Which current Corrie character should 'Do a Swindley'?

The great British actor Arthur Lowe may be best known for his role as Captain George Mainwaring in Dad's Army but he also played the role of Leonard Swindley in Coronation Street in 1960-61 and 1962-65.

In the BBC's Desert Island Discs, Arthur revealed a little about his time on Coronation Street. He said that he was contracted to work for the first few episodes, which lasted more than six and a half years after his Corrie character Leonard Swindley was given his own series called Pardon the Expression and another hourly series called Turn out the Lights.

You can listen to it here.  Arthur talking about his role on Corrie begins at 18.16 - but it is rather brief.

I wonder though, which if any, of the current Corrie characters would you like to see be given a series of their own now?

David Neilson as Roy Cropper, I reckon.

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What's in a soap surname?

I've been thinking about this topic for a while but have not had the time or a motive to write about it. Well, today's the day. In Tvor's awards this week, Frosty asks why is Jenny Bradley referred to as Jenny Bradley instead of just plain Jenny. I don't know if they meant on the show or on this blog and other websites, but this led me to do this blog post.

Surnames are an important part of someone's identity, although not among Welsh people. Before Wales was invaded by England, a man's name in Welsh was connected to his father's (i.e. Gwilym ap Dafydd means William son of David). This wasn't used for women's names. So when the English invaded, they Anglicised the Welsh names with ap Gwilym becoming Gwilym's and then Williams. So suddenly the Welsh had thousands of people surnamed Jones, Davies, Evans, Hughes or Williams. So to differentiate they started calling themselves after their homes and that's how it is since. I don't know if it's the same in Ireland or Scotland.

In England there are some examples of this with Johnson, Michaelson, Nicholson and Jameson, but English surnames also come from various jobs like Baker, Barker, Cooper, Carter and Smith. So that leads us to Corrie.

Corrie characters' surnames are also very important to their personality. While we may refer to them as Elsie, Ena, Bet, Annie or Hilda, there is no doubt that their surnames of Tanner, Sharples, Lynch, Walker and Ogden are just as important. What I love about watching those old episodes is how in a row, Elsie and Ena or Annie and Hilda would use their full name when shouting each other. The same goes for men. Enemies Ken and Mike would always refer to each other not with their forenames but with their surnames Barlow and Baldwin. That may have been an imitation of the Ewing/Barnes rivalry of Dallas, but yet again it was a cold and impersonal exchange that provided us with a 20 year old rivalry. 

We are in an age now that everyone calls each other by their first names, regardless of age. In a couple of decades there probably will be no referrals to 'Mr so and so' or 'Mrs so and so'. Even in Corrie now, characters like Rita and Emily are referred to by youngsters with their first names whereas on Corrie 20 years ago they might have been referred to as Mrs Sullivan or Mrs Bishop. And certainly only a few people called Annie Walker or Ena Sharples by their first name 40 or 50 years ago. 

But Corrie characters' surnames aren't as important as they once were. We only refer to Maria, Fiz, Julie, Katy, Maddie, Sophie or Steph first names only. The age of a character's surname being of importance is slowly slipping away, in any soap. There are a certain generation of characters whose surname is an integral part of their identity - Pat Butcher, Pauline Fowler, Dot Cotton, Peggy Mitchell, Alf Roberts, Albert Tatlock, Martha Longhurst, Minnie Caldwell, Mr Swindley, Jack Sugden, Annie Sudgen, Eric Pollard, Alan Turner, Mr Wilks, Harold Bishop, Helen Daniels, Mrs Mangel, Meg Richardson, Amy Turtle, J. R. Ewing and Bobby Ewing.  

Pat Phoenix felt that Elsie's surname was such an important part of her character, that when the idea of her getting married was approached in 1967, she refused to have a new surname. So despite him being a Yank, Steve had to have a working class English surname! When she married Alan Howard, she took his name but returned to Tanner when they divorced. The same thing happened when EastEnders character Pauline Fowler remarried. Her portrayer, Wendy Richard, refused for Pauline to change her surname to Macer, stating that Fowler was an important part of Pauline's character. It has been revealed that Wendy Richard left the soap later that year because of the producers' decision for Pauline to remarry. So there are some people who have a strong view over surnames. 

