Hilda Ogden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, one of the best-known of all the regular characters in the serial, whose name became synonymous with a classic hard-working Northern working-class woman. She was played by Jean Alexander from 1964 to 1987.
For much of her period as a character in the Street, Hilda worked as cleaner of the Rovers Return Inn. A gossip and busybody, many of her storylines were used for comedic purposes, though the character was equally used for dramatic effect; a scene in which she wept over the spectacles of her recently deceased husband Stan (Bernard Youens) has been hailed as one of the most moving images in television history.
Alexander quit the role of Hilda in 1987 after 23 years. She reprised the role twice afterwards; in 1990 for a one-off appearance as part of an ITV Telethon and in 1998 for a spin-off video.
One of the serial's most popular characters, Hilda was voted the greatest TV character in a Radio Times poll of over 5,000 people. The typical appearance of Hilda, wearing hair curlers and a head scarf, has inspired art and catwalk themes. Despite various producers expressing their desire to see the character return, Alexander was openly critical about the direction Coronation Street had taken, vowing never to reprise the role of Hilda again.
Alexander had previously appeared in 1962 as Mrs. Webb, the landlady of Joan Akers (Anna Cropper), who abducted baby Christopher Hewitt (Stephen Ward).
Development
Characterisation Hilda Ogden, with her trademark hair curlers and pinny, has been described as "the classic hard-working class Northern woman. With a voice like breaking glass and a temper to match". Actress Jean Alexander explained her interpretation of Hilda's head scarf and curler look: "Like Hilda, my roots were in Liverpool and that's where I first noticed the curlers and headscarf look. The curlers were put under the headscarf by the factory girls. They had their hair tied up and scarves like that to stop their fashionable long hair getting caught up in the machinery at work. They had the curlers in place in case they got asked out on a date, so they'd be ready for a night out after the shift." Alexander stated in 2010 that she based Hilda on bits of differing, eccentric people she had seen in her youth in Liverpool.
A term that has been described as synonymous with Hilda Ogden is "busybody". Critic for The Guardian, Grace Dent, has suggested that Hilda "spent the 70s providing an unofficial town-crier service for Coronation Street scandal. Hilda was known to sleep propped up in bed with one eye open so she could see what time Ken Barlow (William Roache)'s female friends left, (or what time they were carried out in bodybags. Ken's never had much luck with women.)". She added that Hilda was the mould that other popular soap gossips were made from, including Dot Cotton (June Brown) from EastEnders, Lynda Snell from The Archers and Martha Huber from Desperate Housewives. Following Alexanders death, Hilda's curlers, headscarf and pinny were put up for auction by her family.
The Ogdens
The Ogdens, Hilda and her husband Stan (Bernard Youens), have been hailed as one of Coronation Street's favourite couples. The bickering pair stayed together through mishap and financial difficulty for twenty years until Youens died on 27 August 1984, forcing the writers of the soap to kill off Stan on-screen. A scene following Stan's screen funeral, showing Hilda weeping at the sight of Stan's spectacles, has been described as "one of the most moving moments in TV history" and "instrumental in winning [Alexander] the Royal Television Society's Best Performance Award for 1984–1985". Neil Marland, who worked as Granada Television's stills photographer for 30 years, has described the scene as terribly poignant, adding, "Everyone was crying and the camera tracked in – she had to undo his handkerchief, and in it were his glasses. She broke down sobbing. And, of course, I had to do a picture of this. So I left her for a minute or so sobbing. Then, as I got nearer, I just went, 'Jean, Jean...' And she sat bolt upright and said, 'What picture do you want Neil? I'm only acting'. It was just amazing because everyone on the floor was in floods of tears."
Commenting on the screen partnership, Alexander has said, "It was a real pleasure working with Bernard Youens, who played my screen husband, Stan. Any success I have had is really down to Bernard because we worked well as a team and each knew how the other would want to play a scene. It was a happy screen partnership but it was strictly professional. We didn't socialise after work." Alexander has stated that the Ogdens were a brilliant set-up: "They were the only couple in the street who were married – permanently. They were the only ones who owned their own house where everyone else rented, they stayed together and didn't stray or have affairs and, yes, they bickered among themselves but let anyone else criticise either of them and they would be up in arms."
Hilda and Stan Ogden were voted Britain's top romantic TV couple in 2002, in a poll of more than 5,000 people carried out by NTL:Home. They beat off competition from Friends''' couple Monica Geller and Chandler Bing (Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry) and Dot and Jim Branning from EastEnders (Brown and John Bardon). In 2005 the couple topped another poll when the Ogdens were voted ITV's favourite TV characters in a survey by Broadcast magazine, which took place to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the network. They beat Minder's Arthur Daley and Prime Suspect's DCI Jane Tennison, who took second and third place respectively.
