It's the return of the Platt this week in Coronation Street, as David's dad Martin makes his first on-screen appearance in 13 years. Actor Sean Wilson is reprising his role for a brief stint on the show, in a storyline that centres around the aftermath of David's brutal rape at the hands of Josh Tucker.
Fans last saw Martin on their screens back in 2005 when he left Weatherfield to start a new life with his girlfriend in Liverpool, and there's a lot of excitement surrounding the comeback of a character who was an important part of Weatherfield life for two whole decades.
While we're looking forward to checking in with Martin again, and finding out what he's been up to in his absence, we thought we'd share eight things you might have forgotten about Gail's second husband...
1. He was Gail's toy boy
Martin rocked up on the cobbles in 1985, as a teenage school leaver with only a couple of GCEs (as they were called back in the day) to his name. He took a job in Jim's Cafe, and it was there he first clapped eyes on Gail Tilsley, who was more than ten years his senior. Fast forward four years, and friendship blossomed into romance when Martin lent Gail a shoulder to cry on after her estranged hubby Brian was murdered.
Things progressed quickly, and within a matter of months, Gail was up the duff. Despite her initially wanting a termination after fearing Martin was too young to be a father, the couple worked through their differences and baby David arrived on Christmas Day 1990.
2. He adopted Nick and Sarah Louise
After tying the knot with Gail in September 1991, Martin decided he wanted to make things even more formal by adopting his step-kids Nick and Sarah-Louise. But there was an obstacle standing in the way, in the shape of Gail's formidable ex-mother-in-law Ivy Tilsley.
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The old battleaxe didn't take kindly to the idea of her grandchildren changing their surname to Platt, and even though the adoption did go through, Ivy wrote a crafty clause into her will which stipulated that Nick had to revert back to Tilsley in order to inherit her house!
It suited Nick rather nicely too, as unlike Sarah, he could never get on board with Martin being his new daddy.
3. He was stalked by unstable nurse Carmel Finnan
After tiring of making brews and clearing tables, Martin started training to become a nurse. It was during his studies he had the misfortune of making friends with fellow student Carmel Finnan. Gail invited the Irish nurse to come and live with them at Number 8, but crazy Carm became so infatuated with Martin that she started to imagine they were in a real relationship. She acted out her fantasies in a number of bizarre ways, including climbing into bed with Martin when he was drunk.
Carmel even went as far as telling Gail that she was carrying Martin's kid, but her porky pies were exposed when her granddad arrived in Weatherfield and revealed she had a history of mental health problems.
4. He had a habit for committing adultery
Martin had a penchant for pretty nurses and did the dirty on Gail twice during their marriage. The first time was a one-night stand with co-worker Cathy Power after a messy New Year's Eve party. Martin came clean to Gail, who found it in herself to forgive him, but then he went and betrayed her for a second time with nurse Rebecca Hopkins (played by Jill Halfpenny).
Bizarrely, Martin only decided to tell Gail he'd been screwing another woman for six months after Rebecca had given him the elbow. The affair was the final nail in the coffin for the Platts' marriage, and divorce followed shortly after.
5. He had a brief romance with Sally Webster
Wife-swapping isn't uncommon in Weatherfield, and no sooner had the ink dried on his divorce papers to Gail, Martin had started seeing her best mate Sally. The surprise relationship caused serious tension between Gail and Sal, and Sally's estranged hubby Kev didn't take too kindly to his supposed best mate bonking the mother of his children.
The jealous mechanic made his feelings perfectly clear when he punched Martin in the middle of The Rovers – ouch! But Kevin didn't really have much to worry about in the end, as the spark between Sally and Martin fizzled out as quickly as it had ignited, and she went back to her ex.
6. He saved his family from Richard Hillman
After Martin, the next notch of Gail's bed post was the very mad and equally bad Richard Hillman. Martin gave his ex and her new man his full blessing, and was just as oblivious as gormless Gail to Richard's true nature.
But that fateful night when the serial killer kidnapped Gail and her kids and drove them into the canal, it was Martin, along with neighbour Tommy Harris, who were the ones who rushed to their rescue. The heroic pair dived into the icy waters, managing to free the family from the vehicle and save their lives. Bravo!
7. He had an ill-fated affair with a teenager
When Martin fell for Tommy Harris's 16-year old daughter Katy, the relationship had disaster written all over it from the off. Martin found himself on the receiving end of Tommy's fists, and Katy's overprotective brother Craig tried to kill him by tampering with the brakes of his car. Defiant Martin and Katy ignored the haters and moved in together, but then she fell preggers and everything went spectacularly wrong.
After being wrongly led to believe by her parents Martin was cheating on her, Katy aborted their unborn baby, and when the truth did out, Katy killed Tommy in cold blood. Martin found himself a prime suspect in Tommy's murder case, and yet even more heartache followed when guilt-ridden Katy took her own life, leaving Martin completely devastated.
8. He moved away to Liverpool with his new family
After two decades living on the Street, Martin decided it was time for a change in 2005 and waved goodbye to Weatherfield to go and start a new life in Liverpool with his girlfriend Robyn. In those 13 years since, we've had brief snippets of information as to what Martin's been up to via David.
So just to bring you up to speed, Martin went on to have a little girl called Charlotte with Robyn, and she's currently expecting their second child. And according to David, Martin has done pretty well for himself financially – bagging a big promotion at work, and buying a big posh house with a garden. Oh, and David has recently discovered that the whole family are planning to move away to New Zealand. Will he be buying a one-way ticket to join them overseas?
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