Cope: 'Emily' should receive damehood

Coronation Street actor Kenneth Cope has suggested that fellow veteran cast member Eileen Derbyshire should be honoured with a damehood.

Cope, who recently reprised his role as Jed 'Sunny Jim' Stone, is the focus of this year's Christmas episodes of the Weatherfield soap.

Jed's antagonistic attitude towards knicker factory boss Tony Gordon (Gray O'Brien) reaches a dramatic climax over the festive season when Tony reaches the end of his tether and attempts to silence him once and for all.

Speaking of his co-star Derbyshire, Cope told DS: "[Eileen] is a very, very old friend. We've been friends for ages. I really do think she should receive a damehood. She's done so much for television."

The 78-year-old, who was never intended as a permanent fixture in Corrie, will tomorrow have played Emily Bishop for 48 years.

She first appeared in the fourth episode of Coronation Street which broadcast on Wednesday, December 21, 1960. The first episode transmitted on Friday, December 9 in the same year.