"The interior is a prison unconscious"
October 23, 2019 3:31 AM   Subscribe

I am enamored with the (single?) photo for My New House, by The Fall. I assume, since it's The Fall, that the photo was taken in Manchester, but other than that, I would like to know more about it - who took it, and when?
posted by facehugger to Media & Arts (6 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
That is a famous character called Ena Sharples, from a long-running English soap opera called Coronation Street. It was taken by John Madden in 1968, apparently. Google "photo of Ena Sharples on a balcony in Manchester" and you'll get loads of lovely hits.
posted by Grunyon at 3:52 AM on October 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


Best answer: The photo is of actress Violet Carson in character as Ena Sharples, one of the foundational characters of TV series Coronation Street, which is still going today. I was able to search for it since I recognised her - search term was 'photo of Ena Sharples on a balcony'.

This photo of Ena Sharples, photographed by John C Madden in 1968, looking over the late '60s industrial landscape of Salford, Manchester is iconic. And it is one of the greatest photographs of an English actor.

Coronation Street Blog, an independent fan site.

Link to a BBC article about Northern Drama, nicely appreciative and nostalgic.

Coronation Street.

Violet Carson.

Just for fun, 46 great Coronation Street pictures from the Manchester Evening News.

Ian McKellan looks back at his (recentish) role on Coronation Street (Youtbe).

Variations of massively well known and evocative Coronation Street theme tune (youtube).
posted by glasseyes at 4:00 AM on October 23, 2019 [4 favorites]


Ha! Jinx, Grunyon!
posted by glasseyes at 4:01 AM on October 23, 2019


By the way -
It's years since I watched it, but I remember it as a character and dialogue driven soap, with sympathetic and accurate depictions of working class life and a nice line in Strong Northern Matriarchs. And it was really slow, with many episodes per week and almost seeming to happen in real time. If you came back after 3 months off or so, you could pick it up immediately without any problems. None of which you'd think from that '46 great pictures' feature! *boggles*
posted by glasseyes at 4:25 AM on October 23, 2019


Response by poster: That was fast - thanks guys!
posted by facehugger at 5:27 AM on October 23, 2019


Glasseyes, sadly it’s not really like that now and has gone down the Emmerdale plane crash route.

Remember when Rita Fairclough’s abusive ex fell under a tram on the Blackpool seafront? And it was shocking? Stuff like that happens every couple of weeks now.

On the plus side they were out in front with the “trans person who is a totally normal character and not defined by their trans-ness”. Hayley was a lovely if slightly shy middle aged woman, with a normal job in a cafe, which was groundbreaking in the mid-90s.
posted by tinkletown at 1:24 PM on October 23, 2019


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