Coronation Street Star to Return After Surprise U-Turn on Break Plans

A Coronation Street star is reportedly set to make a dramatic return to the cobbles in just a few weeks – despite having previously announced she was taking a break.

Dame Maureen Lipman, 79, beloved by fans for her role as straight-talking Evelyn Plummer, has apparently made a U-turn on her decision to step back from the long-running ITV soap. 

In July last year, it was reported that the actress would be taking ‘an extended break’ from Corrie, with her character Evelyn written out of the show as she left Weatherfield to study law at university at the age of 78.

Now, a source has told The Sun that Evelyn is set to make a return to Coronation Street, and fans won’t have long to wait.

An insider said: ‘As Evelyn went off to uni, it makes sense for her to pop back in from time to time.’ 

MailOnline has contacted ITV and Dame Maureen’s representative for comment. 

Dame Maureen Lipman is reportedly set to make a dramatic return to the cobbles in just a few weeks – despite having previously announced she was taking a break (pictured on Lorraine last year)

The actress, 79, beloved by fans for her role as straight-talking Evelyn Plummer, has apparently made a U-turn on her decision to step back from the long-running ITV soap 

The veteran actress made her official on-screen exit in January after regular appearances on the soap since 2018.

However, she had hinted that her time in Weatherfield wasn’t over just yet. 

Appearing on ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, she admitted: ‘Yes, I have been signed up to do another year.

‘It’s good for you, it keeps you on your metal, my goodness me. I mean everything is still completely fascinating to me.’ 

Despite confirming her extended contract, she also revealed in December that she would be ‘absent for a while’ but promised a comeback. 

Speaking to The Sun at the time, she explained her character isn’t going to die, but she will be in and out of the show because she ‘wants to have a bit of a life’. 

However, Dame Maureen also took a subtle swipe at the show’s current direction, calling on producers to return to more classic storytelling. 

On the Beyond The Title podcast, she said: ‘We’ve come to a point in Corrie now where people are getting murdered in knicker factories.

In July last year, it was reported that the actress would be taking ‘an extended break’ from Corrie, with her character Evelyn written out of the show as she left Weatherfield to study law at university at the age of 78 (pictured with David Neilson on the soap)

Now, a source has told The Sun that Evelyn is set to make a return to Coronation Street, saying: ‘As Evelyn went off to uni, it makes sense for her to pop back in from time to time’ (pictured 2024)

‘We’re having domestic abuse. Anything that ticks the box of social problems in the 21st century is going to be in your local soap.

‘Whereas back then you had the freedom to put Martha [Longhurst], Minnie [Caldwell] and Ena [Sharples] in the snug and have a conversation about Ben-Hur.

‘It’s never been political but I always like it when the women sit down and go, “Ooh, Donald Trump, ain’t his hair shocking.” 

She added: ‘All those wonderful expressions that your parents come out with. 

‘Like my mother saying, “Ooh, doesn’t a black skirt cover a multitude of sins.” People talk like that, and we recognise it as true.’ 

Coronation Street continues on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.