Former Coronation Street star lands role on BBC soap after ITV exit

Former Coronation Street star Martin Hancock has landed a role on a BBC soap, with the actor set to appear on Casualty.

The actor first played Spider Nugent on the ITV soap in 1997, with his original departure taking place in 2001. Following a brief return in 2003, Hancock made a full-time comeback in 2022, before the character left Weatherfield once again a year later.

Now, following his stints on Coronation Street, Hancock will trade ITV for the BBC for his latest role, as the actor has signed up for a stint on the medical-drama Casualty.

Hancock will play Samuel Jankowski, the father of student paramedic Indie (Naomi Wakszlak). Digital Spy understands that he will make his debut in this Saturday's dramatic episode (March 29), though it isn't known how long his stint in the show will be.

Indie comes across Samuel when she is called to treat a stab victim in a prison, and their relationship becomes clear while on the way to the hospital. How will Indie deal with this blast from her past?

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Indie was introduced in January on the BBC soap, with her grandmother’s death triggering a storyline that has seen the paramedic without a place to sleep.

ITV

ITV

Despite his new part, Hancock previously shared that he would be open to reprising his role of Spider once more, explaining his belief that his character and Toyah Battersby had unfinished business in their relationship.

“I don't think it's the end of the story,” Hancock said. “I think these two will always have a bit of love there. Spider will be desperately sad about the way things have ended. At the end of the day, whatever version of Spider we're talking about, he loves Toyah, so he's bound to feel sad.

“There's something between those two, as their relationship dates back 25 years… Of course [I’d return]. I said it the first time I left, then the second, third time [and] fourth time round. I love the show. It'd be nice for a Spider and Toyah wedding to happen at some point.”

Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX. Casualty airs on Saturday nights on BBC One and now streams first on BBC iPlayer, where episodes are released at 6am on the day of transmission.