Coronation Street villain Richard Hillman has returned to the soap after more than 20 years as part of Helen Worth’s exit storyline as Gail Rodwell (formerly Platt).
Played by Brian Capron, Richard appeared in a dream Gail was having on the eve of her wedding to Jesse Chadwick (John Thomson), urging her not to go ahead with it, in the Christmas Eve episode.
Richard is expected to return on Christmas Day, with Gail seen battling with her emotions as she faces her tumultuous past while contemplating her future in the scenes which were recorded in secret.
His return comes as 73-year-old Worth prepares to leave the ITV soap after 50 years in the role.
On returning to the cobbles, Capron, 77, said: “It was a lovely experience, they’ve written a very clever scene.
“It’s a very tricky thing to bring a character back from the dead but I think the writers thought very carefully about how to do it and they’ve come up trumps.
“For me it’s got the right kind of dark humour which there always was with Richard Hillman, which I love, but also a slight hint of menace. I thought they balanced it perfectly.”
The character exited the soap in 2003 when he drove off with his captive step-family in a Ford Galaxy, plunging it into a canal, but while his family members survived, Richard drowned.
It came after Gail denounced their marriage after finding out about a number of murders, attempted murders and fraudulent dealings he had undertaken.
On working with Worth again, Capron added: “I think we have a very special relationship, which is why the Hillman storyline worked out so beautifully.
“I never wanted it to look like he was a really bad, horrible person, so we worked very hard on making it a very loving relationship.
“It gave a lot of dimension to the character, thanks to Helen, so it was great to be back with her for the day.”
His exploits included leaving his business partner Duggie Ferguson (John Bowe) to die after a fatal accident and murdering his ex-wife Patricia (Annabelle Apsion) with a shovel when she attempted to expose his dealings.
During his time in Weatherfield, he also swindled his neighbours Jack (Bill Tarmey) and Vera Duckworth (Liz Dawn) out of their life savings in an investment scam, and kidnapped Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden).
Richard also unsuccessfully plotted to kill his mother-in-law Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) by setting her house on fire.
He also murdered Audrey’s co-worker Maxine Peacock (Tracy Shaw) with a crowbar, after using it in an unsuccessful attempt to murder Norris’ roommate Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire), and framed Sarah Platt’s ex-boyfriend Aiden Critchley (Dean Ashton) for the crimes.
Richard’s return comes after Worth’s exit storyline was thrown into uncertainty after Sean Wilson – who played her ex-husband Martin Platt – returned to the show briefly but announced his departure from the soap for “personal reasons”, with the actor later claiming he was axed when a historic assault allegation emerged, which he denies.
He was replaced by Thomson, with the 55-year-old actor claiming Worth was a “joy to work with”.
