Charles Lawson going back to Coronation Street

Coronation Street favourite Jim McDonald is returning to the soap, the actor who plays him said. But Charles Lawson said in an interview that he feared his character, the former husband of long-suffering Rovers Return landlady Liz McDonald, would be killed off. The soap is planning explosive storylines to coincide with its 50th anniversary this year, with one plot seeing key characters killed when a tram crashes on to the street's famous cobbles. Northern Irish actor Charles said he was to film scenes later this year, adding that he would still be on the ITV show in December for the anniversary. Asked if he could reveal any plotlines, he said: "I'm going back into the street for a few episodes... I haven't seen the scripts and even if I could, you know I couldn't. "But I have no idea. I suspect either I'm going to get killed, or..." Speculation has been mounting over which characters will dramatically leave the show in the crash. Discussing the likelihood of former army sergeant McDonald being a victim, Charles said: "I don't know. I suspect I've probably been in the frame for it - whether or not I'm going to be, I've no idea, to be honest with you and if not I don't know what I'm going to do. But I'll be around for the 50th anniversary." Charles, who has been acting for 31 years, said he would be upset if his character was killed off, but added: "Work's work for me. If a character gets killed I would be sad, but really I would be waiting for my next job." It is not the only involvement Charles, who last appeared in Coronation Street in 2009, will have with the soap this year. It was announced last month that he will narrate a stage version of the series. Corrie! opens at The Lowry in Salford on August 12. Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk's weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.