Coronation Street's boss says he's tempted to bring back legendary Rovers Return barmaid Bet Lynch.
The much-loved character, played by Julie Goodyear, has been away from the cobbles for 17 years, but Iain MacLeod has hinted that she could make a sensational return to the ITV soap.
Series producer Iain MacLeod has revealed that he's held talks about bringing back feisty soap queen Bet.
Speaking to the Daily Star Sunday he said: “Bet is an icon. The idea of bringing her back is talked about occasionally.
“As any Corrie viewer would say, she is up there in the pantheon of Corrie greats.
“So it’s always tempting to bring her back.”
Iain, who started out as a researcher on the soap in 2006 and became a story associate the following year, oversaw stories including the 50th anniversary tram crash in 2010.
In 2018 he took over from Kate Oates as producer.
This year is a landmark for the world's longest soap with the 10,000th episode set in Blackpool being screened later this week and the 60th anniversary coming up in December.
Iain said: “I’m very happy with the cast that we’ve got.
“We have a very strong hand of cards to play, so I’m enjoying making the best of it.
"We are lucky that a lot of the iconic characters are still in the show.
"Ken, Rita and then Roy Cropper entered the echelons of iconic characters a long time ago. People are always asking me about what will be next for those characters.
“We have got more than enough talent on the show at the moment.”
But Iain isn't ruling out comebacks for the 60th anniversary celebrations.
"At the moment we’ve not given in to the temptation," he said about the idea of bringing back Bet.
"There are no plans to do that …yet.”
Julie, from Heywood, played the leopard print-wearing barmaid and Rovers Return landlady Bet Lynch, who later became Bet Gilroy, on and off for more than 40 years.
She first appeared as Bet for nine episodes in 1966, before becoming a series regular from 1970 to 1995.
When the brewery decided to sell The Rovers in 1995 Bet couldn't come up with the large sum they demanded and left in the back of a taxi in her iconic leopard-print.
The character returned in 2002 for her Betty Turpin's retirement party and again the following year when she crossed paths with Liz McDonald in Blackpool and got involved in Liz's marriage problems with husband Jim who had escaped from prison and was on the run.
In 2012 Julie, 77, sashayed into the Celebrity Big Brother house wearing trademark leopardskin, pussycat ears, a multicoloured coat and a sassy t-shirt reading ‘Get It. Got It. Good’.
She intrigued and delighted viewers as a CBB contestant with her deadpan quips, speaking Russian in her sleep and telling housemate Danica Thrall that a passing seagull was the reincarnation of an old pal.
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