Martin Hancock appears to have his former on-screen girlfriend to thank for his return to the cobbles of Coronation Street. The actor is set to make his comeback on screen next week as Spider Nugent heads back to Weatherfield.
It was announced by the ITV soap back in April that Martin would be reprising the role 25 years after making his debut - and 19 years after his last appearance. The actor played as Emily Bishop's eco-warrior nephew between 1997 and 2003 and is probably best remembered for being the on/off boyfriend of Toyah Battersby.
Spider left the famous street in 2003, when he headed to London to start afresh with Toyah. However, they later separated with Spider moving to Peru, while after a failed marriage, Toyah returned to be with her family in 2016. But with life having moved on, has Spider held on to the ideals of his youth and has he come back for one final attempt to rekindle his love with Toyah or is it something else that brings him back to the street?
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Well, it has now been revealed that the legendary character returns during Toyah's protest against waste incineration. It also comes just weeks after the councillor's husband Imran Habeeb died in a car crash. The character is currently on bail after pleading not guilty when she was arrested for murder.
Next week, Corrie viewers will see the pair catch up and reminisce, Toyah breaks down about Imran’s death. She then invites Spider to stay over. Could the pair end up rekindling their romance? What Martin has revealed is that he hopes he - and Spider - can stick around.
"As long as the governor Iain [Macleod - Corrie's executive producer] can put up with me and the writers are happy to write for me, I'm happy to stay," he told the Manchester Evening News and other press.
The 53-year-old, who has also starred in Holby City, also didn't shy away from how his comeback came about. And he may just have Toyah actress Georgia Taylor to thank. Back in August last year, Wigan-born Georgia shared a 'blast from the past' and sparked fond memories of Weatherfield gone by when she posted a picture on her Instagram.
She transported viewers back to 1999 when Toyah was dating the Spider by sharing a snap of the iconic young TV couple sharing an embrace as they gazed at the camera. "Thanks to @jondew1 for sharing this belter of a #tbt from 1999! I mean, eyebrows are for losers, right?" she wrote, referring to her skinny eyebrows in the picture that ruled the nineties. But it soon led to fans demanding Spider's return.
"I've always said that if I was asked back, I'd come back," Martin told us. "I've always wanted to. I've gone off and done other things and you'd be amazed at the places that Corrie reaches in the world."
Explaining how his return happened, he said: "Georgia put a photo up of us when we were very young. It was one of those Spider and Toyah photos where we are arm in arm with each other and it went into a few of the papers. Then my mother-in-law, who is the oracle of all things Corrie, rang up and said: 'E-ar duck, you're in the papers!'
"I looked at it and got all sentimental and then my wife said, look, you've always said you'd go back and she said you're not getting any younger so I had a word with my agent and my agent had a word with Corrie. There was a bit of to and fro and here I am!"
Martin joked that he'd like to say it was 'difficult and challenging to get back into character as Spider - but it wasn't at all. "Part of me is Spider, obviously. I've always carried a bit of that militancy with me but not to the extent he has. I'm kind of like Spider-lite," he said. "I like to think Spider's my better self."
But it didn't stop his nerves on the day of his first scene back. "I was extremely nervous. I did have sleepless nights," Martin admitted. "Then, my first day back, I actually came in before we started filming for an orientation because it's new studios to where I was at and the first person I bumped in to was one of the old ADs and she's the first lady I ever worked with."
In terms of cast, Georgia and Jane Danson, who plays Toyah's sister Leanne Battersby, were the first to welcome him back onto the cobbles. "That was just... it was brilliant. It was like a huge warm blanket of love thrown over me. It was lovely." But will Spider be just like we remember him?
"He's a bit creakier then he used to be but aren't we all?" Martin laughed. "But no, I think he'll be pretty similar to the Spider we know and love without giving away anything."
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