Coronation Street "Episode 1202" (lost episode of ITV soap opera; 1972)
Coronation Street is a long-running British soap opera. Broadcast on ITV since 1960, the show dramatizes the daily lives of residents within the Greater Manchester town of Weatherfield. While almost all episodes of the show are publicly available, Episode 1202 no longer exists within ITV's archives.
Background
Episode 1202 was originally broadcast on 24th July 1972,[1] drawing in 5.55 million viewers according to BARB. The episode's storylines centred around conflict between characters Rita Littlewood and Len Fairclough, the former attempting to make the latter jealous by going out with businessman Benny Lewis.[1] Additionally, Jacko Ford works at The Rovers Return as the Potman despite policeman Cyril Turpin knowing that he has a previous conviction.[1] Although landlord Maggie Clegg attempts to persuade Turpin's wife Betty not to have Cyril leak this to Annie Walker, Ford is fired by the episode's end after confessing about his past to Walker.[1]
Availability
To date, Episode 1202 is the only standard Coronation Street episode to no longer exist within the ITV archives, as noted by Kaleidoscope.[2][3] This is because Granada Television accidentally forgot to locate the original master tapes of Episode 1202 after initial broadcasts. Previously, 15 episodes broadcast in 1964 and 1967 were also reported missing, but have since been recovered.[4] In August 2018, online encyclopaedia Corriepedia contacted Kaleidoscope for more information surrounding the episode's disappearance.[5] According to Kaleidoscope, the episode went missing prior to being sold overseas, although it is unclear whether it was fully destroyed or suffered terminal damage that prevented its survival.[5]
The loss of Episode 1202 causes a narrative break within the ongoing series.[5] To avoid causing confusion among international viewers, Coronation Street production company Granada Television decided to create a new version of Episode 1203.[5] Episode 1203, which was originally broadcast on 26th July 1972, showcased increasing conflict between the characters Minnie Caldwell, Ena Sharples, and Emily Bishop, as well as Ford packing up to leave Weatherfield.[6] In the international version, Granada Television would film eight minutes of footage that summarised the storylines from 1202, and included it within an abridged version of 1203.[5]
Despite the efforts of Corriepedia and Kaleidoscope, no footage of the episode is currently known to have survived.[2][5][3] Thus, the eight minutes of the edited version of 1203 remain the closest remnants of 1202.[5]
External Link
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Share TV summarising Episode 1202. Retrieved 3rd Aug '22
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kaleidoscope noting the episode is missing among other lost Coronation Street media. Retrieved 3rd Aug '22
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Corriepedia noting the episode's disappearance from the ITV archives. Retrieved 3rd Aug '22
- ↑ Missing Episodes discussing other lost Coronation Street episodes that have since been recovered. Retrieved 3rd Aug '22
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Coronation Street Updates detailing Kaleidoscope's information surrounding 1202's disappearance. Retrieved 3rd Aug '22
- ↑ Share TV summarising the original version of 1203. Retrieved 3rd Aug '22