A gossip and busybody, many of her storylines were used for comedic purposes, though the character was equally used for dramatic effect; a scene in which she wept over the spectacles of her recently deceased husband Stan (Bernard Youens) has been hailed as one of the most moving images in television history.

The typical appearance of Hilda, wearing hair curlers and a head scarf, has inspired art and catwalk themes.

Despite various producers expressing their desire to see the character return, Jean Alexander was openly critical about the direction Coronation Street had taken, vowing never to reprise the role of Hilda again.

Alexander had previously appeared in 1962 as Mrs. Webb, the landlady of Joan Akers (Anna Cropper), who abducted baby Christopher Hewitt (Victoria Baker).

Critic for The Guardian, Grace Dent, has suggested that Hilda "spent the 70s providing an unofficial town-crier service for Coronation Street scandal.

She added that Hilda was the mould that other popular soap gossips were made from, including Dot Cotton (June Brown) from EastEnders, Lynda Snell from The Archers and Martha Huber from Desperate Housewives.

[7] The bickering pair stayed together through mishap and financial difficulty for twenty years until actor Bernard Youens died on 27 August 1984, forcing the writers of the soap to kill off Stan on-screen.

[7] Neil Marland, who worked as Granada Television's stills photographer for 30 years, has described the scene as terribly poignant, adding, "Everyone was crying and the camera tracked in – she had to undo his handkerchief, and in it were his glasses.

"[4] Hilda and Stan Ogden were voted Britain's top romantic TV couple in 2002, in a poll of more than 5,000 people carried out by NTL:Home.

They beat off competition from Friends' couple Monica Geller and Chandler Bing (Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry) and Dot and Jim Branning from EastEnders (June Brown and John Bardon).

[9] In 2005 the couple topped another poll when the Ogdens were voted ITV's favourite TV characters in a survey by Broadcast magazine, which took place to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the network.

[15] The writer behind the "memorable" episode depicting Hilda Ogden's departure, which attracted a record soap opera audience, was Leslie Duxbury.

However, in 2005 actress Jean Alexander ruled out ever returning to the role of Hilda Ogden, due to Coronation Street's overemphasis on sex and "who's sleeping with whom".

I enjoyed my time as Hilda and it is lovely that viewers still remember her with such affection.A spokesperson for the soap responded to Alexander's criticism, saying, "We don't subscribe to Jean's opinions.

"[20] Alexander reportedly declined to return as Hilda as part of Coronation Street's 50th anniversary celebrations in December 2010.

A working class couple, beset with financial woes and few friends, many of the more established characters looked down on the Ogdens.

Trevor stole money and ran away within the first six months of arriving on the Street, writing back home to ask Hilda to disown him.

Hilda's daughter Irma worked at the Corner Shop and eventually married David Barlow (Alan Rothwell).

Lodging with the Ogdens from 1980 to 1983 was Eddie Yeats (Geoffrey Hughes), their surrogate son, and, after Stan died in November 1984 – just a year after celebrating their ruby wedding – Hilda got extra money by allowing Kevin (Michael Le Vell) and Sally Webster (Sally Whittaker) to live in one of her vacant rooms.

Shortly afterwards Hilda's employers, the affluent Doctor Lowther (David Scase) and his wife (June Broughton), made the decision to sell their home and move to Hartington.

However, on the night that Hilda helped Mrs Lowther pack away her treasured possessions, burglars broke into the house and violently assaulted them both.

Doctor Lowther, who had gone out to get a takeaway meal, was horrified to discover his wife suffering what would be a fatal heart attack and Hilda seriously injured.

[23] Hilda's most remembered attributes were her hair curlers which she almost always wore, her pinny, and her "muriel" in her living room, which first showed a scene of Alpine mountains but was later changed to a coastal scene with three duck ornaments flying over them (the middle duck, in a nose-dive position, was Jean Alexander's idea).

"[19] Various celebrities are known to be among her fans, including Michael Parkinson, Laurence Olivier, writer Willis Hall, the former Poet Laureate John Betjeman and Russell Harty, who formed themselves into the British League for Hilda Ogden.

Off-screen, actor Bernard Youens had become ill, so the writers at Coronation Street excused his screen absence by making Stan have an injury – he hurt his toe on a pavement and was bed-ridden.

Councils all across the UK were reportedly "up in arms against Coronation Street", because subsequently, claims against them for people tripping up over paving stones that were three-quarters of an inch high, increased by 200 per cent.

[27] An image of Hilda Ogden in her signature hair rollers and head scarf has been used in artist David Knopov's series of silk prints.

The straight-laced tweed and hair rollers "granny chic" style of Sixties Britain, much of the look was derived from early episodes of Coronation Street.

In the 1980s, Boy George criticised the most controversial video of "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood by saying it represented a "Hilda Ogden view of homosexuality.

"[31] In 2017, a longstanding character in BBC Radio 4's The Archers, Peggy Woolley inherits a cat named 'Hilda Ogden', after her hairdresser Fabrice breaks up with his partner and moves to a no-pets apartment.