Emily Bishop
Emily Bishop (née Nugent, previously Swain and known and credited in the early days of the show as Miss Nugent) is a long-standing fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Eileen Derbyshire, the character is the longest-standing female character in the series, having first appeared onscreen during an episode which aired on 27 January 1961. Derbyshire announced in November 2015 that she would be taking a six-month break from the show, departing in January 2016 and returning in July.
Storylines
In 1964, Emily is set to marry Leonard Swindley (Arthur Lowe), her boss at Gamma Garments, but jilts him at the altar. A very moral woman, Emily prides herself on saving herself for marriage, but her resolve is eventually weakened and she begins a relationship with a Hungarian man called Miklos Zadic (Paul Stassino) in 1968. She later confides in her friend Valerie Barlow (Anne Reid) that she has no regrets about the encounter; Emily is, by that time, 39 years old and assumes it will be now or never.