Earlier this week, the newest owners of the Rovers arrived on the cobbles of Coronation Street in dramatic fashion, and it quickly became clear that all wasn’t as it seemed.
Though Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) was under the impression that she was the landlady, she got quite a shock when mother-in-law Maggie Driscoll (Pauline McLynn) turned up and announced that the pub belonged to her.
It transpired that Eva’s husband Ben Driscoll (Aaron McCusker) had borrowed money from his mum, meaning that she had technically paid for the boozer.
Because of this, she announced that she would be moving in, and wasted no time in trying to run things her way.
In tonight’s episode, this led to confusion among staff over who was actually in charge, as both Eva and Maggie attempted to assert their dominance behind the bar.
The first point of contention came during a staff meeting, where Eva and Maggie clearly had very different ideas about the theming of the upcoming Halloween party.
While Eva wanted a classy Agatha Christie themed night, Maggie was determined to throw a traditional Halloween bash, complete with toilet paper mummy games and the Monster Mash.
The chasm between them continued to grow as Maggie put her own touch on the ladies toilets without consulting Eva, leaving her put out.
To make matters worse for Eva, whose name was above the door, Maggie appeared to be winning over the rest of the staff.
With Eva clearly starting to lose her cool with her meddling mother-in-law, could their rivalry end up causing division in the ranks at the Rovers?
The two characters are very similar, and both Catherine Tyldesley and Pauline McLynn have admitted that if their alter-egos weren’t mother and daughter-in-law, then they’d probably be the best of friends.
‘In another life Eva and Maggie would get on like a house on fire – if it weren’t for Eva being with one of Maggie’s beloved sons!’ Pauline said.
‘The way the writers have structured things for our characters, it’s hilarious, it’s constant jibes,’ Catherine added.
‘But I think deep down, there’s a moment that we did not so long ago where Eva, in a roundabout way, says “If I wasn’t with Ben and I’d just met Maggie, I think we’d be mates.” There’s a lot of similarities.’
