On 1 January 1968, viewers of the TV soap opera Coronation Street experienced a mild culture shock as a clump of hippies decked out in floral shirts, Afghan coats and John Lennon spectacles temporarily took over the house at No 11, former home to Elsie Tanner. Among the somnambulant invaders was Monica Sutton, who plucked the black wig dreamily from her head as she entered, and handed it to the bemused tenant. Offered a snack, she replied: “I’ll have a tomato, darlin’.” She then contemplated the food as if hypnotised by it. “Blows my mind,” she sighed.
The hippies scarpered four episodes later, but television audiences over the next half a century became accustomed to the wan, haunted face of Angela Pleasence, who played Monica with such economical wit.
