As Emily’s (played by Eileen Derbyshire) nephew, Spider was a popular Coronation Street character from 1997 until his departure from the cobbles in 2003. Speaking about reprising his role as the eco-warrior on Friday’s This Morning, Martin paid a touching tribute to his former co-star, reflecting on the fun they had on set and calling the 90-year-old “easy to work with.”
“We were watching that clip there, you had such a great chemistry, you two,” ITV host Dermot O’Leary pointed out after an old clip of Emily and Spider was shown.
“Oh, it was lovely,” agreed co-host Alison Hammond.
Dermot continued: “You were such an odd couple but it was brilliant.”
“They were an odd couple,” Martin smiled “But Eileen was so easy to work with, and she was so fun.”
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Reminiscing, he recalled: “Our difficulty was we had a lot of scenes which were on a Friday afternoon, the tea and cake scenes around hers.
“And we’d be doing the script but we kept slipping into our own names – we had to reshoot!”
Emily first made an appearance in the soap way back in 1961, and her character remained an integral part of the soap for decades.
She left in 2016 and made a brief appearance in 2019, but fans still see her as one of the most legendary characters.
Ken promised he would come and visit Emily soon. As they ended the call, Emily said: “We’ll speak later, bye-bye.”
Emily was at the centre of some of the soap’s biggest storylines, from the murder of her husband Ernest Bishop (Stephen Hancock) to a mental breakdown in 1992.
Long-term fans of the show will remember how close Spider was to Emily, and his return has gone down well with long-time viewers of the soap.
When it was announced Spider would be coming back in April, Martin stated: “Having the opportunity to walk back onto the cobbles is fabulous, I’m so excited to be seeing a lot of old friends and picking up what Spider has been up to.
“I’ve always wanted to come back at some point and it just felt like this is the right time. I’m eternally grateful to Iain [MacLeod] for the opportunity.”
On his decision to bring Spider back to Weatherfield, producer Iain Macleod explained: “Martin is a fabulous actor and Spider is a character with real heritage and affection from fans.
“His return heralds an enthralling new story for Toyah, who will be embroiled in a mess of guilt and secrecy when Spider arrives.”
Coronation Street continues on Friday at 8pm on ITV.
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