Coronation Street confirms another return for Joseph's grandmother Linda
Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street has announced that Jacqueline Leonard will be returning to the show for a longer stint.
The actress will reprise the role of Linda Hancock, who's the maternal grandmother of Chesney Winter-Brown's son Joseph.
Linda reappears at a difficult time for Joseph and the wider Winter-Brown family, leaving Chesney and his wife Gemma conflicted over the implications of accepting her help.
Speaking to Digital Spy and other media in a recent press call, Coronation Street's producer Iain MacLeod commented: "Joseph's issues culminate in him falling behind at school.
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"Joseph's fairy godmother turns up in the shape of Linda. She decides that she's going to fix all this and starts throwing money at the situation, which puts Chesney and Gemma in this impossible quandary – in that by accepting financial help from Linda, they're giving up control of Joseph's life.
"They feel: 'This is our son and we should be making these decisions'. It doesn't feel right that Linda is wading in with her chequebook and saving the day. But on the other side of it, they have to prioritise what's right for Joseph, who is having a hard time and could do with the support."
He continued: "It's a lot of fun in places, but we were trying to tell a very realistic story about family dynamics. It's interesting because Gemma is not Joseph's biological mother so there are tensions around that – does he side with Linda and biology? Or does he side more with Gemma? His relationship with Gemma is quite fractured.
"I hope it's one of those stories where you'll watch it and recognise the down-to-earth family drama from things in your own family. It feels brilliantly close to home."
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Jacqueline Leonard originally played the role of Linda for a storyline in 2015.
Linda returned in 2022 and also appeared on screen for Chesney and Gemma's wedding earlier this year.
Confirming a longer stay for Linda this time around, MacLeod added: "[The story is] going to be a long runner for us.
"I suppose the tease that I might give you is that we are taking the very original story played with Ken Barlow as our inspiration. So, our inspiration from this dates right back to 1960, in terms of what happens next and it's all catalysed by Linda's arrival.
"I'd rather not say too much more. But I suppose the foundational dynamic in the Barlow family when we first met them was that Ken was one thing and his family was subtly something else. It's basically taking its inspiration from that kind of foundational dynamic in the Barlow household."
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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