Callard, famous for portraying Liz McDonald on Coronation Street, is set to play Gwen Connolly’s long-lost mother, Lily – a delightfully quirky, unpredictable, and sharp character.

She will make her screen debut on the soap next month, on February 19.

Callard has appeared on Coronation Street as Liz in several stints.

In 1989, she joined the show as the damaged but passionate mother of son Steve on the famous cobblestones.

After nine years on the hit UK soap, she left to pursue passions outside of acting. After a five-year break she found her way back into the show.

She had been open about her struggles with clinical depression, which she revealed in 2016, saying she had been struggling with it for years.

“I knew I wasn’t myself and I knew I wasn’t firing on all cylinders,” she told the BBC at the time, also revealing she collapsed on the set of Coronation Street in 2009 after feeling the effects of her illness for 18 months prior.

“I drove to work at 6.30am and filmed till 8.20pm that night, and then I collapsed,” she said.

“I just didn’t think anyone like me would have [depression] because I’m a strong, feisty female.”

Describing the extent of the mental toll it took on her, Callard added: “And you also find it difficult to love anybody else because you are in this black hole but you can’t get yourself out of it.”

She left the show back in 2020 after appearing in 2,362 episodes.

She has been nominated for three major UK television awards owing to her time on Corrie including Best On-Screen Partnership with Simon Gregson who plays her son Steve, Best Actress and Serial Drama Performance.

She is now due to arrive into the fray in Carrigstown as mother of Gwen, played by actress Emily Lamey, who often finds herself involved in the show’s more dramatic storylines as her character stirs up trouble while having a little fun along the way.

The Belfast-born actress has previously admitted she is “nothing like” her on-screen portrayal.

“Well, maybe I’m a little bit like her, but more toned down, less troublesome,” Lamey told RSVP Live.

“I think for any character you play there has to be some reflection of your personality to bring to the role.”