Gail receives a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past in Coronation Street

Viewers were stunned as tonight’s Christmas Eve episode saw Gail (Helen Worth) faced with a vision of her murderous ex husband, Richard Hillman (Brian Capron).

Gail’s dream sequence will continue into the Christmas Day episode as Hillman tries to persuade her not to go ahead with her marriage to Jesse (John Thomson), due to take place that day.

Will Gail marry for a sixth time and finally get her happy ever after or will the spectre of her past be enough to make her jilt Jesse at the altar?

On coming back to Coronation Street to film these scenes Brian Capron 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.”

Serial killer: Gail married Richard Hillman

Reunited after 21 years Gail and Richard

Capron previously played the role of Richard from 2001 to 2003, during which the character committed a series of shocking crimes, including the murders of his ex-wife Patricia (Annabelle Apsion) and neighbour Maxine Peacock (Tracy Shaw). He also made attempts on the lives of Emily (Eileen Derbyshire) and his mother-in-law Audrey (Sue Nicholls), and he callously left his business partner Duggie Ferguson (John Bowe) to die after a fall.

His reign of terror ended when he confessed his misdeeds to his wife Gail (Helen Worth), who referred to him as “Norman Bates with a briefcase.” In a final act of madness, Richard attempted to kill Gail and his stepchildren by driving their car into a canal, but while he met his demise, the family managed to escape.

The Richard Hillman storyline provided Coronation Street with huge ratings as 19 million viewers tuned in to see him kill Maxine and attempt to murder Emily. His watery finale topped that with 21 million viewers.

Regarding working alongside Helen Worth again Brian revealed:

“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.”

Watch the full interview with Brian Capron about his return to the street below: