Early on in the year, it was announced that Anne W. Gibbons would be taking over from Michael Glynn as producer. Anne would be the programme's first female producer. She took over the position in June, but due to the 1979 ITV Strike, her work wasn't seen on screen until January 1980. The last episode to be shown before the strike was Episode 542 which was also the last episode aired before the programme's summer break.