Coronation Street legend shares amazing comeback twist — despite being dead!

Rovers Coronation Street
Could this Corrie star be making a comeback? (Image credit: ITV)

Coronation Street legend Nigel Havers has revealed his plan to bring his character back to the cobbles, despite the fact he was killed off.

Nigel is best known for playing the role of Lewis Archer, a character that first appeared on our screens in 2009. He went down in soap history for being a notorious conman, where he scammed characters like Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) and Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) out of significant sums of money.

The actor appeared on Loose Women recently where he admitted he still gets fans coming up to him addressing his character, despite the fact he was killed off in 2019. 

On New Year's Day that year, Lewis had promised Audrey he would explain his actions, before inviting her for dinner at the Bistro. But he stood her up again, causing her to give up on him and assume he was just a timewaster.

But when she arrived home, she found that he had passed away holding an engagement ring. In the lead-up to his death, Lewis had complained of chest pains and decided to visit the GP, though Audrey had dismissed it.

With Lewis out of the picture, Nigel admitted he found it funny that his character has made a lasting impression on people. He told the Loose Women panel: "I was shopping in places and they’d say, "You owe her £20,000! Pay her back!”"

Since fans seem to still be thinking about his character, Nigel and the panel discussed the potential for him to return, and a theory was born. Panellist Ruth Langsford then suggested that Lewis may have a twin brother, and he was open to the idea.

He replied: "That’s what Audrey always said…", and fans will know that Lewis had once posed as a twin brother to deceive, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he really does have one!

For now though, there's nothing to confirm that the famous Corrie conman will be returning any time soon, so it's just a theory for the time being.

Nigel's last appearance on our screens saw him playing the role of Roger in
Finding Alice, and he has been doing theatre work, appearing in pantomimes throughout 2023.

Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings at 8pm on ITV1. 

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress