Fifteen years is an awfully long time in soapland. Families are created and destroyed, crime empires rise and fall, and there’s the odd kidnapping and murder plot to contend with.
Someone who’s missed most of the last decade and a half of the goings-on in Hollyoaks is actor James Redmond, who played the much-loved Rory ‘Finn’ Finnegan between 1997 and 2002.
But Channel 4 bosses have given fans an early present by announcing the character is set to return for a series of guest appearances over the Christmas period.
Execs made the decision to bring Finn back based on the success they found with resurrecting other old characters including Luke Morgan and Mandy Richardson over the summer.
And Channel 4’s producer Bryan Kirkwood explained the decision, telling Digital Spy: “We are so thrilled with where we are at the moment, with celebrating our heritage and bringing back legacy characters.
We’ll be seeing a bit of James Redmond over Christmas and New Year. [He] will be coming and going as the much-loved Finn.”
Read more: Sarah Jane Dunn revealed this secret about her Hollyoaks return on This Morning
And Redmond himself got in on the act, posting on Twitter: “Any Hollyoaks fans remember this guy? No? Ask your mum… okay your gran. Finn is back for Xmas!”
Long-term viewers will know that James has appeared in the show since his character’s initial exit in 2002, popping up in 2013.
And he showed up again in 2015, to gatecrash Tony’s wedding to Diane during the show’s 20th anniversary celebrations.
Read more: Reunited! Hollyoaks photo shoot reveals original cast back together again
Finn initially left the show in 2002 to go back to his ‘old life of uncertainty’, after becoming disillusioned with life running The Loft.
But bosses are remaining tight-lipped on where life will have taken him when he returns to screens this winter – so we’ll have to tune in to find out.