Sir Ian McKellen: 'Betty wants me back on Corrie'

Sir Ian McKellen: 'Betty wants me back on Corrie' (Image credit: PA Wire/PA Photos)

Sir Ian McKellen has revealed that Coronation Street's Betty Driver is keen to get him back in the soap. The Lord Of The Rings star appeared in the soap in 2005 as con man Mel Hutchwright. He said: "Only last week, Betty Driver [who plays Betty in the soap] sent me a letter asking when I was going back to the Street." But he has ruled out a return, adding: "But no, I was playing a character who couldn't possibly go back. He'd left so much damage behind him he wouldn't be welcome." The actor said he doesn't watch the soap religiously as "I have a life," but added: "Like most people when I get home late at night, I like to watch something familiar." Sir Ian will soon be seen on ITV1 in a remake of TV show The Prisoner. Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk’s weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop

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.