As it’s the anniversary of Doris Speed’s birth, I’ve been mulling over some of my favourite Mrs Walker moments (everyone needs a hobby). This isn’t an exhaustive countdown but hopefully it’ll be of interest. Please feel free to add any I’ve missed on the comments section.
10. 14th July 1976 – Hilda unveils her muriel.
09. 8th May 1978. Mrs Walker, returning from holiday, is appalled to learn that someone’s pinched her car. And as for Fred’s choice of alternative transport …
08. 19th October 1977. The regulars throw a party to mark Mrs Walker’s forty years at the Rovers.
07. 11th October 1978. Mr Garfield from the Weatherfield General is revealed to be a lowly hospital porter rather than a consultant. Mrs Walker, who has benefited from his healing touch on her bad back, isn’t best pleased to learn the truth …
06. 1st November 1976. Mrs Walker broaches the wages issue with Betty and Bet. It’s not good news.
05. 6th June 1977. It’s the day of the Jubilee parade and Mrs Walker assumes the role she was born to play.
04. 4th August 1976. Mrs Walker crosses polite swords with her arch enemy Nellie Harvey (Mollie Sugden) for the final time.
03. 10th January 1979. Setting Mrs Walker up for a comic fall was something that happened again and again over the years. This one – Mrs Walker discovers that the artwork hanging on her wall was painted by Hilda – is an excellent example.
02. 7th November 1977. A lovely dramatic moment for a change, in which Mrs Walker confronts her feckless brother (played by Derek Francis). Although she had been a widow since 1970, Jack’s presence – thanks to his prominent photograph in the sitting room – tended to be felt on many occasions.
01. 21st September 1977. Another classic moment where Bet takes sadistic delight in puncturing Mrs Walker’s pretensions. The slowly sinking realisation that her monogrammed carpet hails from a bingo hall clearly cuts like a knife …
Archive Television Musings 
I saw this recently and it fits this.Christmas 1971 it looks like Annie can’t get away to a party on Boxing Day but at last minute she managed to go.And Annie attracts the attention of a man Nelly and Kitty had been looking out for themselves.Annie leaves her bag by accident and the man gallantly returns it to the Rover’s Return.
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Another fantastic Annie Walker moment is the episode from the 4th January 1978. Annie has to intervene at the Rovers bar to stop a fight erupting between Fred Gee v Len Fairclough (who had already had a punch up on New Years Eve!) and Rita Fairclough v Elsie Tanner. Annie cuts them all down and they all retreat from the Rovers one by one. Class Doris Speed at her best.
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