Departure
After 23 years playing Hilda, Alexander decided to leave Coronation Street in 1987. According to Alexander in 2010, it was the right time to leave as the writers had run out of ideas for Hilda and as a character, Hilda had run out of steam. She added, "Her other half had gone and she would have just scraped along. I didn't want that." Alexander went to see the show's producer Bill Podmore to inform him she did not want to renew her contract.
Her decision to leave prompted an outcry from fans and a "Save Hilda" campaign was launched, as many did not realise that the actress had made her own decision to depart. Hilda's final scenes in the programme were aired on Christmas Day 1987, when the locals in the Rovers Return joined Hilda in what has been described as a "stirring rendition" of "Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye".
On-screen, Hilda departed for Hartington, Derbyshire, to make a new life for herself as the housekeeper for Doctor Lowther. 27 million viewers watched. It remains the highest-rated episode in Coronation Street's history. It has been described as the most moving scene in Coronation Street that did not involve a death. The writer behind the "memorable" episode depicting Hilda's departure, which attracted a record soap opera audience, was Leslie Duxbury.
Since her departure in 1987, various producers have expressed their desire to see Hilda back on Coronation Street. In 1990, Alexander reprised the role after two-and-a-half years as part of ITV's 27-hour charity telethon. The episode showed her visiting Stan's grave. In 1998, the character was resurrected again, as part of a special direct to video film.
However, in 2005 Alexander ruled out ever returning to the role of Hilda Ogden, due to Coronation Street's overemphasis on sex and "who's sleeping with whom". She also criticised the soap for not being fun enough and she disapproved of the modern storylines, saying some are allowed to "drag on forever". She added:
A spokesperson for the soap responded to Alexander's criticism, saying, "We don't subscribe to Jean's opinions. Every week 12 million people across the country tune in to be entertained by the drama in Coronation Street." Alexander reportedly declined to return as Hilda as part of Coronation Street's 50th anniversary celebrations in December 2010. They allegedly offered her a large sum of money but her agent Joan Reddin stated: "She's not interested in getting involved again." When interviewed in 2010, Alexander further discussed her reasons for not wanting to return to the role of Hilda. She said, "It would be impossible for me to recreate Hilda. She would be totally different from the scrubber who left the Street [...] I'm sorry, after 23 years I couldn't recreate that character as she would be now – and I didn't want to play her as she was. Hilda would be about 91 now. She left to be housekeeper for the lovely doctor and be part of a village community. She has status now which is something she always wanted. I have changed so I'm sure she has. And I think the fans would be disappointed. It would have spoiled the memories people had of her."
Storylines Hilda and her husband Stan (Bernard Youens) are first featured in Coronation Street in June 1964. A working class couple, beset with financial woes and few friends, many of the more established characters look down on the Ogdens. Hilda works as a charwoman, cleaning the Rovers Return Inn, Mike Baldwin's (Johnny Briggs) factory and private homes, while Stan cleans windows.
Hilda and Stan have four children. Two children, Sylvia and Tony, are not seen on the series, with the explanation that they are taken into care, when Stan beat them while drunk. The two unseen children are rarely mentioned and by the 1970s, Hilda and Stan often state that they have two children, naming Trevor as their "only son". Their other children are seen on the programme and are named Irma (Sandra Gough), (although she was born Freda Ogden and had chosen the name Irma when she left home) and Trevor (Jonathan Collins/Don Hawkins). Trevor steals money and runs away within the first six months of arriving on the Street, writing back home to ask Hilda to disown him. Hilda's daughter Irma works at the Corner Shop, and eventually marries David Barlow (Alan Rothwell). Irma is crushed when David and her child are killed in Australia, in 1970. Irma returns home for a few years, but then vanishes, with the explanation being she has moved to Wales, and later Canada. Trevor eventually marries and has two children, but is ashamed of the life his parents led, and only makes the occasional visit.
Lodging with the Ogdens from 1980 to 1983, was Eddie Yeats (Geoffrey Hughes), their surrogate son, and, after Stan dies in November 1984 – just a year after celebrating their ruby wedding – Hilda gets extra money, by allowing Kevin (Michael Le Vell), and Sally Seddon (Sally Dynevor), to live in one of her vacant rooms. Shortly afterwards Hilda's employers, the affluent Doctor Lowther (David Scase) and his wife (June Broughton), make the decision to sell their home and move to Hartington. However, on the night that Hilda helps Mrs. Lowther pack away her treasured possessions, burglars break into the house and violently assault them both. Doctor Lowther, who has gone out to get a takeaway meal, is horrified to discover his wife suffering what would be a fatal heart attack, and Hilda seriously injured.
Although she makes a full recovery physically, mentally she becomes afraid to be in her own home. When Doctor Lowther asks her to move to his cottage in Hartington and be his housekeeper, she jumps at the chance. When Hilda leaves the programme on Christmas Day 1987, she sings "Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye", in her trademark trilling voice; it is watched by an aggregated audience of 26.65 million people, one of the highest audiences in British television history.