Martin Hancock credits Georgia Taylor with Corrie return

Martin Hancock has credited Georgia Taylor with his 'Coronation Street' return.

The 53-year-old star is set to reprise his role as eco-warrior Geoffrey 'Spider' Nugent after almost two decades away from the cobbles and says Georgia - who played his love interest Toyah Battersby - is responsible for bringing him back to Weatherfield.

He told Radio Times: "It’s all her fault! Last year Georgia posted a pic of us in our younger days on social media which got a big reaction from the press. It made me nostalgic, and my wife encouraged me to get in touch with 'Corrie' about a possible return. What she actually said was, in her own special way: ‘You’re not getting any younger!’ I spoke to my agent who contacted the producer, and we worked it out from there.”

And Martin says 'Coronation Street' was great training for him as an actor.

He explained: "Doing a soap or an advert are the two best training grounds for an actor. An advert is two days for 30 seconds, sometimes on a soap it feels like you get 30 seconds prep for two days! Corrie taught me about framing, understanding how a shift in your position can change the composition of a shot.

“There are lots of nuances you have to learn in a soap because it’s so fast. You learn to understand very quickly what people need from a specific shot.

“Georgia always had a good balance of understanding the time constraints of a show like 'Corrie', but still being thoughtful about how you’re going to play it and react to things. The cast put their party boots on as they enter the studio, concentration sets in, you get your game face on and you’re ready to rock and roll.”