Talking tough:
Maureen Lipman reveals the truth about her Coro Street character.
Over the years, Coronation Street has featured more battleaxes than a Viking warrior.
During the past six decades, the soap’s splendid array of formidable, no-nonsense women has included Ena Sharples, Hilda Ogden, Vera Duckworth and Blanche Hunt.
Now there is a new battleaxe on the Street who could give any of the previous outspoken incumbents a run for her money.
In the two years she has been on the cobbles, Evelyn Plummer, played by Maureen Lipman, has created ripples from Weatherfield to the North Sea.
But for all her tough behaviour, audiences have really taken to Evelyn, who caused a huge stir when she first moved in with her grandson Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall) and his wife Fiz Stape (Jennie McAlpine).
In fact, the more unreasonable Evelyn is, the more viewers seem to adore her.
Lipman argues that Evelyn, who almost never thinks before she speaks, is part of a grand tradition.
“The British public loves a battleaxe who doesn’t care whether she’s loved or loathed. Panto Dame, Hyacinth Bucket, Lady Bracknell – bring it on. It’s a way of fighting back in a male-oriented world.” The actress, who has starred in Smiley’s People, Agony, and Ladies Of Letters, is delighted that over the past two years Evelyn has shown few signs of mellowing. “We have seen a few more nuances in her palette, but she still has no discernible membrane between her brain and her lips. Fortunately, she can take it as well as give it out.” The only area where Evelyn has softened slightly is in her attitude to family. Lipman, whose late husband Jack Rosenthal began his lauded writing career on Coronation Street in 1961, muses that, “She was pretty irredeemably unpleasant when she first met Tyrone and Fiz. But perhaps now she has become redeemably unpleasant through her humour and her grudging loyalty to the family she has acquired.” Another
element that has changed since Evelyn’s arrival is her growing attachment to her old flame Arthur Medwin (Paul Copley). Lipman details Evelyn’s attraction to Arthur.
“She has strong feelings for him and gives him plenty of slack because she knows her predilection for emasculating men who fancy her.
“When he lets her down, she is hurt. It has taken a lot for her to let her guard down enough to even consider any intimacy. She’s actually dead scared to get her vest off, as she hasn’t considered what’s underneath for 20 years.”
Evelyn is especially wary of showing her vulnerabilities and being let down by Arthur.
The actress explains that, “She hates feeling hurt because it makes her weak, so she lashes out defensively. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
Evelyn becomes even more upset when she finds out Arthur has been lying to her.
“When he reveals why he’s been deceiving her, she chooses to send him packing – to save herself from feeling pain, now or in the future.
“She could forgive him – his dilemma is so credible and understandable. But she closes the fortress gates, as she always has.”
Evelyn appears settled in Weatherfield now. Lipman runs through the residents of the Street who Evelyn sees as her friends.
“She had a good knockabout time with Claudia and she has a soft spot for Roy. They are both outside the spectrum somewhat, and she ‘gets’ his wallflower intelligence. She likes facts, as he does, and is curious about issues.
“She likes Nina in Roy’s Rolls for her commitment to causes. If there’s a queue for a punch up, Evelyn’s in there, elbows pointing outwards.
“Dev is a great sparring partner. I’d love to see more of their feuding. He relies on her and she knows it. She prefers men generally to women, but Eileen might be good for a few brandies in the snug.”
The actress proceeds to reflect on whether she could ever be pals with her Coronation Street alter ego.
“I probably wouldn’t be friends with Evelyn, but I’d give her a run for her money at Scrabble.”
This year, Lipman received a Damehood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
She signs off by contemplating how Evelyn would react to the news.
“She’d say, ‘Dame? Dame, my eye. She’d be better as the back end of a cow on Wigan Pier’.”