#OnThisDay 25 January 1995 Gretchen Franklin, known to millions as Ethel in #EastEnders, receives the This Is Your Life treatment. No sign of little Willy, but Roly the dog puts in an appearance, alongside #JuneBrown, #CliveDunn and Anna Wing.

#OnThisDay 25 January 1990 The Burns' Day Storm is one of the strongest European windstorms on record, causing fatalities and widespread damage. 'Allo 'Allo star #GordenKaye is seriously injured when his windscreen is struck by wood. Here are news reports from throughout the day.

#OnThisDay 25 January 1987 BBC documentary series Just Another Day goes behind the scenes at #EastEnders and asks Gretchen Franklin (Ethel): "You really love that Willy, don't you?"

#WhatWeWereWatching #OTD 33 years ago 📺TV Ratings for w.e. 25 January 1993 1. #EastEnders 22.48m 2. #CoronationStreet 20.91 3. Inspector Morse 18.76 4. #Neighbours 17.52 5. You've Been Framed 17.49 6. #TheBill 17.10 7. Wish You Were Here 16.41 8. #HomeAndAway 14.67

#OnThisDay 25 January 1986 Channel 4 take out newspaper ads to promote "the first of an exciting new series of comedy and music" SATURDAY LIVE - There ought to be a law against it

#OnThisDay 25 January 1995 BBC TO BAN EASTBENDERS BBC bosses are to stamp on the off-duty antics of the #EastEnders cast. The move follows the arrest of actress Gillian Taylforth on a drink-drive charge after quaffing champagne . . .

#OnThisDay 25 January 1994 The Daily Telegraph publishes an obituary for long-serving #CoronationStreet producer Bill Podmore, following his death aged 62.

#OnThisDay 25 January 1990 100 mph KILLER STORM RAGES IN Violent storms battered Britain today, bringing death and destruction . . . PRAY FOR RENE - Storm victim 'Allo 'Allo star #GordenKaye will pull through - 5 hour brain op after plank smashes his windscreen . . .

#OnThisDay 25 January 1984 NUMBER ONE HIT BANNED BY BBC Britain's Number One record has been banned from #TopOfThePops tomorrow. BBC TV chiefs won't play the smash single Relax because they say the lyrics are sexually explicit and not suitable for family viewing . . .

#OnThisDay 25 January 1963 TV Times publishes SNUG O'WAR - a special #CoronationStreet short story by Jack Rosenthal that tells of what happened to the husbands of Ena, Minnie and Martha.

#OnThisDay 25 January 1961 In episode 14 of #CoronationStreet, Peter Adamson makes the first of over 1,700 appearances as Len Fairclough, playing darts in the Rovers Return. In 1983 his final appearance has him doing the exact same thing, with the last line "That's it!"

#OnThisDay 24 January 1995 #SandraGough, who had previously played Irma Ogden in #CoronationStreet, makes her first appearance as Nellie Dingle in #Emmerdale: "Zak! Zak! What you doing? Are you messing about with them pigs again?"

#OnThisDay 24 January 1995 #MartineMcCutcheon makes the first of 432 appearances over a four-year period as Tiffanny in #EastEnders.

#WhatWeWereWatching #OTD 27 years ago 📺TV Ratings for BBC2/C4 for w.e. 24 January 1999 1. Gimme Gimme Gimme 5.95m 2. #Brookside 5.87 3. Robot Wars 5.66 4. #TheSimpsons 5.49 5. Home Front 4.62 6. Mersey Blues 4.55 7. Countdown 4.41 8. Meet The Ancestors 3.80

#OnThisDay 24 January 1986 FANS CAN BE FRIGHTENING When Nej Salih arrived to audition for #EastEnders he thought he had turned up to try out for the wrong job . . .

#OnThisDay 24 January 1985 Teeny TV star Rebecca Sowden (#RebeccaCallard) has landed a leading role in a children's TV show and upstaged her own mum. The nine-year-old is following in the footsteps of Beverley Sowden (#BeverleyCallard) who has appeared in #CoronationStreet . . .

#OnThisDay 24 January 1984 HILDA HAS A TOT ON MAGGIE #CoronationStreet's Hilda Ogden gave the Rover's Return a miss last night. She whipped out her rollers and popped along to No 10 for a few drinks with Maggie Thatcher . . .

#OnthisDay 24 January 1982 SWAP SHOP SWAP - DJ Noel to Quit Top TV Kids' Show - DJ #NoelEdmonds is to quit TV's popular children's show Swap Shop. He will leave the Saturday morning programme in March . . .

