Derbyshire was born in Urmston, Lancashire and from the age of 17, was appearing in plays broadcast on the radio. After several small parts on television, she joined the cast of Coronation Street, first appearing as Miss Nugent in episode 15 in January 1961. The character was then given the forename Emily in 1962. Derbyshire has a degree in teaching, trained at the Northern School of Music, and also passed her examination at the Royal Academy of Music. She began teaching speech and drama, but had always wanted to act. While on the bus one day, she passed Chorlton Repertory Theatre, and asked for an audition. She was enrolled as a student, and later became assistant stage manager. From there she joined Century Theatre's mobile touring company, and appeared in theatre all over the country, subsequently appearing in repertory theatre throughout Britain.
Personal life
She married engineer Thomas W. Holt on 1 April 1965, and the following year they had a son, Oliver. The couple have a cottage in Cheshire, and Derbyshire's interests include opera, reading, going to concerts and holidaying in Vienna and Venice. Derbyshire has a reputation for reclusiveness. She never joins fellow cast members at awards ceremonies or other events, and has never yet appeared in any of the publicity videos on the Coronation Street website. She has only twice appeared onscreen out of character, when in 1988 she gave a rare interview in a documentary tribute to cast member and good friend, Margot Bryant, who played Minnie Caldwell. In 2005, she also gave an interview for an ITV programme aimed at deaf viewers, speaking about working with the deaf actress Ali Briggs, who was playing Emily's niece, Freda Burgess, for which she was interviewed on the set and dressed in character. She also appeared, along with the rest of the Coronation Street cast, in episodes of This Is Your Life for Patricia Phoenix in 1972, Jack Howarth in 1974, Julie Goodyear in 1980, William Roache in 1985 and Anne Kirkbride in 1998. Her son, Oliver Holt, has denied that she is reclusive, pointing out that she is simply private, and "one of the last of a dying breed of old-fashioned actresses who do it for the love of acting, not for all the attendant publicity". She is a grandmother to Oliver's children, Alice, Edie and Joe. Derbyshire is also a godmother to William Roache's three children and Barbara Knox's daughter, Maxine. Derbyshire has been on a break from Coronation Street for personal reasons since December 2015. Her departure aired on 1 January 2016 and was originally billed as only a six-month sabbatical. She returned for a cameo appearance as part of the celebrations for Ken's 80th birthday in October 2019, being seen on a video message wishing him a happy birthday. Ken remarked that it would be her 90th birthday "next week", which makes Emily two years older than Derbyshire.
