You Sound Like You're From Weatherfield

I’ve always been interested in accents and dialects and my party trick, if I was asked to perform one, is recognising where someone’s accent is from. I should actually work for MI5 now I think about it.

I blogged a few years ago about some of the accents we hear on Corrie.

But today, as the sad news broke of the passing of Roy Hudd, it struck me that it’s not only accents that make Corrie what it is, but names too. Some names just scream ‘working class’. And I hope that doesn’t offend anyone. My surname – Dawson – sounds very working class and British to me and I like it.  I’m actually double-barrelled but my other surname is Hungarian and difficult to pronounce so I avoid using it (sorry Grandad Schmolczer). And I was born a McDonnell; my birth family hail from the West coast of Ireland. You can understand why I want to keep it simple.

Some names scream money. A Farquhar, de Courcy or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha for example are not likely to be popping into the Kabin for a book of stamps and a quarter of mint imperials. Nor is a Rhind-Tutt or Rockerfeller.

But Shuttleworth is a VERY Corrie name. Archie Shuttleworth, played by the late Roy Hudd was the much loved undertaker who stole several hearts on Coronation Street. The character died back in 2018.

Diggory Compton, the bakery owning father of Molly Dobbs, has a great Corrie name. As do the Tinkers. The name Tinker in old English apparently means someone who mends pots and pans. Very working class. I like old English names like that, either relating to a clan or profession. Shuttleworth is said to mean “gated enclosure” and Compton means “short, straight valley”.

I’m not sure a great deal of research goes into the meaning of names and their corresponding characters on Corrie, but you can tell some names are chosen simply because of how they sound. Northern, and working class.

Here are some other Corrie names I like the sound of, and what they mean (thanks Ancestry.co.uk):

Jack and Vera Duckworth

English (chiefly Lancashire): habitational name from Duckworth Fold, in the borough of Bury, Lancashire, which is named from Old English fuce 'duck' + wor{dh} 'enclosure'.

Jack and Vera are lovely working class first names too. Jack is very much back in fashion now.

The Websters

The surname Webster is derived from the Old English word webbestre, which originally meant female weaver.

The Barlows

A habitational name from any of several places called Barlow, especially those in Lancashire and West Yorkshire. The former is named with Old English bere 'barley' + hlaw 'hill'; the latter probably has as its first element the derived adjective beren or the compound bere-ærn 'barn'.

Ena Sharples

The Anglo-Saxon name Sharples comes from the family having resided in Sharples Hall near Bolton in the county of Lancashire. This habitation surname was originally derived from the Old English word scearp meaning sharp and laes meaning pasture.

The name Ena means "fire" - which is apt.

The Grimshaws

Habitational name from either of two places in Lancashire, named Grimshaw, from the Old Norse personal name Grímr (see Grime) or Old English grima 'specter', 'goblin' + Old English sceaga 'copse'. Similar surnames: Grimstad, Renshaw, Grimley, Henshaw, Crawshaw, Redshaw, Grimsrud.

I love saying this name. Grim-shaw.

The Tanners.

Tanner is a mainly masculine given name meaning "leather maker."

Perfect.

The Ogdens.

Habitational name from some minor place, probably the one in West Yorkshire, called Ogden, from Old English ac ‘oak’ + denu ‘valley’.

Again Hilda is a nice old fashioned English name, you can imagine lots of Hildas around during the early 1900s into the 20th century. Not so many now. And Ogden sounds very familiar to me, coming from Rochdale.

There are loads more. Which names do you like the sound of?

@StevieDawson 

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Roy Hudd reveals secrets of the Coronation Street undertaker

There's a wonderful short comedy clip from BBC Radio 4 online which has made me smile. 

It's actor and comedian Roy Hudd, talking to Sandi Toksvig about being Archie Shuttleworth in Coronation Street.  

"I loved it. I loved his name, even for starters," Roy says. "Daran Little created him and he had this great catchphrase without anyone even knowing. He'd meet someone, look them up and down and then I'd say 'Five foot eight, I'm not wrong am I?' and everyone was shouting it out in the streets, all the kids and everyone!"

"But the funny one to me was that I had to bury the butcher, Fred Elliot. And there he is in the coffin and John Savident (who played Fred) said to me: 'I tell you what, we can get a laugh at the beginning of this scene' and I said 'how's that?' and he said 'Well just look into the coffin and do up my flies'."

Roy goes on to say that after he did that scene, he passed out and woke up sitting in a chair. 'And John's coming in, running in with a glass of water, gave it to me and asked if I was all right. I said yeah, drank the water, he got back in the coffin and we carried on with the scene!"

And he goes on to say that one of his favourite things from his time on the show was that loads of undertakers started to write to him at ITV asking him to come and give a talk. One of the letters was from an undertaker in Manchester who finished his letter with the words 'Yours, eventually.'

It's a good little, short listen and it's here.

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Roy Hudd reveals behind-the-scenes jokes as Corrie's undertaker

There's a wonderful radio interview with Roy Hudd where he talks about being Coronation Street's undertaker, Archie Shuttleworth. 

Roy was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 by Sandi Toksvig. The Corrie snippet is only just over two minutes long and is definitely worth listening to.

Roy talks about Archie's catchphrase and how the character was created by writer Daran Little.  He also reveals what happened when Archie had to bury Fred Elliot the butcher, I say the butcher.

Have a little listen to it here.


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Time to rejuvenate the Corrie royalty?

So Dennis has fled Weatherfield once again, this time with that Gloria. Part of me says good for him as I can see what a good match they might be. Part of me says Boo! for poor Rita. The rest of me (that would be the majority) just feels heartily disappointed at the massive waste of talent this has all been.

