Here we go with the fourth of nine guest blog posts from David at Corriepedia as their site celebrates 10 years online!
Hello! Flaming Nora has kindly agreed to host a blog post from me relating to the tenth anniversary of Corriepedia, the Coronation Street Wiki. After some thinking, I've decided to expand on something my friend and fellow admin John brought up in his interview with the wonderful Conversation Street podcast last week.
To help readers understand why these episodes are so special, and why David from Corriepedia rates them as hidden gems, you might want to read his original blog post here which explains all.
Here we go with the fourth of nine. The remaining five gems will be blogged every morning over the next few days.
Martha is buried (#359, 20/5/64)
"I've known you since your bottom showed through your bloomers, Lily Longhurst as was. You were only takin' her with you to use 'er. You know it, I know it and God knows it, and I've got the terrible feelin' that she knew it an' all."
Onto the Great Purge of 1964.
What could be a routine episode with Martha Longhurst's funeral is elevated by some brilliant touches and the presence of her daughter and son-in-law Lily and Wilf Haddon. Martha had always made out that she and Lily were close but we see here that Lily is a snob and nothing like her mother. The funeral tea brims with tension as Lily makes out that she was the perfect daughter and we wait for Ena to reach her breaking point and let rip. Without ever seeing Martha and Lily in a scene together, we understand their relationship perfectly.
This was the first on-screen burial and, however much a mistake it was to axe her, Martha is given a grand send-off. There's a sequence in the middle of the episode lasting several minutes where the three-car cortege winds its way through the Weatherfield streets on its way to the cemetery, all done on location in Ordsall and set to incidental music (Si Simple est Celle Historie by Pierre Arvay and his orchestra). All of these streets are long gone so it's a fascinating window into the past.
As a farewell to Martha, it's pitch-perfect, with most of the mourners going through the motions. Because Martha wasn't a nice woman, she was a vicious gossip who was at best pitied and at worst viewed in contempt (I don't think it's a coincidence that we got Hilda not long afterwards). Her funeral is well-attended and everyone is polite but when the Viaduct Club comic Charlie Moffitt rolls up and starts entertaining the regulars with his pranks, Martha is immediately forgotten and we end with Ena and Minnie - the only ones truly grieving - taking their places in the snug, now facing an empty chair.
As a sidenote, the preceding episode, which immediately follows Martha's death, is on the ITV60 boxset and is well worth getting.
See also:
Hidden Gem 1
Hidden Gem 1
Hidden Gem 5 will be blogged tomorrow. And don't forget to check out Corriepedia and follow them on Twitter too.
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This only makes me wish for all of the early episodes to come to dvd all the more. I ADORE Ena, Minnie and Martha scenes. Classic!! X
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