So let me get this straight.
You want me to change my
surname again?! 

On the other hand you've got characters like Rita, Gail, Deirdre or EastEnders' Pat who have had so many surnames. Their surnames could show for how long viewers have been watching the show. If they refer to Rita Fairclough, they've been watching the show before 1992 or Deirdre Langton they have been watching before 1981 or Pat Butcher they've been watching EastEnders before 1995. Even Betty became a Williams after she'd been a Turpin on-screen for 26 years, and yet nobody was bothered. Emily's been a Bishop since 1972. If she would remarry now, would you be bothered? Or even Audrey not being Mrs Roberts? 

As for Jenny Bradley, I suppose she is being addressed this way because she is a returning character and we want viewers to remember her. Her father Alan was referred to as 'Alan Bradley' many times and probably to separate him from another Alan who was in the show 10-15 years earlier, Alan Howard. Over time I'm sure she will just be addressed as just plain Jenny.

So what's your view? Does a surname still hold an important part in a soap character's identity or is it a thing of the past?  

By Llifon

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Fab Photo Friday - July 26th 2013

It's Friday again so it's time for this week's fab Coronation Street photo. With Carla proposing to Peter this week, here's another couple getting engaged who eschewed tradition when Emily asked Leonard to marry her. Let's hope Peter and Carla's relationship fares better than this one.

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Corrie A-Z: G is for Gamma Garments

On Rosamund Street back in the 1960s, there was a haberdashery shop called Gamma Garments that was part of a shop chain. Owned by the never seen Mr Papagopolous, who was of Greek descent, the shop was managed by Leonard Swindley and Emily Nugent. Papagopolous was a precursor to EastEnders launderette owner Mr Papadopolous who was also never seen (although he did make sporadic appearances).

 

Emily merged her baby linen business with Swindley’s draper business in 1961 when they both faced bankruptcy but Swindley sold the shop to Papagopolous and Gamma Garments opened in 1962 with Swindley and Nugent as manager and assistant. They were of one mind and formed a wonderful partnership and were already friends through their Mission connections and Emily was smitten with an unwitting Swindley. The shop was the background for this budding romance that resulted in Emily proposing to Swindley in 1964. He accepted but Emily jilted him at the altar!

 

Doreen Lostock worked in the shop in the early 1960s as did Elsie Tanner in 1965. Swindley left the area when he was promoted to work in the head office of Gamma in 1965 and the shop was put in the hands of ruthless Neil Crossley who was a stark contrast to bumbling Swindley. He would take the profits of the shop for himself. Crossley managed to charm Sheila Birtles and she fell pregnant. They later married and moved to Sheffield. In 1967 Papagopolous decided there was no future for haberdashery and the world of fashion was changing. Gamma was transformed into a boutique and Emily returned from nursing her father with a modern look. Dennis Tanner and Lucille Hewitt were taken on as assistants and the shop continued like this until Papagopolous made the shock decision to sell the shop in 1968. Dave Smith bought the shop and opened a florist called ‘The Posy Bowl’ with Elsie as manageress.

 

And thus the days of Gamma Garments came to an end. These days the shop’s a distant memory and is part of Corrie’s halcyon years. The shop was mentioned last year by Emily at Rita and Dennis’ engagement party.

 

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Corrie originals - Arthur Lowe as Leonard Swindley

First appeared: 16th December 1960

Last appeared: 31st March 1965

Arthur Lowe played the role of pompous draper and lay preacher Leonard Swindley between 1960 and 1965 and then in spin-offs Pardon the Expression (1965-1966) and Turn out the Lights (1967).

Born in Hayfield in Derbyshire in 1915, Arthur Lowe made his acting debut in 1945 in the theatre and made his film debut three years later in London Belongs to Me alongside Richard Attenborough. During the 1950s and 1960s he took roles in The Three Musketeers (1954), ITV Play of the Week (1958-1960), No Hiding Place (1960-1961), Z Cars (1962), ITV Television Playhouse (1960-1963) and Armchair Theatre (1960-1968).

