Vera viewers were taken aback on Sunday night when they clocked a famous TV star from the 80s play a key role in the latest episode of the ITV drama, while looking almost 'unrecognisable' from their hey-day.
After the 'missing' episodes from last year's series 11 aired over consecutive weeks, the show's 12th series kicked of in Vera's usual 8pm slot, with Against the Tide seeing DCI Stanhope trying to get to the bottom of a well known enforcement officer and experienced amateur sailor Frank Channing, whose body was discovered lashed to a sailboat.
As she did some digging, Vera suspected some foul play and that's where Paul Bown came in as the rather mysterious Glynn, who Vera had firmly in her sights as a potential suspect.
READ MORE: Paul Kaye in final Vera spat as exit leaves ITV viewers gutted
Paul, most famous for playing Malcolm in Watching decades ago, ended up having a vital part to play in Against The Tide's plot, as it unravelled over the course of two hours, with Glynn cracking under Vera's interrogation to concede that he thought his own daughter could be responsible for Frank's murder.
For those of you who haven't watched the episode yet, rest assured, we won't give away how it ended, but Paul's appearance in the episode caused quite a stir online.
After realising who it was playing Glynn, one viewer rushed to Twitter to react: "WTF happened to Malcolm from Watching," while, also clocking him, another tweeted: "it’s Malcolm from ‘Watching’ in the 80’s….!!!"
Watching was a Liverpool set programme, which launched ion Granada in 1987, with Paul playing Malcolm, a keen birdwatcher, who ended in an 'opposite attracts'; style romance with Brenda, a self-confessed people watcher.
Their love story wasn't a straight forward one, with Malcolm even marrying a woman, before finally tying the knot with Brenda in Watching's final episode in 1993, after the show ran for seven series.
Sign up to get the latest TV and showbiz news straight to your inbox with the Chronicle TV and celebs newsletter. If you can't see the form below, click HERE
