place_of_birth meg johnson
___MASK80___ , in North West ___MASK8___ , is a major city and metropolitan borough with an estimated population ___MASK57___ 478 , 580 in 2015 within the City ___MASK57___ ___MASK80___ . ___MASK80___ and its surrounding areas form the fifth largest metropolitan area in the UK , with an estimated population ___MASK57___ over 2 . 24 million in 2011 . The local authority is ___MASK80___ City Council , which is the most populous local government district within the metropolitan county ___MASK57___ Merseyside and the largest within the ___MASK80___ City Region . ___MASK20___ is a city in West Yorkshire , England . Historically in Yorkshire ' s West Riding , the history of ___MASK20___ can be traced to the 5th century when the name referred to a wooded area of the Kingdom of Elmet . The name has been applied to many administrative entities over the centuries . It changed from being the appellation of a small manorial borough in the 13th century , through several incarnations , to being the name attached to the present metropolitan borough . In the 17th and 18th centuries ___MASK20___ became a major centre for the production and trading of wool . Weatherfield is a fictional town based on ___MASK43___ , Greater ___MASK44___ , which is the setting for the British ITV soap opera " Coronation Street ". Much of Weatherfield has been seen by viewers throughout the years ; however , the primary focus from the viewer ' s perspective is the Coronation Street , a cobbled street where many of the programme ' s characters live . Weatherfield areas are often shot on location around ___MASK44___ , as its filming studios , the Granada Studios complex on Quay Street in ___MASK44___ city centre ( closed 2013 ) and its new set MediaCityUK in ___MASK43___ Quays ( opened 2014 ), only house the outdoor sets of Coronation Street and its immediate surrounding streets . Grange ___MASK62___ is a British television children ' s ___MASK2___ series originally ___MASK84___ by the BBC . The show began its run on 8 February 1978 on BBC1 , and was one ___MASK57___ the longest - running programmes on British television when it ended its run on September 15 , 2008 . It was created by Phil Redmond who is also responsible for the Channel 4 dramas " Brookside " and " Hollyoaks "; other notable production team members down the years have included producer Colin Cant and script editor Anthony Minghella . A pub , or public house , is an establishment licensed to sell alcoholic drinks , which traditionally include beer , ale and other brewed alcoholic drinks . It is a relaxed , social drinking establishment and a prominent part ___MASK57___ British culture , Irish culture , New Zealand culture and Australian culture . In many places , especially in villages , a pub is the focal point ___MASK57___ the community . In his 17th century diary Samuel Pepys described the pub as " the heart ___MASK57___ England ." Radio is the technology ___MASK57___ using radio waves to carry information , such as sound , by systematically modulating properties ___MASK57___ electromagnetic energy waves transmitted through space , such as their amplitude , frequency , phase , or pulse width . When radio waves strike an electrical conductor , the oscillating fields induce an alternating current in the conductor . The information in the waves can be extracted and transformed back into its original form . ___MASK14___ Street ( informally known as Corrie ) is a British soap opera created by ___MASK53___ Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960 . The programme centres on ___MASK14___ Street in Weatherfield , a fictional town based on inner city Salford , its terraced houses , café , corner shop , newsagents , building yard , taxicab office , salon , restaurant , textile factory and the Rovers Return pub . In the show ' s fictional history , the street was built in the early 1900s and named in honour ___MASK57___ the coronation ___MASK57___ King Edward VII . Brookside is a British soap opera set in ___MASK80___ , ___MASK8___ . The series began on the launch night ___MASK57___ Channel 4 on 2 November 1982 , and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003 . Originally intended to be called " Meadowcroft ", the series was produced by Mersey Television and it was conceived by Phil Redmond who also devised " Grange Hill " ( 1978  2008 ) and " Hollyoaks " ( 1995  present ). Phil ___MASK27___ CBE ( born 10 June 1949 ) is an English television producer and screenwriter from Huyton , Lancashire . Kevin ___MASK18___ Laffan ( 24 May 1922 , ___MASK59___ , Berkshire  11 March 2003 , London ) was an English playwright , screenwriter , author , actor and stage director . Laffan is best known for creating the ITV soap opera " Emmerdale Farm ", now titled " Emmerdale ". ___MASK2___ is the specific mode ___MASK57___ fiction represented in performance . The term comes from a Greek word meaning " action " ( Classical Greek : , " drama "), which is derived from " to do " ( Classical Greek : , " drao "). The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy . They are symbols ___MASK57___ the ancient Greek Muses , Thalia , and Melpomene . Thalia was the Muse ___MASK57___ comedy ( the laughing face ), while Melpomene was the Muse ___MASK57___ tragedy ( the weeping face ). Considered as a genre ___MASK57___ poetry in general , the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle ' s " Poetics " ( c . 