Storylines
Born in Weatherfield, Mavis was brought up in Grange-over-Sands, where her parents, despite being teetotal, ran an off-licence. Mavis first appears in Coronation Street in 1971 at Emily Nugent (Eileen Derbyshire) and Ernest Bishop's (Stephen Hancock) engagement party, as a friend and colleague of Emily's from the mail order warehouse where they both work, and is invited to be a bridesmaid at the wedding. She is initially employed as a receptionist at the local vet, and then as an assistant in the corner shop, but settles down to a job offered by Rita Littlewood (Barbara Knox) at The Kabin newsagents, 14 Rosamund Street, around the corner from Coronation Street. Mavis and Rita are complete opposites – Rita sexy and self-assured, Mavis mouse-like and dowdy – but they get on well and become friends. Rita often despairs at the choices Mavis makes in life, particularly when it comes to men. Rita's dominance over Mavis seems like bullying to outsiders, but she is only thinking of Mavis's best interests.
In 1973 Mavis enters into a relationship with the equally shy Jerry Booth (Graham Haberfield), but it remains platonic. Jerry dies of a heart attack in 1975 before being able to express his romantic intentions towards Mavis. She meets salesman Derek Wilton (Peter Baldwin) the following year. They date, but the relationship is strained by Derek's interfering mother Amy, who believes that Mavis is not good enough for her son. The relationship remains non-committal until 1983, when another man competes for Mavis's hand, the artistic Victor Pendlebury (Christopher Coll). Mavis is torn as she likes both, but in the end chooses Derek. On their wedding day in 1984 Mavis has second thoughts about her marriage to Derek; unconvinced of the strength of her feelings for him, she jilts him at the altar. Her guilt turns to indignation when she learns that Derek – feeling the same way she does – did not attend the ceremony either.
Derek goes on to an unhappy marriage with Angela Hawthorne (Diane Fletcher), but in 1986 he begins wooing Mavis again, realising that he made a mistake in letting her go. Mavis eventually decides Derek is the man for her, and the couple are married in September 1988. The other residents of Coronation Street consider Mavis and Derek something of a joke, but neither care as they are genuinely in love. They spend evenings reading aloud to each other and discussing the events of the day. They remain happy despite the occasional problem, but their happiness is cut short in 1997 when Derek dies suddenly of a heart attack after a road rage incident. Devastated, at his funeral Mavis chastises those who mocked her marriage over the years.
Living in Weatherfield without Derek proves too difficult for Mavis. She surprises Rita when she suggests that they should move away and go into business together. They discuss the possibility of running a guest house in Cartmel, a village in the Lake District. Rita considers the proposal, but both come to realise that a partnership between them would not work. Mavis goes ahead without her, buying a guest house and leaving Weatherfield in October 1997. She and Rita bid each other an emotional farewell, ending a partnership of 25 years.
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