Fans were taken aback as the villain returned ahead of Gail Platt’s final episode
Coronation Street’s Brian Capron was thrilled to make his surprise return to the show in tonight’s episode. The soap star is renowned for his role as Richard Hillman in Weatherfield.
The character is regarded as one of the Cobbles’ most infamous villains and his storyline is widely acclaimed as one of the most memorable in Coronation Street history. Richard wreaked havoc on the Cobbles as Gail Platt’s villainous husband before he died after driving the whole family into the canal.
Gail, who is played by Helen Worth, will depart the Cobbles after an incredible 50 year stint in tomorrow’s episode. Fans were thrilled to see Richard involved in her exit storyline as part of Gail’s nightmare in tonight’s show.
The iconic character was faced with a vision of her murderous ex-husband as she confronted her anxieties about whether she will go through with the wedding to Jesse Chadwick in tomorrow’s Christmas Day spectacular.
Brian was delighted he could be involved in the storyline as he 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.”
Brian was also honoured to be able to reprise his partnership with Helen before the soap star calls time on her Cobbles career. He said: “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.”
Richard Hillman appeared on tonight’s Coronation Street as Gail Platt had a nightmare
Helen will depart the show in tomorrow’s episode when viewers will discover if she goes ahead with her sixth marriage. Speaking about the departure to the ECHO and other press, her onscreen son, Jack P Shepherd, revealed how emotional it was to say goodbye to the character.
The David Platt star admitted he struggled to act it out even in rehearsals because he knew there would be tears. Jack told the director “I can’t do it” as he was only going to have “one in him” with the two saying a final goodbye to each other.
In an emotional admission Jack shared how he encouraged show bosses to write in an extra scene featuring the full Platt family for Helen Worth’s final day of filming. He persuaded producers that Helen’s closest co-stars could be part of the final scene she filmed.
The actor said: “We had a little do on her last scene. Originally, her last scene filming was a scene with me and Julia [Shona] in the Platts’. I went: ‘No, no, her last scene has to be just all of us. Like, we all just have to be in the Platt house’. They said: ‘There isn’t one. There isn’t one where you’re all together.”
“I went: ‘Well write it! You know, you can’. So they went: ‘Yeah, we can’. So they did – they wrote one. I said: ‘We don’t have to be doing anything. We can all be non-speaking. Just make sure we’re all together in the Platt house. For God’s sake, please. For when she finally goes, don’t just have someone random with her or whatever’.
He continued: “Helen wanted to go quietly – she wanted to go out the back door. She didn’t want to create a fuss for people. But I said: ‘It’s not so much for you. It’s not you doing the fanfare and the big farewell. It’s for the building. It’s for everyone’.
