Neil Alderton directed 62 episodes Coronation Street from July 2004 to July 2007, including one double episode, and from August 2016. He won the chance to work on Granada drama productions as part of a talent initiative put forward by the company in 2004 whereby the winners would be mentored for a year by an experienced director with a view to working on Coronation Street and Emmerdale. The other winning candidates who eventually worked on the programme were Sean Crotty, Mark McKillop, Pip Banyard and Dayle Evans-Kar.