Coronation Street villain Richard Hillman (Brian Capron) made a shock return from the dead at the end of tonight's episode as Gail Platt (Helen Worth) prepared to leave Weatherfield for good.
Gail has decided to leave the Street after 50 years for a new life in France with her soon-to-be-husband Jesse (John Thomson), although on the eve of the wedding she was left questioning whether she is making the right decision.
As she drifted in and out of sleep, the most notorious of her husbands - serial killer Richard Hillman, who drowned over 21 years ago - came to her as an apparition, still dripping wet from his death at the bottom of the canal.
The dream sequence continues in the Christmas Day episode - available from 7am on ITVX and airing at 7pm on ITV1 - as Richard does his best to persuade her not to marry Jesse and stay on the cobbles.
"It was a lovely experience, they've written a very clever scene," said Capron. "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."
He added: "I think [me and Helen] 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."
View pictures from Gail's final episode below:
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Neil Wilkes
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