Emily Bishop

Emily Bishop
Emily Bishop in 2008
Coronation Street
Portrayed by	Eileen Derbyshire
Duration	1960, 1961, 1962–1966, 1967–
First appearance	21 December 1960 Episode 4
Created by	Tony Warren
Book appearances	Coronation Street: The Complete Saga
Profile
Occupation	Charity Shop Volunteer
Residence	3 Coronation Street
Relationships Parents Edward Nugent Agnes Nugent Sibling(s) Norah Seddon Brenda Nugent Joan Nugent Marjorie Nugent Edgar Nugent Spouse(s) Ernest Bishop (1972–1978) Arnold Swain (1980) Romances Leonard Swindley (1962-1964) Bernard (1994) Ramsay Clegg (2009) Nieces and nephews Freda Nugent Spider Nugent

Emily Bishop (née Nugent; previously Swain ) is a long-standing fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Eileen Derbyshire, the character is the longest-standing female character in the series after first appearing onscreen during the episode airing on 21 December 1960.^[1]

Creation

Background

An early image of Emily Bishop as she appeared in 1961.

The character of Emily was originally intended to be a very minor role in the series, initially played by a non-speaking extra in Episode 4 on 21 December 1960.^[2] However, the character became more central in 1961 when actress Eileen Derbyshire took on the role for Episode 15 on Friday, 27 January. At first, the character was simply called "Miss Nugent"; it wasn't until 1962 that she was given the name "Emily" by the show's writers. She continued to be credited on the programme as "Miss Nugent" until 1969.^[2]

Although rarely seen, the set of Emily's kitchen is the oldest surviving set. (The second oldest set is Ken's kitchen, with the famous avocado-green tiles.)^[2] All other sets have been redecorated at least once since we first saw Emily's kitchen. Emily's back room/parlour, however, was redecorated off screen. In the story a fire was caused by a candle left unattended by Spider and Toyah when they made their way upstairs after a romantic evening. Spider was able to track down matching wallpaper to cover up the fire damage so that Emily would not know what had happened, but in reality, the wallpaper was no longer obtainable, so the whole set was re-decorated in a very similar style. Emily has lived at No. 3 Coronation Street since 1972.

Casting

In December 1960, actress Eileen Derbyshire was approached by Granada to play a part in the show, but the actress was tied up in a Christmas stage play. Of this Derbyshire said: "Four weeks after it started (airing) they said I could either wait until they introduced a new family into the programme or take the tiny part of a little, shy woman helper at the Mission Hall" going on to say "I have always been a fatalist, so I took the bird in one hand, not realising what a momentous decision I was making".^[3]

In January 2009, a Coronation Street spokesperson denied claims that the character of Emily, along with other established actresses who portray characters Rita Sullivan and Betty Williams were axed by producer Kim Crowther in a bid to save money on salaries.^[4]

Development

During an interview in 1991, Derbyshire spoke about her character's thiry years in the show, stating: "The writers have a tough enough task as it is, trying to find new storylines for a character who has been in the serial for three decades." Going on to say "I just get on with it. Emily has had a more colourful past than you might think. She has had lots of men friends and liaisons. In the early days, when they were stuck for something to do with her, I think the writers used to say 'Let's give Emily another boyfriend.' I've lost count of the number of men friends she has had"^[3]

Over the years, the character has proved her good neighbour image by taking in a number of lodgers, most notably Percy Sugden, Curly Watts, her nephew Spider, and current lodger Norris Cole.

Storylines

In 1964, she was set to marry Leonard Swindley, her boss at Gamma Garments, but jilted him at the altar. A very moral woman, Emily prided herself on saving herself for marriage, but her resolve was eventually weakened and she had sex with her Hungarian revolutionary boyfriend Miklos Zadic in 1968. She later confided in her friend Valerie Barlow that she had no regrets about the encounter; Emily was, by that time, 39 years old and assumed it would be now or never.

In 1969, with Miklos out of the picture, Emily fell in love with mild-mannered Ernest Bishop after meeting him at his mother's funeral. Their courtship would be tested many times over and lasted three years. In August 1971, they were engaged. The next year, Ernest was jailed in Majorca and subsequently freed, and it was at this time that they got married, broadcast across the UK on Easter Monday.

Despite rough patches, Emily and Ernest's marriage was relatively stable and they loved each other very much. Emily miscarried in 1972 and started the menopause in 1974, dashing their chances of having a child of their own. This led to many arguments between them, and they were forced to re-evaluate their marriage after just two years. They turned to short-term fostering to assuage Emily's need to connect with young children.

Ernest—portrayed by actor Stephen Hancock—was killed off when Hancock clashed with the management in Granada Television and the then-producer of Coronation Street, Bill Podmore. Ernest was shot and killed in a botched robbery in January 1978, which left Emily devastated. Just as in years past, Emily only started to heal from heartbreak by playing with a baby, (Deirdre's infant daughter Tracy).

To occupy her time, Emily started running a café, with Gail Potter as her assistant. She sold the business in 1980 to Jim and Alma Sedgewick. In many respects, Emily has never let Ernest go, but did marry again, to Arnold Swain. He unfortunately turned out to be a bigamist. After she ended their relationship, he showed up at her home and planned a murder-suicide. Emily told him God would not approve of what he was doing. Arnold insisted she was wrong and went upstairs to find a Bible. While he was gone, Emily ran outside for help. Arnold was sent to an institution where he died ten months later. When factory boss Mike Baldwin needed a new wages clerk, it was to Emily he turned, and so, in May 1982, Emily started working in the same job held by her husband at the time of his death.

In 1992, Emily had a mental breakdown. She couldn't remember appointments, would become confused and her appearance suffered. Lodger Percy Sugden, protecting her good name, would cover up for these very unusual actions. He became increasingly concerned about her behaviour and alerted Emily's friends and neighbours. One day, Emily disappeared from home without a word. When friends and neighbours ignored Percy's call for assistance, he raised the alarm and went to the police who found Emily wandering aimlessly, clearly having suffered a medical depressive breakdown. When Emily had recovered enough to come home from hospital, she told Percy that he was a good friend, and thanked him for all he had done. Percy left No.3 in 1997 and moved into Mayfield Court—sheltered accommodation for the elderly.

In recent years, Emily has kept her moral resolve and was the Street's only churchgoer until young Sophie Webster. She fell in love once more, in 1994, with Bernard, a vicar. He broke off the engagement when he found out she had suffered a mental breakdown. Due to his past, he could not face the possibility of it recurring. Since then, Emily swore off love completely, pushing herself into more topical endeavours instead. In 1998, when her nephew Spider arrived on the scene, Emily took him in and they became fast friends as well as partners in saving the Red Rec from Alf Roberts' proposed plans for a "Millenium Bowl". Emily spent a night up in a tree standing by her convictions that the Red Rec was the last green space in Weatherfield and it deserved preservation.

In January 2003, Richard Hillman, ex-husband of Gail Platt, attempted to murder Emily for monetary reasons.^[5] He broke in while she was watching television while babysitting for Ashley and Maxine Peacock. Richard knocked her unconscious with a crowbar but was interrupted by Maxine's early return. He attacked her with the same weapon, killing her instantly. Emily made a full recovery but suffered terrible guilt for surviving when Maxine didn't. Later that year, she prevented a murder when grief-crazed Brenda Fearns almost jumped off a forty-three foot church tower with youngster Bethany Platt.

In early 2006, Emily befriended Ed Jackson, a new member of the congregation at her church. He soon became a regular visitor to her house, doing odd jobs and the like, and they remained friends after he confessed that he had recently been released from prison. However, Emily was devastated when Ed admitted why he had been in prison—he was the man who had shot and killed Ernest in 1978.^[6] He told her that, after finding God while in prison, he had come looking for her, attempting to atone for his misdemeanours. Enraged, Emily threw him out, and went on to question her faith. Eventually, on 10 March 2006, Emily forgave Ed as he contemplated suicide.