#OnThisDay 24 January 1971 SUCCESS IS NOT SO FUNNY! #CarlaLane and Myra Taylor shouldn't have any problems. They are the comedy-writing team responsible for the BBC's successful "Liver Birds" series, about a pair of scatty dames in a Liverpool bedsit. Yet, they share . . .

#OnThisDay 24 January 1968 WHOOPS! Maybe now you can see why Irma Barlow (Sandra Gough) lost her nerve and wouldn't go on the ice with Jerry Booth (Graham Habberfield) in #CoronationStreet's January 24 episode . . .

#OnThisDay 24 January 1967 RETURN TO THE STREET The people in #CoronationStreet welcomed an old friend back to the fold after a long absence when #EileenDerbyshire rejoined the cast. Eileen has been away looking after her new baby . . .

#OnThisDay 24 January 1980 Hurry yourself along to Burslem where Thursday 24th January is Elsie Tanner Day! Patricia Phoenix, star of #CoronationStreet, will visit Granthorne Home Improvement Centre. The new year sale starts at 11 a.m. See you there!

#WhatWeWereWatching #OTD 26 years ago 📺TV Ratings for w.e. 23 January 2000 1. #EastEnders 18.26m 2. #CoronationStreet 18.08 3. Who Wants to be a Millionaire? 15.88 4. #Heartbeat 15.16 5. #Emmerdale 13.21 6. Dinnerladies 11.40 7. #Neighbours 10.51 8. London's Burning 10.17

#OnThisDay 23 January 1994 #DavidJason stars as Detective Inspector Jack Frost in the new series of A TOUCH OF FROST - Tonight on ITV at 8.15 p.m.

#OnThisDay 23 January 1991 - FAST FORWARD Mrs McCluskey casts her mind back thirty years to when she was young in #GrangeHill. #BettyBoo dreads the idea of Blue Peter 24 hours a day in TV Centre. "We ain't goin' an' that's final!!" in #EastEnders the cartoon.

#OnThisDay 23 January 1991 - FAST FORWARD WAKEY! WAKEY! How does #LizKershaw manage to be bright and breezy on the Radio One breakfast show? #KylieMinogue claims "I COULD HAVE BEEN A DRESS MAKER!" SKOOL REPORT Kristian Schmid says "School's easy compared to being in #Neighbours"

#OnThisDay 23 January 1991 #SarahLancashire makes the first of more than 500 appearances as Raquel Wolstenhulme in #CoronationStreet with the first line: "The number is.... the number is 986."

#OnThisDay 23 January 1989 Cameras roll for #EastEnders death - THE LONG GOODBYE - Den gets bumped off after Michelle farewell . . .

#OnThisDay 23 January 1986 PETER PAN TO THE RESCUE OF #DrWho and BONNIE IS LAST HOPE OF TARDIS Peter Pan star #BonnieLangford is to be the 20th assistant of #DoctorWho . . . and she may be the last. #ColinBaker returns, but he is on probation . . .

#OnThisDay 23 January 1985 ENTERING A SOAP OPERA MINEFIELD Twenty-five people (including two babies), two dogs, and a pub called The Victoria are the "stars" of BBC1's twice-weekly soap opera #EastEnders, starting soon . . .

#OnThisDay 23 January 1982 SPARKLING WINE Here's an unexpected champagne sparkle to the Last of the Summer Wine. The TV series' three stars, whose outfits usually range from informal to downright scruffy, wanted to show their elegant side for a change . . .

#OnThisDay 23 January 1971 CORONATION STREET'S VAL TO DIE IN BLAZE One of #CoronationStreet's leading characters, Val Barlow, will be burned to death in the flat where she lives with husband Ken. Only 4 major characters have been "killed off" during the serial's 10 year history..

#OnThisDay 23 January 1971 WHY VAL IS LEAVING THE STREET "I think I've made the biggest decision of my whole life; I may even have made the worst," says #AnneReid, who, as Valerie Barlow, is shortly to fade-out from #CoronationStreet. "I hope they kill me off . . ."

