You cannot hope to understand British culture if you aren't familiar with Coronation Street.
Corrie is the longest running television drama in the world. It has been in production for 40 years and it is still the most popular television program in the UK. It is woven deep into the fabric of British life.
Four nights a week, about 18 million people sit themselves down and catch up on what's been happening in the lives of the residents of a small, run-down, lower class street in a fictional suburb of the northern industrial city of Manchester, England, the same way their parents and grandparents did. Why?
The British poet laureate Sir John Betjeman (lifetime chairman of the British League for Hilda Ogden) once remarked that Coronation Street was a modern version of Dicken's Pickwick Papers. The action is character driven, and because the main characters are built around the actors' strengths and given time to develop, they are complex with rich histories. At it's best, the show is gritty, realistic, whimsical, touching and hilarious all at the same time. Even when it's just muddling along, there is always something compelling. It is very addictive. Many of us feel the same way Sir John did, writing in 1974: "I think it's brilliantly written and faultlessly acted. I get very concerned about the characters... The call of the music before Coronation Street is to me like a call to prayer for a Muslim."
The mere mention of the names "Annie Walker", "Hilda Ogden" or "Raquel Watts" will conjure up a happy flood of warm memories for many an English person. And even for those viewers in other countries, like myself, it's the place where we most feel at home. Even if we don't know what a "ginnel" is.
Coronation Street is as popular as it is because it offers up a nostalgic reflection of British society, a strong sense of community and the happy camaraderie of pub life. It's a view of life that depicts the way most British people wish things were. It also features some great writing and acting, of course.
Here's the best way to describe it. Take your favourite British mystery program, without the murder and the detective, and edit it together with your favourite British comedy show, without the laughtrack, and you'll be close.
Really, it's about the only show I watch every week.
If you live in the US and want to give it a try, either move to Britian, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, or else check out csvu.net (Coronation Street Visual Updates) featuring pictures and commentary from every show, usually posted the day after airing in the UK. You might just come away with a better understanding of British culture. Because, whatever you think English people are talking about today, they're not, they'll all be discussing what went on in Coronation Street last night!
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