Actor Ricky Tomlinson has returned to Brookside as Bobby Grant ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
The Royle Family star, 83, has joined a host of famous faces in helping with "some very special BBC filming to demonstrate how this year's contest is 'United by Music'," the broadcaster said. In new images released on Friday, Tomlinson can be seen hanging Ukrainian flag bunting outside the character's family home on Brookside Close, using a yellow and blue step ladder.
The soap chronicled the lives of characters living in 13 houses on the cul-de-sac before it ended 20 years ago, coming to a close on November 4, 2003.
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Conceived by Grange Hill and Hollyoaks creator Sir Philip Redmond, the first episode aired on Channel 4 on November 2, 1982 and at its peak, the show drew in audiences of nine million viewers.
Tomlinson, who starred in the soap between 1982 and 1988, joins Great British Bake Off star Paul Hollywood, Liverpool Women's footballers Emma Koivisto and Sofie Lundgaard, and Ukrainian Everton player Vitalii Mykolenko as they get ready for Eurovision.
The famous faces are set to welcome the world to Liverpool when the contest kicks off on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with the first semi-final on May 9.
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