Emily Bishop (née Nugent) was a character in Coronation Street who first appeared in Episode 4 (21 Dec 1960) as a walk on part, played by an unknown actress, but came back in Episode 15 (27 Jan 1961) as a full time character played by Eileen Derbyshire but Derbyshire took maternity leave in 1966-67 and then returned. In 1964 "Miss Nugent" as Leonard Swindley called her, came close to marrying Leonard but called it off. Emily later married Ernie Bishop in 1972 but he was fatally shot in a bungled wages snatch in 1978. Emily was the longest serving female character but left for Peru in Ep 8807/8808 (1 Jan 2016). From 1961 to 2016 Emily was played by actress Eileen Derbyshire, who decided to take a break from the role in late 2015 which was later extended. After 55 years in the role, it was likely Eileen may not return to the show, but in 2019 she agreed to make a cameo as Emily which occurred in Ep 9895/9896 (9 Oct 2019).
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Emily was born to James Nugent and Agnes Nugent on the 18th October 1929 in Harrogate. She was followed by siblings, and after their mother died Emily ended up taking care of them when her father had difficulty. She later got independence when she moved to Weatherfield in the 1950s and opened up her own shop.
1960-1966[]
In December 1960, Emily appeared at The Mission Hall and tended to Ena Sharples after she collapsed whilst Leonard Swindley called for an ambulance.
Miss Nugent returned in January 1961 and soon got a job working for Gamma Garments. She was always known as Miss Nugent until she revealed her first name. Emily left the area in December 1961 but returned in June 1962. She dated her supervisor Leonard Swindley and they almost married in 1964 but she realised she could not go through with the wedding. In February 1966 Emily left Weatherfield to look after her ill father James in Harrogate. She decided to return to Coronation Street for good in January 1967 when one of her sisters took over looking after their father.
1967-2016[]
Emily returned to Weatherfield in January 1967. She soon became friends with photographer Ernie Bishop. They married in 1972, by then, Emily's ill father had passed away. Emily was quite strait laced but also a bit of a gossip at times. Emily and Ernie never had children, as Emily was in her 40s when she married Ernie in 1972. Ernie could be a bit of a pessimist but they enjoyed a happy marriage. In January 1978. Ernie was shot by 2 gunmen in a bungled wages snatch. He was rushed to hospital, and had emergency surgery. Emily fainted when she heard the news. She waited in the corridor. Ernie died on the operating theatre table and the surgeon had to break the bad news to Emily. The 2 gunmen were arrested. Emily wished she had children with Ernie. His body was released and he was buried on the 18th January 1978. Emily soon had to adapt to life without Ernie. She accepted that he was dead and that she had to get on with life again. In 1980, Emily met pet shop owner Arnold Swain.
In January 2003 she was attacked and nearly killed by Richard Hillman as he wanted her house to pay off his debt problems. Maxine Peacock walked in and ended up being murdered. Emily survived, but the truth about Richard wouldn't come out until the following month and he later perished when trying to kill himself and his family.
In December 2005 Emily met Ed Jackson. In March 2006 she discovered he was her husband Ernie's killer and told him to leave. But she later forced herself to forgive him as he was full of guilt and contemplating suicide. She gave him Ernie's camera, and told Ed to send her a photo of him every year to let her know he was alright.
In 2009 Emily befriended Norris' estranged half-brother Ramsay Clegg, whom Norris blamed for the death of their mother. However Ramsay later died when he left to return to Australia, which turned out to be a brain tumour. Emily was devastated and blamed Norris for not giving him a chance. Norris was later full of guilt when Ramsay left him a suitcase full of letter and also money, and Norris discovered his mother refused Ramsay to make contact.
In December 2015 Emily decided to make contact with her nephew Spider again and found out he was volunteering in Peru. When finding out he was short of volunteers, she traveled over there to help out, feeling like it was time to make the most of her life. She departed on New Year's Day, being seen off by her friends.
Life following 2016[]
Emily chose to remain in Peru, and got Norris to sell off most of her stuff. Following her departure, Norris felt lonely and ended up taking in lodgers such as Sean Tully and Brian Packham in order to cope.
In January 2018, two years following her departure, Ken informed Sophie Webster that Emily has returned to the United Kingdom from Peru and is taking care of her niece Freda. He mentions that she may stop by to visit, although this never happened. Following Emily's return Norris went to join them in Edinburgh. A year later he decided to finally retire from the Kabin and got engaged to Freda, and decided himself to move on from Coronation Street.
In October 2019, Emily Skyped Ken to wish him a happy 80th birthday.
In February 2020 Freda and Norris moved back down to England where they began to reside at Stillwaters Retirement Home, which was located nearby Weatherfield. Emily didn't join them and instead chose to remain behind in Edinburgh, although she still kept in contact. She took in two Chinese postgraduates as lodgers following the departure of Norris and Freda.
After Norris passed away in September 2021, a now 91-year-old Emily was regretfully unable to attend his funeral.
Emily turned 95 in October 2024.