335 BCE ) the earliest work ___MASK57___ dramatic theory . The ___MASK85___ Dales is an ___MASK52___ area ___MASK57___ the Pennines in Northern England in the historic county ___MASK57___ ___MASK85___ , most ___MASK57___ it in the ___MASK85___ Dales National Park created in 1954 . Meg Johnson ( born 30 September 1936 ) is an English actress who currently plays the role ___MASK57___ Pearl Ladderbanks in ITV ' s popular soap opera Emmerdale . Prior to joining Emmerdale , Johnson was a part ___MASK57___ the axed UK soap Brookside , playing Brigid McKenna for three years . In the early 1980s she also played the part ___MASK57___ Eunice Gee in Coronation Street , a role she briefly reprised in 1999 . In November 1997 , she was in the original cast ___MASK57___ the London revival ___MASK57___ Chicago playing the matron Mama Morton , the prison warder , for more than a year . She can be heard on the London Cast Recording ___MASK57___ Chicago , singing `` When You ' re Good to Mama '' , `` Me and My Baby '' and `` Class '' . Following her role in Coronation Street she appeared sporadically on television , and was a part ___MASK57___ the cast ___MASK57___ Victoria Wood As Seen On TV ( from 1985 to 1987 ) alongside Wood , Julie Walters , Celia Imrie and others . Johnson is married to the former Granada Television continuity announcer , Charles Foster . Channel 4 is a British public - service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982 . Although largely commercially self - funded , it is ultimately publicly owned ; originally a subsidiary ___MASK57___ the Independent Broadcasting Authority ( IBA ), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation , a public corporation ___MASK57___ the Department for Culture , Media & Sport , which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993 . With the conversion ___MASK57___ the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010 , Channel 4 became a UK - wide TV channel for the first time . ITV ___MASK85___ , is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the ___MASK85___ franchise area on the ITV network . Until 1974 , this was primarily the historic county ___MASK57___ ___MASK85___ and parts ___MASK57___ neighbouring counties served by the Emley Moor and Bilsdale transmitting station transmitters . Following a re - organisation in 1974 the transmission area was extended to include Lincolnshire , northwestern Norfolk and parts ___MASK57___ ___MASK100___ and Nottinghamshire , served by the Belmont transmitter , but lost the far north ___MASK57___ ___MASK85___ served by the Bilsdale transmitter which covered Tyne Tees Television . A soap opera , soap , or soapie , is a serial ___MASK2___ on television or radio that examines the lives ___MASK57___ many characters , usually focusing on emotional relationships to the point ___MASK57___ melodrama . The term " soap opera " originated from such dramas being typically sponsored by soap manufacturers in the past . Emmerdale ( known as Emmerdale Farm until 1989 ) is a long - running British soap opera set in Emmerdale ( known as Beckindale until 1994 ), a fictional village in the ___MASK85___ Dales . Created by Kevin Laffan , " Emmerdale Farm " was first broadcast on 16 October 1972 . Produced by ITV ___MASK85___ , it has been filmed at their ___MASK20___ studio since its inception . The programme has been broadcast in every ITV region . Television or TV is a telecommunication medium used for transmitting moving images in monochrome ( black - and - white ), or in color , and in two or three dimensions and sound . It can refer to a television set , a television program (" TV show "), or the medium ___MASK57___ television transmission . Television is a mass medium , for entertainment , education , news , and advertising . Hollyoaks is a British soap opera , first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995 . It was originally devised by Phil ___MASK27___ , who had previously conceived the Channel 4 soap " Brookside ". The programme is set in a fictional suburb ___MASK57___ Chester called Hollyoaks , and features a large cast ___MASK57___ characters primarily aged between 16 and 35 . It is primarily filmed and produced in Childwall , Liverpool . Beginning with a cast ___MASK57___ just seven major characters in 1995 , the serial now has approximately 50 main cast members . " Hollyoaks " has a high cast turnover in comparison with other British soaps ; as ___MASK57___ May 2014 , just thirty - seven characters have spent five years or longer on the show . The programme , which is currently the UK ' s youngest television soap opera , has won 28 British Soap Awards , 11 Inside Soap Awards , one " TRIC Award " and one National Television Award ; at the 2014 British Soap Awards , " Hollyoaks " won Best British Soap for the first time , breaking the 15 - year draw between rival soaps " EastEnders " and " Coronation Street ". It is also popular around the world . The longest - serving cast member is Nick Pickard , who has played Tony Hutchinson since the first episode in 1995 ; all the other original actors left before 2000 .