On 22 August 2008, Norris found an envelope in Emily's drawer while looking to see what her PIN was when she had forgotten it, it read; "to be opened after my death". Norris told Rita about it and she told Emily about the situation so Emily agreed to tell Norris. She made him promise not to tell anyone but it turned out to be plans for her funeral. Norris discovered that this envelope wasn't the one he had seen and tried hard to find out what really was in the envelope. It was revealed to be old photos of Rita from her singing days.

In November 2008, Emily encountered Jed Stone, a former resident of Coronation Street, when she was working at the canteen at Weatherfield General Hospital. She was amazed as it had been 40 years since she had last seen him. Taking pity on him as he had no home to go to, Emily invited him to come and lodge with her and Norris at Number 3. When Jed went missing in December of that year Emily was very worried as he had left his cap behind. When Maria Connor returned from holiday she was surprised to learn that Jed had disappeared as they both had believed Tony Gordon was a killer. After Maria accused Tony of killing Jed both Maria and Emily were relieved when Jed turned up "unharmed" but Jed was really hiding marks on his neck from when Tony had strangled him. Emily was later upset to hear that Jed had suffered a second heart attack after he received a visit from Tony's henchman.

In early 2009, Emily's storylines included her lodger Norris' girlfriend Mary Taylor calling around and cooking them international meals and parking her caravan outside their house, much to the annoyance of their neighbours. Later the same year, Norris's half-brother Ramsay Clegg arrived after their not seeing each other for 40 years. Emily tried to get Norris to forgive Ramsay before his return to Australia, and in doing so began to fall for the man. She was very upset when he departed the Street in August 2009, and was later shocked when he died suddenly on his flight. She condemned Norris for treating Ramsay in the cold manner that he did.

Reception

In 2001, a storyline involving Emily lending her nephew Spider £15,000 for a new business venture was criticised for not being authentic. Journalist Tony Bridgland writing for the Telegraph said of the plot; "It is beginning to look as though Coronation Street's researchers failed to do enough homework to make their plot watertight."^[7] The Guardian compiled a list of ten favourite Christmas moments from soap; on the list was the 2002 Christmas episode where Richard Hillman came close to suffocating Emily with a pillow as she slept.^[8]

Discussing the scene where Emily was attacked by Richard Hillman in 2003, critic Chris Diamond wryly commented: "Surely Emily wouldn't be in the line of fire? Poor, drippy, sensible shoes Emily? But she was and the scene where Richard laid the blow on her was one of the most genuinely shocking things I have ever seen on television. I just couldn't believe my eyes. And that was where the genius of the episode lay. I knew Emily was going to get it. I saw Richard creeping up behind her and I was fully cognoscent of the fact that the crowbar in his hand was not for snagging her cardie. But I was sure that even at this point something was going to happen that would divert Richard from his target. When the blow actually fell I was utterly amazed."^[9]

Dek Hogan writing for media website Digital Spy in 2005 praised Eileen Derbyshire's comedic abilities; "the book club storyline doesn't exactly fill me with joy but does have the advantage of giving some fine comedic material to the underused talents of Eileen Derbyshire. As Emily Bishop she has shown a major flair for these scenes in the past."^[10] In 2006, writer Eve-Marie Wilson in an article criticised the plot which saw Emily forgiving her husband's killer: "...on Coronation Street recently, Emily Bishop was having a crisis of conscience, could she or couldn’t she forgive Ed, the man who had killed her husband all those years ago. After two or three episodes the matter was resolved. Had that incident occurred on a soap opera she’d still be undecided six months later!"^[11]

Video and DVD references

• Coronation Street: The Early Days. Video. Granada Media Group, 2001.

References

External links

• Emily Bishop at ITV Soaps
• WhatsOnTV Profile