Franklin Frazer Armitage Marvin Armitage Gregory Armitage
Sisters
Laverne Armitage Patsy Armitage Lucy Armitage
Firstcousins
Carol Donna Diana
Shirley Armitage is a fictional character from the BritishITVsoap operaCoronation Street. Played by Lisa Lewis, the character appeared for a period of five years between 1983 and 1989. Shirley became the programme's first regular black character. Shirley Armitage was a machinist at Baldwin's Casuals. From 1988 to 1989, she lived with Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy) in the shop flat but left the area when they split up. The character was met with a mixed reception from viewers due to her mixed-race relationship with Curly.
Shirley was Coronation Street's first regular black character; a black family would not be introduced on the soap until 2019, with the arrival of the Bailey family.[1][2] After 18 months in the role, Lewis expressed her displeasure at the way she was used, explaining "They seem to just bring me in whenever they want me to say a few lines, or be seen in the factory. Let's face it, I am the token black character."[3] Three years later, Lewis said she was proud to be on the show, as it had helped her have both a family and a job as an actress.[4] Lewis also said that "[Shirley's] such a nice, versatile character" and was not afraid of being typecast due to this. She also understood that Shirley was "unlikely to develop into a bigger part".[5]
In March 1988, Ken Irwin of the Daily Mirror reported that a new romance would be developed between Shirley and Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy) after they begin sharing a flat.[6] Both Lewis and Kennedy expected some criticism of the relationship, but Irwin stated that scriptwriters were "quite determined" to build up the romance.[6] The storyline begins with Shirley and Curly competing for the flat above the corner shop, before "they compromise and shock a few people" by agreeing to share it.[6] Their friendship then develops into "a torrid affair".[6] The couple's relationship is gossiped about in the local pub, as the regulars note that Curly "has never been a ladies' man", while he admits that the romance is his first.[4] Lewis was "delighted" at the way the writers had developed the romance between the couple and revealed that she and Kennedy had received letters congratulating them on it.[4] She also enjoyed working with Kennedy on the storyline, as they had always been friends.[4] John Millar of the Daily Record believed that the relationship could establish Lewis as one of the serial's "new breed of soap stars", following years on the fringes as a factory girl.[4] With the introduction of the show's new "brat pack", featuring young actors, Shirley also becomes more involved in storylines.[4]
A scene in which Shirley wears a negligee and seduces Curly was branded "tender and comic" by Neil Clements of the Daily Express, but Lewis did not want to read her fan mail after it aired.[7] Lewis told Clements: "She is black and he is white and I knew that certain people would never see them as two people who loved each other – they would only see it as black and white in bed."[7] Lewis's co-star Bill Tarmey, who played Jack Duckworth, volunteered to read the letters, something he had previously done when she became upset by other fan mail, but to Lewis's surprise the letters "turned out to be lovely."[7] Lewis recalled that it was hard for her to keep a straight face as they filmed the bedroom scene, as she was wearing the negligee and Kennedy was in pyjamas buttoned up to the collar. She said it was funny, but it went "beautifully well" as they managed to get some tenderness into it, which she hoped would make viewers feel for both characters.[7] Lewis also told Clements that the issues raised by Curly and Shirley's relationship were not just invented by scriptwriters. She would often speak up if she thought a scene or plot was "going the wrong way".[7] She used the example of Curly's parents ignoring her character where she stepped in and explained what she would have done in a similar situation.[7]
Storylines
Shirley Armitage started work at denim factory Baldwin's Casuals in September 1983. Shirley came from a big family, with nine living in the same house. At the factory, Shirley was one of the youngest machinists and usually stayed quiet while the louder personalities, chiefly Vera Duckworth (Liz Dawn) and Ida Clough (Helene Palmer), led the gossip. She occasionally spoke up to back the girls against Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs), for example when she favoured a strike when Mike announced that some jobs would be at risk because of a new computer system at the factory in July 1984.
In 1985, Shirley chatted to Curly Watts (Kevin Kennedy) at a dance at the Community Centre and let him walk her home afterwards. Curly was shy about asking her out, but they hit it off and Curly later chatted her up at Kevin (Michael Le Vell) and Sally Webster's (Sally Dynevor) flat warming party in August 1987. They started seeing each other on a casual basis after that. By 1986, Shirley was getting sick of living in such a crowded home and decided to ask Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley) if she could rent the shop flat as the Websters had moved into No.13. Alf asked for a reference, but in the time it took her to get one from Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire), Curly also made enquiries about the flat and Alf agreed that he could move in. When Shirley and Curly compared notes, they were puzzled as Curly had not been asked for a reference. Thinking Alf racist, Curly decided to refuse to move in, but Shirley suggested they move in together. Curly agreed and Alf backed down when Emily threatened to expose his racism. The unexpected move marked a big change in Shirley's and Curly's lives, as well as their relationship, with Curly losing his virginity to Shirley. Their next obstacle was winning over each other's families; as well as the race issue, Shirley's parents disapproved of her living in sin. Eventually, Mrs Armitage was convinced that Curly loved Shirley, but his parents never accepted her. Mrs Armitage was accepting enough to let Shirley's younger sister, Lucy, stay with the couple for a few weeks in August.
Later that year, Curly enrolled in a business studies course at college. Shirley was not convinced it would be a good move as that would make her the sole earner while he studied but she admired his ability, and caused a stir at work by showing them Curly's essay on Mike making the machinists work in terrible Victorian conditions. Mike threatened to sack Shirley unless Curly gave him the essay. Curly's new career was to split the couple up. In April 1989, Shirley threw a surprise party to celebrate their first anniversary but Curly promptly threw everyone out as he had an important exam the next day. Shirley realised that Curly was too serious for her and decided to move back in with her parents. Desperate to stop Shirley leaving, Curly broke down and proposed marriage, promising to change, but Shirley knew that the relationship had run its course and left. Shirley left Baldwin's Casuals a week after splitting up with Curly and moved to Gorton.
Reception
Before becoming more prominent in 1988, viewers accused Shirley of being a "token" character for being a black woman who was not given as many storylines as other characters.[8] Shirley's relationship with Curly was the second mixed race couple in Coronation Street's history. Because of this, both Lewis and Kennedy received hate mail. On this backlash, the soap's executive producer, Bill Podmore, stated: "Several viewers were disgusted that I could have sanctioned such a relationship; none of them had the courage to sign their letters, which speaks volumes."[9]
Marianna Manson from Closer Online put Shirley on her list of the most iconic black characters in British soap operas, writing, "Shirley is, of course, best known as the first Black character on a British soap. Introduced as recently as 1983, her arrival on the Street was groundbreaking but proved the TV industry at the time had a long way to go (and still does). For most of Shirley's time in Weatherfield she was in a relationship with Curly Watts, but broke his heart in 1989 before leaving the Street for good".[10]
Juliet Robeson from The Weekly Journal wrote that the character was "quietly in the background before she came out of herself and into her own strong, interesting character". Robeson also praised that Shirley "was neither politically aggressively 'black' not cautiously 'positive' white" and deemed Shirley "totally believable" and a "success".[5] John Millar of the Daily Record reckoned Lewis "brought a dash of spice to Coronation Street... and made a man of Curly Watts."[4] Of Shirley and Curly's romance, Neil Clements of the Daily Express quipped "that quirky love affair has woken up the more jaded Street fans who thought Hilda Ogden switched the lights off when she left."[7]
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