Coronation Street star Brian Capron breaks silence on villian Richard Hillman's Christmas return
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Brian Capron, 77, has opened up about what to expect from tonight’s Christmas Day special of Coronation Street. The actor - who plays Gail Platt’s villainous ex-husband, Richard Hillman, on the show - seemed to have left the cobbles for good in 2003. Now, though, he’s returned to see out Helen Worth’s final appearance on the ITV soap. Richard’s return likely won’t be good news for Gail, after his last scene over two decades ago saw him seemingly die after his plan to murder her, Sarah, David, and Bethany by drowning failed.
Speaking of filming his shock return, Brian told The Sun: “It was a lovely experience, they’ve written a very clever scene.” The Grange Hill star added that it was “tricky” to figure out how to bring his character back from what appeared to be a clean cut death, but that the soap’s writing team figured out how to reintroduce Richard seamlessly, and “came up trumps.”.
Brian also praised the “dark humour” they brought back - which was classic of Richard - alongside the character’s “slight hint of menace.” He gushed: “I thought they balanced it perfectly.”. The actor touched on his relationship with Helen, who’s calling time on Coronation Street after 50 years playing Gail on the show. “I think we have a very special relationship which is why the Hillman storyline worked out so beautifully,” he said. He added that Helen helped give “dimension” to Richard despite the man’s simmering evil, and that he loved returning to work with her for the festive special.
