Coronation Street legend Jim McDonald is set to make a dramatic return to Weatherfield after serving seven years in prison. The fiery character, played by Charlie Lawson, 58, will be released in the coming weeks and make a brief appearance before a full-time return in 2019. Lawson confirmed the news to the Daily Mirror, stating that scheduling conflicts prevented an earlier full-time comeback.
Jim's return will be marked by a shocking revelation: his and Liz McDonald's daughter, Katie, who was believed to have died prematurely in 1992, is actually alive. A hospital mix-up led to Katie being raised overseas, and she has now tracked down her biological parents. This storyline will coincide with Jim's explosive re-entry, as teased by a Coronation Street spokesperson: 'Jim is such a hugely popular character. We’re delighted he is coming back for what will be a typically explosive Jim storyline.'
Jim's history on the cobbles includes losing his baby daughter, assaulting Liz and her lovers, sleeping with his son Steve's ex-girlfriend, and killing Jez Quigley. His exit in 2011 involved an attempted bank robbery to buy the Rovers Return, and he has since spent his jail time crafting models from lollipop sticks.
In other soap news, Becky McDonald's half-sister Kylie Platt, played by Paula Lane, was killed off in 2016 after being stabbed by Clayton Hibbs. Her death in David Platt's arms was one of the show's most harrowing scenes, drawing a record 30.15 million viewers for Dirty Den's 1986 divorce filing on EastEnders.
