River City fans were absolutely glued to their screens on Tuesday evening, as the once-dead Lydia Murdoch finally returned from the dead to see her shocked husband, Lenny.
Jacqueline Leonard, who plays the formidable Lydia, was excited to step back into Shieldinch, and spoke to Glasgow Live about her reappearance on the BBC soap.
The 56-year-old was last seen in Shieldinch three years ago when River City viewers were led to believe she was accidentally killed by her husband Lenny, who then covered up the crime.
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Jacqueline said: "My return was possibly on the cards, but I did say that I was not doing the big 'Dallas' return, coming out through the shadows like a medieval character.
"I wanted the return to be authentic, and actually provable to fans, as I know that would be the first thing on everyone's minds -'Wait Lydia was shot, how has she come back to life?'
"But we worked it together in a way that the bullet missed the heart, the main vitals that would cause almost instant death, and it was a brilliant idea.
"I just couldn't turn it down!"
Jacqueline also spoke about her long-term acting partner in Frank Gallagher, as the pair have featured in the show over multiple years, and have had rocky moments as the power couple of the show.
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Lenny and Lydia have previously had a showdown before, after Lydia grassed her husband in for killing Rick Harper, but Lenny realised he could not kill the love of his life.
And just when it seemed that he accidentally took her life, Lenny arranged to kill Alex but, tragically, Lenny 'murdered' Lydia thinking it was Alex coming through the door.
Jacqueline said: "The scenes where I played as Lenny's conscious have been some of my favourites to film. People don't realise that I am not just being imagined by Lenny at first, and then they realise I'm actually his good conscious, urging him to do the honourable thing in troublesome times.
"I couldn't get emotional when filming these scenes, I had to be direct, as if I was the actual voice in his head."
Jacqueline also noted that coronavirus measures had a part to play when filming the reunion between Lenny and Lydia, and actually ended up benefiting the scene.
She added: "It was actually really nice to have the Covid measures in place when I see him again for the first time, as there were strict rules on keeping us two metres apart, and that was evident in the scene.
"But it actually worked in our favour, as Lenny had shot me, so obviously I wasn't going to go running back into his arms as if nothing had happened.
"There was hesitance and distrust there, and it is a really powerful scene with the juxtaposition of me walking through the door and being shot, to walking in and seeing him again for the first time.
"It was a brilliant piece of storytelling, and I am so happy to be a part of a fantastic storyline such as this."
Lydia will return to River City on BBC One on Tuesday, April 12, at 7pm.
