Where Coronation Street fans have seen Aunty Rani before as actress makes soap comeback
Coronation Street viewers have been introduced to Rani Alahan, the aunt of Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin), who has arrived just in time for his wedding to Bernie Winter (Jane Hazlegrove). She quickly caused a stir at number seven as she set about taking control of the nuptials and the bride-to-be adopted a posh accent in a bid to impress her.
The character is played by Josephine Lloyd-Welcome and, while she is now taking on a whole new role, this is not the first time she has been seen walking the cobbles of the nation's most famous street.
From 2004 until 2009, she appeared on an intermittent basis as Doctor Patel and was initially seen on-screen with Dev and Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati) as she delivered the results of his then-wife's blood tests prior to her brain tumour diagnosis.
Following that, she shared scenes with legendary matriarch Gail Platt (Helen Worth) and Jerry Morton (Michael Starke), when her character visited the former kebab shop owner following a health scare.
In 2010, she appeared as an unnamed doctor who checked on Asha Alahan (Tanisha Gorey), who is her new character's great-niece, for suspected meningitis. And in 2012, she was seen Raveena Bhatia, who was the boss of Marcus Dent (Charlie Condou) when he worked as a midwife at Weatherfield General.
At the time, she played a part in his storyline that saw the openly gay character having an affair with Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon), and she spotted them both together in the Bistro. But Josephine's new part comes as Weatherfield businessman Dev, who first appeared on the soap in 1999, made a comeback after six months away.
As well as her various stints on Coronation Street, Josephine has also appeared in a wealth of other British television staples throughout her lengthy career. Earlier this year, she appeared as Devika Babu in the penultimate episode of the latest episode of Doctor Who alongside Ncuti Gatwa, and she has also starred in episodes of Not Going Out, EastEnders, Doctors, Casualty, and Holby City. In 2021, she appeared the regular role of Rainbow on the Nickelodeon sitcom Goldie's Oldies.
In 1980, she appeared in six episodes of Agony, the sitcom that made a star out of Dame Maureen Lipman, who now plays Evelyn Plummer on Coronation Street. Away from the screen, Josephine has also enjoyed an illustrious career on stage and has tread the boards in productions of Kinky Boots, The Mousetrap and Top Girls.
But Josephine is not the only soap star to have appeared in Coronation Street in various roles before making a comeback in a regular part. Way back in the early days of the show, Jean Alexander played landlady Mrs Webb over the course of two episodes before rejoining in her signature role as the iconic Hilda Ogden. Similarly, Beverley Callard played the one-off part of June Dewhurst, a friend of Gail and Brian Tilsley in the early 1980s before she truly made her mark on the programme as Rovers Return landlady Liz McDonald.
Years later, Lisa George played a family liaison officer on more than one occasion before she arrived to play feisty knicker stitcher Beth Sutherland from 2011, and Catherine Tyldesley, who is thought to be making a comeback as former barmaid Eva Price, played a midwife before she landed what became her most famous role.
And in 2004, Alison King played a bored housewife known only as Mrs Fanshaw, who seduced builder Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) before she returned two years later to take on the role of no-nonsense factory boss Carla Connor.
What's more, Jane Hazlegrove first joined the cast as a teenager when she played Sue Clayton in the early 1980s. Her character's family became involved in a dispute with Jack and Vera Duckworth before they left, and the actress came back more than two decades later to take on the part of Bernie.
Aunty Rani's debut on the programme comes just as Aadi Alahan (Adam Hussain) is set to leave. We haven't got an exit date yet for the character, but with his father Dev Alahan returning to Weatherfield after months offscreen, amid two big twists for his son, it seems it could be soon.
Aadi was caught up in drama just weeks ago when he planned to take LSD at a party only for someone else to unknowingly take it. That person, Lauren Bolton, nearly died and has yet to find out Aadi was involved.
He's been trying to make amends by helping her out, and in upcoming scenes they grow closer - with this no doubt set to end in heartache. Also, Aadi was the victim of theft last week when someone robbed the shop. Of course it soon emerged that Aadi had staged the whole thing, with the help of troubled teen Brody Michaelis. Brody took off with the money, or so it was assumed as Aadi claimed £6,000 was taken.
He was later forced to confess to his stepmother Bernie Winter that this was the amount he was in debt after taking out a loan. He'd taken the money from the safe to pay off said loan, hoping the robbery would allow them to claim on the insurance.
Next week the drama continues when Aadi realises the insurance company won't pay out. With the money gone, surely it's only a matter of time before he's forced to explain all to his father Dev.
Aadi is facing big trouble once he's exposed for both the staged robbery and the LSD spiking, not to mention the betrayal towards his family with the theft of their money to fix his mistake, without telling anyone. With it confirmed Aadi is leaving the show soon, will this all lead to him leaving home for good?
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