#WhatWeWereWatching #OTD 36 years ago 📺TV Ratings for w.e. 21 January 1990 1. #CoronationStreet 21.90m 2. #EastEnders 20.11 3. #Neighbours 19.53 4. Octopussy 15.86 5. Wish You Were Here 15.79 6. Inspector Morse 15.60 7. Watching 14.82 8. Blind Date 14.75

#OnThisDay 21 January 1995 The Sun has a front page #CoronationStreet exclusive: SAD RITA IN SPLIT FROM HUBBY and, inside: BARBARA'S BATTLED ALL HER LIFE JUST LIKE RITA

#OnThisDay 21 January 1995 KEN'S MY ROBERT REDFORD - I Couldn't Believe it When we Had an Affair - Here's #CoronationStreet crimper Denise Osbourne in a pose that would make her customers' hair curl. Actress #DeniseBlack is to appear as a sex siren in a new musical . . .

#OnThisDay 21 January 1985 MAKING THE GRADE - Michael's the Man who is Revamping the Image of BBC TV - #MichaelGrade is an executive who sleeps, eats and breathes television . . .

#OnThisDay 21 January 1977 What would Basil Fawlty say? It seems the Major is now the manager of the hotel! And why on earth is Sybil wearing a nurse's uniform? Ballard Berkeley and Prunella Scales star in Peter Jones' sitcom Mr Big.

#WhatWeWereWatching #OTD 41 years ago 📺TV Ratings for w.e. 20 January 1985 1. #CoronationStreet 20.60m 2. Wish You Were Here 17.55 3. Game for a Laugh 17.45 4. That's Life 16.85 5. The Practice 16.80 6. Name That Tune 16.75 7. Bullseye 16.70 8. #Crossroads 16.65

#OnThisDay 20 January 1982 Thames take out newspaper ads to give us . . . A GENTLE REMINDER Terry has a bit of an accident and Arthur is his usual sympathetic self in MINDER at 9.00, starring #DennisWaterman and #GeorgeCole.

#OnThisDay 20 January 1991 STREET STARS AXED IN DOUBLE SHOCKER #CoronationStreet chiefs have lined up dramatic exits for TWO of the show's favourite young guns. Street fans are in for a double shocker when #SallyAnnMatthews, Jenny Bradley, and #StuartWolfenden, Mark Casey . . .

#OnThisDay 20 January 1984 Hurry yourself along to the Victoria Palace in London and catch the Fun-Packed Holiday Musical For All The Family, HI-DE-HI, featuring #SimonCadell, #PaulShane, #RuthMadoc, #JeffreyHolland and #SuPollard!

#OnThisDay 20 January 1980 #LarryGrayson lets us know HOW TO STAY ALIVE THIS WINTER with 'Larry Grayson's Older Generation Game'.

#OnThisDay 20 January 1979 The marvellous BBC series #DoctorWho celebrates its 500th episode tonight with the start of a new six-part adventure, The Armageddon Factor, by Bob Baker and Dave Martin . . .

#OnThisDay 20 January 1979 #DoctorWho celebrates its 500th episode on BBC1, but . . . LOOK WHO'S LEAVING and TIME RUNS OUT FOR ROMANA - #DrWho's pretty dark-haired assistant is stepping out of the Tardis for the last time. #MaryTamm is quitting . . .

#OnThisDay 19 January 1985 3 years after announcing that he was quitting Swap Shop, #NoelEdmonds returns to Saturday morning TV to tell #SarahGreene of Saturday Superstore all about his Late, Late Breakfast Show.

#WhatWeWereWatching #OTD 34 years ago 📺TV Ratings for w.e. 19 January 1992 1. #EastEnders 21.64m 2. #CoronationStreet 19.86 3. You've Been Framed 19.33 4. #Neighbours 18.02 5. It'll Be Alright on the Night 16.74 6. #TheBill 15.71 7. Family Fortunes 14.93 8. Taggart 14.82

#OnThisDay 19 January 1997 WHAT A LOAD OF OLD COBBLES AS THE STREET GOES TARMAC It's enough to make Ena Sharples turn in her grave. After 36 years, soap bosses are considering the unthinkable . . . covering #CoronationStreet's famous cobblestones in tarmac!

#OnThisDay 19 January 1992 BASKING IN COSTA DEL SOAP - BBC Chiefs are Looking to Sunny Spain to Brighten Their Sinking Ratings - About £10 million will go towards new soap Little England (#Eldorado) set and shot on the Costa del Sol . . .

#OnThisDay 19 January 1989 HOW THE BEEB GETS SHOT OF DIRTY DEN Dirty Den, the sleazy superstar of #EastEnders, is to be killed off in a hail of bullets. Actor Leslie Grantham finally bows out of the top soap in a violent death scene due to be filmed next week.