In 1980, several new characters were added to the British television soap opera Coronation Street: they were Martin Cheveski, Arnold Swain and Frankie Baldwin. None of them stayed in the show for more than a few months. Arnold Swain Arnold Henry Swain was a pet shop owner who bigamously married Emily Bishop in 1980. He died in a mental hospital in 1981, after unsuccessfully trying to coerce Emily into joining him in a suicide pact. Arnold was a man who knew what he wanted from life but brushed over the mistakes he made a little too easily. One of his tendencies was to disregard other people's feelings or push them to get his way - something which meant he wasn't always popular but some forgave him as he was charming. Arnold married Margaret in 1965 and they honeymooned in Shanklin, on the Isle of Wight. The union apparently did not work out as Arnold walked out on Margaret after the honeymoon, but told other people that she had left him. They stayed married, but after a while Arnold started telling people that Margaret was dead (later explaining that in his mind, she was). By 1980, Arnold owned a pet shop and ran it with his spinster sister Flora, who he also lived with. In April of that year, he met widow Emily Bishop when he hired the Coronation Street Secretarial Bureau to do the shop's books. Arnold took a shine to Emily and asked her out - an invitation the shy Emily accepted when she found a poem Arnold had written which impressed her. Emily hadn't been with anyone since her husband Ernest died two years previously and hadn't expected another man to take an interest in her but was very flattered and kept on seeing Arnold, which delighted him. In fact, Emily was so surprised at first that she worried he might be interested in her finances, but her fears were quelled when Deirdre Langton checked Arnold's finances and learned that he had his money well invested. A few weeks later - a short time by any standards - Arnold proposed to Emily. Emily initially turned him down, feeling he was rushing her, but Arnold was persistent, turning to Emily's lodger Deirdre Langton for advice. Emily was resolute that she would never marry Arnold but changed her mind when Deirdre pointed out the benefits of being married again, and