Coronation Street star Reece Dinsdale – who played doomed Joe McIntyre – announced his soap return, 12 years after his character was killed off.
Joe was the father of the late Tina McIntyre, played by Michelle Keegan, and was also the fourth husband of Gail, played by Street legend Helen Worth.
Reece, who rose to fame in the 1980s in sitcom Home To Roost alongside the late John Thaw, has retrained as a director in recent years.
He has directed episodes of Emmerdale and is now back in Weatherfield.
Taking to Twitter, he told his 75,000 Twitter followers: “Up bright and early today. First day of my #Corrie shoot. The rover returns. Right… let’s have it!”
The tweet was accompanied by a shot of the iconic Rovers Return pub sign.
Actress Lucy Avison, who plays Corrie’s Chloe Pearson, responded: “So excited to work with you Reece! x”
His ill-fated Corrie character arrived in 2008, but mounting debts and a painkiller addiction led to a desperate Joe deciding to fake his death in an insurance scam in 2010.
However, unlucky Joe’s John Darwin-style plan to vanish on Lake Windermere in the Lake District went horribly wrong when a gust of wind caused a sail pole on his boat Gail Force to knock him unconscious into the water.
Joe drowned and poor Gail went to prison for a while, charged with his murder.
After leaving Corrie, Reece went on to play another terrible soap partner, Paul Ashdale in Emmerdale, who married Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) but died on their wedding day in a van crash involving Jimmy King (Nick Miles).
Soap fans didn’t mourn Paul though, as he had been physically and verbally abusing his son Vinny (Bradley Johnson) for months.
In recent years, Reese has documented his journey from in front of Soapland’s cameras to behind them via his Twitter. his new career direction clearly means a lot to the actor-turned-director.
This week he also posted a snap of the building which houses Corrie’s A Trim Up North barber shop.
“Got my recce tomorrow for my first block ever directing #Corrie,” he wrote.
“Ready to take the reins and meet my new team. A new chapter begins. Both nervous and excited. Here we go!”
Sally Carman, who plays Abi Franklin, said: “Can’t wait!”
Reece replied: “The pleasure will be all mine, Sally. x”
For the week beginning Monday 30 May, Coronation Street airs at 7.30pm weeknights on ITV
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