Residences[]
- Number 3 Coronation Street (1972-2016)
- Peru (2016-2018)
- 16a Turnham Street, Edinburgh (2018-)
Trivia[]
- As she is well spoken, Emily always calls people by their full names, even ones with shortened versions of their name which are commonly used, and even when characters are known by nicknames, she still uses their real name. Such as when her nephew Spider Nugent was a lodger, she called him Geoffrey. And when Curly Watts was a lodger, she always called him by his real name Norman. Dev Alahan was dubbed as "poor Devendra" by Emily when his wife died. Emily shares that trait with Jim McDonald, who is a lot more abrasive but has a tradition of using peoples full names, may be his Northern Irish tradition, such as calling Steve, "Stephen" and Liz "Elizabeth". There are exceptions though, as she addressed Elizabeth (Bet) Lynch and Royston (Roy) Cropper by their short names.
- From 2021 onwards there has been a character called Lisa Swain who was originally a recurring character until early 2024 when she was made a regular. Viewers have speculated on social media that Lisa was a distant relative of Arnold Swain. However as of early 2025, Emily has not been a regular character for 9 years apart from a brief cameo in 2019, and is unlikely to return especially as actress Eileen Derbyshire is 93, so a link between Lisa and Arnold being revealed seems pointless.
Behind the Scenes[]
- Eileen Derbyshire joined the cast of Coronation Street as Emily Nugent in Episode 15 which aired on 27th January 1961. The character had previously appeared in the fourth episode the previous month, although was played by an unknown walk-on actress with no dialogue. Derbyshire had been offered to appear in a role earlier but was unable to due to schedule conflicts. There is some debate as to whether Emily is considered an original character or not. The minor role in Episode 4 is very likely the same character, too much of a coincidence that 2 Miss Nugent's worked for Mr Swindley. Unless the Episode 4 character was Emily's sister, as she did have several sisters. But as the character was bought in as a regular in January 1961 and to all intents and purposes, this is considered the true arrival of Emily Nugent.
- Emily was mostly referred to and credited as "Miss Nugent", and wasn't identified as Emily until August 1961 in which Emily's father James Nugent mentioned her name in dialogue. She wouldn't be credited with her first name Emily until 1969.
- Emily was absent from December 1961 to June 1962 due to the Equity actors' strike. The character's absence wasn't given, although Emily wasn't a street resident at that time so simply lived off-screen until she was required to come back.
- Emily was absent from 1966 to 1967 as Eileen Derbyshire took maternity leave to give birth to her son.
- In November 2015, it was reported that Eileen Derbyshire had requested a six-months break from the programme, which was granted by producers. The character departed on New Year's Day 2016 in which she traveled to Peru to volunteer with her nephew Spider. Although originally expected to return in July 2016, she continued to remain absent from the show, although producers stated that the door would continue to be left open if she wanted to return. Over three years later Derbyshire returned for a cameo appearance in October 2019, which was limited to a video call between Emily and Ken Barlow. Since then Eileen has not appeared as Emily, and as of autumn 2024 due to Eileen's advanced age of 93, a return is unlikely. Thus making Rita Tanner the last remaining female character from the 1960s still in the show.
- Eileen was good friends with Margot Bryant, who had played the character Minnie Caldwell for sixteen-years in Coronation Street from 1960 to 1976.
Dialogue[]
- "Anniversary Sunday" (First line, to Ena Sharples)
Appendices[]
List of addresses[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| Harrogate | 18th October 1929 to 1950s |
| Weatherfield | 1950s to 16th February 1966 |
| Harrogate | 16th February 1966 to 18th January 1967 |
| 15a Coronation Street | 18th January 1967 to 1st April 1968 |
| Rovers Return Inn | 22nd April 1969 to 22nd January 1969 |
| 11 Coronation Street | 22nd January 1969 to 19th February 1969 |
| Rovers Return Inn | 19th February 1969 to 10th January 1972 |
| Camera shop flat, Rosamund Street | 10th January 1972 to 15th March 1972 |
| Rovers Return Inn | 15th March 1972 to 12th April 1972 |
| 3 Coronation Street | 12th April 1972 to 1st January 2016 |
| Peru | 1st January 2016 to January 2018 |
| 16a Turnham Street, Edinburgh | January 2018 onwards |
Employment history[]
| Role | Institution | Duration |
|---|
Memorable info[]
Appearances: 14 Dec 1960 (walk-on extra only), 27 Jan 1961–6 Dec 1961, 11 Jun 1962–16 Feb 1966, 18 Jan 1967–1 Jan 2016, 9 Oct 2019
Born: 21st October 1929
Full Name: Emily Bishop (Nee Nugent)
Parents: James Nugent and Agnes Nugent
Siblings: Edgar Nugent, Norah Seddon, Joan Corrie, Brenda Nugent, Marjorie Nugent
Spouses: Ernie Bishop (1972-1978), Arnold Swain (1980; bigamist)
Children: None
Nieces: Freda Burgess (step)
Nephews: Spider Nugent