As became common under the reign of Phil Collinson, a lot was promised when we heard Dennis Tanner was returning to Coronation Street, but very little was actually delivered. The Powers That Be obviously knew the importance of this move, after all Philip Lowrie was pictured having been newly entered in the Guinness Book of Records, however after that came not very much at all.

I think the lack of anything decent for Philip Lowrie to do clearly demonstrates the wider issue of Corrie not really knowing quite what to do with its older characters. We should be cherishing them while we can, not bringing them back and doing nothing with them or changing personalities over night just because it's convenient to the plot. Once upon a time characters like Ena Sharples, Albert Tatlock, Annie Walker and Minnie Caldwell were the backbone of Coronation Street. Year after year they would be there in the snug of the Rovers or chatting away in the Corner Shop and although not a great deal happened, their performances were lively, truthful and entertaining. They had a niche and the writers of the time knew well what that was.

Even in more recent times we had the onscreen joy of Phyllis and Percy, Maud Grimes, Blanche Hunt and the Duckworths. I know we've lost many class acts in recent years, but that should only mean that the Corrie bosses invest even more in the older characters that remain.

Neither Audrey nor Deirdre have had decent, stand alone storylines in months (possibly years in Deirdre's case). We've seen how wonderful Anne Kirkbride can be recently and I want to see her do more than just disapprove of Tracy's behaviour or throw in a reference to her stuffed marrow. I've always loved Eileen Derbyshire and think Emily's character has stayed true to itself over the years, but the writers have let Barbara Knox down in recent times. Yes we see plenty of her onscreen, but she isn't the Rita we all know and love. The relationship with Dennis didn't work and the friendship with Tina continues to baffle me.

It wasn't that long ago that we gloried in the Book Group meetings in the cafe as Blanche, Rita and the others thumbed the pages of Mel Hutchwright's Hard Grindings. We need more of this, it's the kind of material Corrie thrives on and it's been absent for far too long.

I'm not sad to see the back of Gloria Price but I would desperately love to see Stephanie Cole return as Roy's mum, Sylvia. She was magnificant. I would also dearly love to see Roy Hudd reprise his role as undertaker Archie Shuttleworth. There was real chemistry between Roy and Sue Nicholls as Audrey. Much better than that dreadful Marc/Marcia debacle. And let's develop Norris and Mary a bit more - their touching dance in the Rovers backyard after Hayley's funeral was wonderfully moving.

I also think we need to see some new older characters brought in to freshen things up. I've often thought Lynda Baron would make a great addition to the Corrie cast. She has appeared once before back in the 1990s and more recently, Lynda was fantastic as Violet Carson in The Road to Coronation Street.

So do you agree more needs to be done with Corrie's older characters? Who would you like to see join the ranks? I'm sure I read somewhere that Stuart Blackburn wanted another older character in the cast - get your suggestions in, he might be reading!


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Anybody know who's doing the Coronation Street funerals?

We don't know the full casualty list yet, but if we're due to have four quick-fire funerals on Coronation Street, I'm just wondering if Archie Shuttleworth (Roy Hudd) will be involved?

Does anybody happen to know?

I hope so. I always enjoyed his appearances on Corrie. I loved it when he asked Audrey to do hairdressing for the departed. And I wonder if the "funeral teas" will match Blanche's exacting standards?

My own blog is here

Archie Shuttleworth returns for Blanche's funeral

There's news for fans of Archie Shuttleworth, played by Roy Hudd. Archie will be returning to Coronation Street for Blanche Hunt's funeral later this year. Digital Spy reveal that Blanche's funeral will get a double episode to commemorate the late Maggie Jones' career on the soap.

Fans will remember that Archie and Blanche had a bit of a fling once, back in 2002.

Archie Shuttleworth competition winner announced

Congratulations to Colin Wake who is the lucky winner of our Archie Shuttleworth competition. The question we asked was: What was Archie Shuttleworth's profession? And the answer was: Undertaker.

Colin wins a copy of the brand new autobiography by Roy Hudd and it'll be on its way to him this week, battling its way through the postal strike!

With thanks again to the generous people from Michael O'Mara publishers. If you'd like to buy Roy Hudd's new book, full details are here.

Last chance to win Roy Hudd's autobiography

It's your last chance to be in with a chance of winning the new autobiography of Roy Hudd, who played Coronation Street's Archie Shuttleworth.

The deadline for entries is 5pm today, Friday 10th October. For full competition details, have a look here.

Corrie's Celebrity Cash in the Attic

Roy Hudd, who played Archie "Five foot eight, if I'm not mistaken" Shuttleworth on Coronation Street, sold off Coronation Street memorabilia for charity in the new BBC series of Celebrity Cash in the Attic.

Roy took over the rostrum to auction off the latest signed group photograph of the Corrie cast, a hat belonging to Fred Elliott and a blouse worn by Blanche Hunt which sold for £190 to loud applause. Auction-goers laughed as he took time out to regale them with Corrie anecdotes including the time he fainted during one of his last scenes with John Savident who was supposed to be lying dead in a coffin - but scrambled out to get him a glass of water.

I'm not sure when the programme will be broadcast on TV but if anyone finds out, do please let me know.

Roy Hudd releases autobiography

Roy Hudd, who played Coronation Street's undertaker, Archie '5ft 10" if I'm not mistaken' Shuttleworth, will be releasing his autobigraphy later this year. Roy will release his book in October 2009 and promises to include behind-the-scenes snippets from his time spent on Corrie.

With thanks to the publishers at Michael O'Mara Books for letting the blog know about this upcoming book.