Coronation Street fans will be delighted to hear that 78-year-old actor Malcolm Hebden is returning to the cobbles next year after recovering from a heart attack. Malcom will return as Norris Cole following the break that he took after his serious health scare, but he'll be taking it nice and easy with a light-hearted storyline. As a comical character with some of the show's funniest lines, it shouldn't be too much of a strain to get back into the swing of things on the street. Corrie showrunner Iain MacLeod told Digital Spy: "He's back for a short stint in a little sort of cameo return in the hope we can have him back permanently in the future. He's on that list of Emily Bishops of characters who are so Corrie that the show doesn't feel correct without them in there.Soap characters come and go - but I am reading bits in the scripts where I know Norris would have something to say."
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Malcolm was left fighting for his life late last year after suffering a massive heart attack. He only managed to recover after spending three weeks in a medically induced coma.He later told the Blackpool Gazette: "Most of December I was in an induced coma, in the care of these brilliant, wonderful people at the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). Fortunately, I didn't realise how bad it was; I was dying. The cardiac team, headed by Mr Zacharias, simply saved my life."
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Norris has been a favourite on the street since he started in 1994. He's loved for his gossiping ways while working in The Kabin with longtime friends Rita Sullivan. Actress Patti Clare - who plays Mary Taylor in the soap - had previously hinted that Norris would be back on the soap soon. She said She said on This Morning: "Norris is in Peru with Emily at the moment. So she [Mary] speaks to him often on the phone.
So yes, there's a faint sort of whisper that he might be back maybe next year."
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