A new family is set to arrive in Weatherfield in the coming weeks
A new family is set to arrive on the cobbles “with a bang”(Image: ITV)
Coronation Street producer Kate Brooks is “so thrilled” as a soap legend is set to return to the cobbles with a new family in the coming weeks. Earlier this year, it was confirmed Catherine Tyldesley will reprise her role as Eva Price after seven years away from the soap.
Catherine’s final scenes aired in August 2018 but the 41-year-old actress is back on set filming in Weatherfield. Actors Aaron McCusker and Pauline McLynn will be arriving alongside Catherine as Eva’s partner Ben Driscoll and his interfering mother Maggie.
Eva and Ben will be revealed to residents as the new owners of The Rovers Return in October – putting Eva back behind the bar of the nation’s favourite pub for the first time since 2018.
Eva will be reunited with her sisters Leanne and Toyah, as well as catching up with her old friends and neighbours. The new loved-up couple, and the three children they share together, will be moving into the iconic pub.
The Driscoll family will bring a new dynamic to the street(Image: ITV)
The show’s producer Kate Brooks has revealed the new family will be “arriving with a bang” to change the dynamic of the pub. Creating a new vision for the Rovers, Kate shared with the ECHO and other press: “It’s just the place where you really want to be.”
She continued: “For me the pub works really well when there’s a big family at the heart of it and loves each other. These guys [the Driscoll family] love each other with a real fierceness and with a real protectiveness. Obviously there’s niggles and there’s issues and there’s dramas, as happens to every family, but at the heart of it there’s a real loyalty to each other.”
Kate shared she wanted to bring a real community-feel to the Rovers centred around Eva’s return, who already has links to other Weatherfield residents. She said: “The other thing we wanted to bring to it was that sense of community.
“Eva’s obviously got links with Toyah and Leanne in the street so to have that familiar face and to bring her back with family and a mother-in-law who is definitely going to ruffle many feathers, it felt like the time was right for that kind of dynamic and that kind of energy into the pub.”
Viewers need to be prepared to fall in love with the Driscolls, as they are set to arrive on the street with a lot of energy and a lot of love as their story unravels over the coming months. Kate added: “You care about every single member of that family straight away and you fall in love with them. They are delightful and Pauline, Aaron and Cath are a breath of fresh air and there’s lots of stories for them.”
Ben and Eva are truly in love, but mother-in-law Maggie clashes with Eva on a daily basis. Speaking of getting the three actors on board for the storyline, Kate shared: “They’ve just arrived big and they’ve arrived with a bang. They instantly feel so Coronation Street.
“I am so thrilled that we’ve got these guys on board and so thrilled Cath agreed to come back. You’ve got this family at the heart of the street now and they invite people into their pub. The pub has never looked so lively and full of life- I am absolutely in love with the Driscolls.”
In addition to Catherine Tyldesley’s iconic return, drama is set to continue in Weatherfield for other members of the street. Viewers can expect “powerful” episodes to air as part of Todd and Theo’s abuse storyline, which Kate deliberately planned to be a “slow burn”.
She said one episode will focus primarily on their relationship, which she said has “never been done before”. She said: “It really is powerful and really emotive” as Todd tries to break through the toxicity of his relationship.
Elsewhere on the street, Becky Swain’s true intentions come to light with “loads of twists and turns” as we head towards some exciting Christmas episodes.
Kate Brooks also reassured that Debbie Webster “has got ages” before she is set to depart the street, as her heartbreaking dementia storyline will play out on-screen for a long time.
Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX