Maureen Lipman was worried her ‘Coronation Street’ return might leave some of the regular cast members "cheesed off".
The 74-year-old actress – who played Lillian Spencer on the cobbles in 2002 for six weeks, before returning to Weatherfield as new character Evelyn Plummer in 2018 – felt "incredibly nervous" about how her co-stars "would react" upon her ‘Corrie’ comeback.
She told Prima magazine: "On my first day back, I was incredibly nervous. I learned my lines until I knew them by heart, but I didn’t know how the rest of the cast would react to me.
"There’s always that feeling when you join something new that the regulars will be slightly cheesed off that you’ve come.
"They have their jokes, they have their seats, then you arrive seeming a bit aloof because you’re actually more nervous than they know. It was a bit like going back to school!"
Maureen would like to bring more comedy to her ‘Corrie’ role, but she does have a good time with Alan Halsall – who plays her on-screen grandson Tyrone Dobbs – as they try to improvise on set.
The ‘Plebs’ star believes her career longevity, which spans five decades across stage and television, is down to "the gift of the gab".
Maureen added: "I owe a lot of my success to having the gift of the gab.
"I was never a pretty young thing: I got my dad’s nose, slightly squinting eyes and buck teeth (I later had them fixed).
"So after drama school, it was a question of convincing people to give me the jobs when they were expecting a blonde with pert breasts to walk in."
"I’ve never had that moment of: ‘Take your glasses off Miss Jones; you’re beautiful and we’re taking you to Hollywood.’ Instead, I’ve sort of doggedly worried away at things like a terrier – and here I am!"