare two episodes, working out movements, • lighting and camera angles. Then the script is given to members of the cast involved, but rehearsal for the two episodes does not begin until the week they are due to be filmed. On Monday and Tuesday,

the director and artists rehearse the two episodes, on Wednesday there is a technical rehearsal for the cameramen, lighting engineers, prop men and for any last-minute adjustments necessary in the script On Thursday and Friday, the episodes are filmed. These are the episodes British viewers see the following Monday and Wednesday. “This routine has not varied for nearly 10 years,” says June Howson. “It imposes a very necessary discipline on everyone concerned.” No Ad-Libbing The cast is now so expert that most recordings go without a hitch, but contrary to popular belief, there is no adlibbing. The "players stick closely to the script They have to, or the timing of the whole show would be upset They work to such a strict schedule that they have to learn their lines at home or when travelling to the studio.

Vi Carson told me: “Some people think I’m daft living in Blackpool and working in Manchester. But it means I can learn my lines on the train every dgy.” The opening shots seen on the screen are of a street in Salford, Lancashire, and, at one time, part of the serial was shot on that location. But as the show grew in popularity, filming was regularly interrupted by crowds of fans, so now the street has been recreated behind the car park at Granada headquarters. June Howson told me: “We’d like to do more location shots, especially now that we are in colour, but the crowd problem is always with us.” "Coronation Street” was originally the brain child of a Salford writer, Tony Warren, who offered Granada five story outlines about day-to-day happenings in what he called “Florizel Street” Granada executives weren’t terribly excited by the idea. Their reactions ranged from “Who wants to know about what these dreary characters are doing?” to “The action is too restricted, and viewers won’t like the accents.” Tony Warren’s “Florizel Street” was put in a pending tray. Then a programme unexpectedly dropped from the schedules and a replacement had to be found in a

hurry. Reluctantly, “Florizel Street” was pulled out and put into rehearsal. The name was changed to “Coronation Street,” the first episode was screened in December, 1960, and, rather apprehensively, the response from viewers was awaited. The rest is television history. Since that time, 10 years ago, “Coronation Street” has never been off the world’s screens. Features International.