In late 1960, he won the part of 44 year old Leonard Swindley in new serial Coronation Street. Making his debut in the third episode, Lowe would play Swindley for five years. During his tenure, Swindley managed clothes shop Gamma Garments and was chairman of the Mission committee. Among his storylines were clashing with Mission caretaker Ena Sharples; running for council; organising various community activities; and becoming engaged and jilted by assistant Emily Nugent who’d admired him from afar. Swindley left the area in 1965 when he was promoted as Gamma Garments’ Area Manager and left the management of the shop in Emily’s capable hands, who he had remained friends with him despite her jilting him. During his period on the cobbles, Lowe appeared in 200 episodes. Swindley’s fate hasn’t been addressed in the show. In 1980, he sent a telegram congratulating Emily on her second wedding to Arnold Swain. In 2012, Emily referred to Swindley while reminiscing about JFK’s assassination in 1963.

Swindley’s popularity amongst viewers garnered him his own sitcoms after his departure from Coronation Street with both Pardon the Expression and Turn out the Lights being broadcast between 1965 and 1967. In actual fact, Swindley was not a role Arthur enjoyed playing, even though he played it for a total of seven years. It is fair to say that Lowe is the most successful of those actors who left the serial and is indeed best known for playing another character, who was indeed as pompous as Swindley. In 1968, Lowe won the leading role of Captain George Mainwaring in new BBC sitcom Dad’s Army. Dad’s Army was a hit with viewers and in 2004 it was ranked 4th as the Greatest British Sitcom. The sitcom, mainly consisting a cast of vintage actors, ran until 1977 and made Lowe and Mainwaring a household name. Indeed, it is Mainwaring that Lowe is best remembered for portraying, and many people are surprised that he was a regular character on Coronation Street in the early 1960s. Concurrently with starring in Dad’s Army, Lowe had roles in Doctor at Large (1971), The Last of the Baskets (1971-1972) and as the narrator in children TV series Mr Men in 1974.

When Dad’s Army came to an end in 1977, Lowe later secured leading roles in other sitcoms like Bless Me Father (1978-1981) and Potter (1979-1981). Sadly by the early 1980s, Lowe’s alcoholism spiralled out of control and in 1982 he died of a stroke, before he was due to perform on stage in Birmingham. He was 66. He’d made his final interview on Pebble Mill at One only a few hours before his death. He later made posthumous appearances in sitcom A. J. Bentworth, BA in 1982 where he had the leading role and then in TV series Wagner in 1983 that starred Laurence Olivier and Richard Burton.

Arthur had married fellow actress Joan Cooper in 1948 and son Stephen was born in 1953.

Did you ever see or meet Arthur Lowe? Are you fan of Captain Mainwaring and Dad's Army? Do you know any trivia about Lowe?

Research from Wikipedia, Corriepedia and IMDB.

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Top 60 Corrie Characters - No 60 and 59

With thanks to everyone who voted in all of our polls here on the Coronation Street Blog over the last few weeks as we aimed to find out some of your favourite Corrie characters of all time. And now... the poll results in reverse order.

60. Brian Tilsley 1978-1989 (7 votes)

Gail’s first husband who met a grisly end when he was stabbed to death outside a nightclub in 1989. His proudest moment was when son Nicky was born in 1980. He did believe daughter Sarah Louise (b. 1987) was fathered by his Australian cousin Ian Latimer but a DNA test proved Brian was the father. ‘Our Brian’ was often caught in the crossfire between Anglican wife Gail and dominant Catholic mother Ivy. A mechanic, he ran a garage in partnership with Ron Sykes from 1982 to 1989.

Should Brian be at 60? Were you a fan of him? Leave a comment!

59. Leonard Swindley 1960-1965 (11 votes)

The pompous draper who managed Gamma Garments under Mr Papagopolous and worked alongside Emily Nugent who admired him from afar. She made a leap year proposal in 1964 but later jilted him. A member of the Glad Tidings Mission committee, he constantly clashed with the caretaker Ena Sharples, most prominently when he caught her drinking in the snug during working hours. He left the street in 1965 when he got a new job – in Wilmington on Sea perhaps??

Should Swindley be at 59? Do you remember him in Corrie? Were you a fan? Leave a comment!


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