Dinnerladies' Duncan Preston makes permanent return to Emmerdale

Emmerdale is set to welcome Duncan Preston back as a regular on the soap.

The Yorkshire-born actor will reprise his role as Doug Potts in September, after leaving the Dales to rekindle life with ex-wife Hilary (Paula Wilcox).

"It is lovely to be back in Yorkshire as part of the Emmerdale family. It feels like I have come home and I'm really excited about what is ahead for Doug," he said.

Doug's return will coincide with the wedding of his daughter Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy) to Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), but it is not certain if he has come back to give moral support or is driven by another motive.

His return could also stir up old feelings for The Woolpack landlady Diane Sugden (Elizabeth Estensen). Duncan will return to Emmerdale on September 9.

The Dinnerladies actor, who joined Ememrdale in 2007, took a break from the soap in February 2011 to star in the theatre production of To Kill A Mockingbird.

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.