Plot[]
Swindley returns to the street from Hilda Barnett's, having heard about Martha's death. Ena lays Martha out herself in the vestry bedroom and she and Albert take turns watching over her. Stuart Hodges pays his respects and meets Swindley. They agree that the funeral arrangements must be left to her frequently absent daughter Lily Haddon who, along with husband Wilf, goes through 7 Mawdsley Street to find her mother's insurance policies. They find that for nine months she had been taking glyceryl trinitrate for a heart condition that she had never told anyone about. Lily regrets that she had never got on with her mother. A happy Minnie returns from her convalescent holiday in Southport and goes straight to the Rovers. Len gently breaks the news of Martha's death to her and she breaks down. She goes to the vestry but refuses to see the body. Neither she nor Ena can understand why Martha never told them she was ill. A Whit walk goes down the street, watched by the residents. The regulars remember Martha. Insurance man George Entwistle tells Lily and Wilf that Martha's policies come to only £22, 4s and 9d and they'll have to pay the rest of the funeral for themselves. Ena calls on the Haddons and insists the funeral tea is held in the vestry. Minnie joins her at Martha's house and they look through her belongings. They find a record made on Blackpool's Golden Mile on which she swears her love for a strange man named Phil and they sing I'll String Along With You to each other. Ena dates the recording to 1934 when Percy Longhurst went off on a trip with another woman. She's pleased to know her old friend once had some fun in her life.
Cast[]
Regular cast[]
- Annie Walker - Doris Speed
- Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie
- Albert Tatlock - Jack Howarth
- Frank Barlow - Frank Pemberton
- Ena Sharples - Violet Carson
- Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant
- Concepta Hewitt - Doreen Keogh
- Harry Hewitt - Ivan Beavis
- Elsie Tanner - Patricia Phoenix
- Miss Nugent - Eileen Derbyshire
- Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson
- Leonard Swindley - Arthur Lowe (Uncredited)
- Martha Longhurst - Lynne Carol (Voice only, uncredited)
Guest cast[]
- Stuart Hodges - Vernon Joyner
- Lily Haddon - Stephanie Bidmead
- Wilf Haddon - Henry Livings
- Billy Rabbitt - Reg Pardoe
- Polly Thorpe - Flo Fallows
- George Entwistle - Royston Tickner
Places[]
- Coronation Street
- Rovers Return Inn - Public/snug
- Glad Tidings Mission Hall - Vestry
- 7 Mawdsley Street - Downstairs room
Notes[]
- The programme title is displayed over the photocaption of Ordsall's terraced rooftops used mainly for the closing credits.
- In a continuity error, Ena Sharples states that Martha Longhurst was the youngest of the snug trio whereas she was the eldest.
- Minnie Caldwell is seen getting out of a taxi and then supposedly unlocking the front door of No.9, even though she lives at No.5. This was due to a shortened version of the exterior set having to be erected in the small studio.
- Lynne Carol is heard as Martha Longhurst on a record made in 1934 on Blackpool's Golden Mile. The actor playing Phil on the same record is uncredited.
- From Episode 172 (6th August 1962) to Episode 459 (5th May 1965) the programme featured a standardised cast list for the regular characters. This means that in this episode the following were credited but did not appear: Lucille Hewitt (Jennifer Moss), Valerie Barlow (Anne Reid), Kenneth Barlow (William Roache) and Florrie Lindley (Betty Alberge).
- TV Times synopsis: Minnie and Swindley return to sadness, but Ena finds that hard work leaves little time for grief
- Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 6,436,000 homes (6th place).
- This episode was included in the Network DVD collection ITV at 60, released on 26th October 2015.
Notable dialogue[]
Leonard Swindley (about Martha Longhurst): "I always found her very willing."
Ena Sharples: "You found her catty and nasty and don't claim anything else, Leonard Swindley. She wasn't the biggest comedian we had round here but she was good company for me."
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Annie Walker: "Well I remember the time when widows wore black for at least three months. Nowadays you're laid out in one, buried in three, forgotten in five."
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Len Fairclough (about Martha Longhurst): "She always looked as though she'd lost a quid and found a ha'penny".
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Ena Sharples: "Well, that's one summer she got a kiss without a kick coming after it, though God knows, one summer in sixty-eight isn't all that much to live for."
| May 1964 episodes |
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