Coronation Street bad boy Terry Duckworth is coming back to Weatherfield.
Terry, played by Nigel Pivaro, will return to the long-running show in spring for around a month.
Viewers will see him reunited with his son Tommy, played by Chris Fountain, in his first appearance in the soap since the day of his mother Vera's funeral in January 2008.
Pivaro said he could not "refuse" the offer to return, but said it would be "a little sad" being there without Liz Dawn and Bill Tarmey, who played his screen parents, Jack and Vera.
He said: "Part of the excitement is that the show has changed so much with so many different characters and set ups it will present Terry with a completely different landscape to that which he knew before.
"I am going to enjoy playing Terry rediscovering his roots, the changes that have taken place and his reaction to them.
"It will be strange and a little sad without my old sparring partners, Bill and Liz with whom I had forged such a strong working and personal relationship, but I relish creating an interesting new rapport with Chris who plays Terry's son Tommy."
Chris Fountain spoke about Terry's return on Loose Women: "We know he's coming back and he's going to cause trouble. But I'm looking forward to it because it opens up a whole different side of Tommy that no one's ever seen before."
Millions of viewers tuned in during 1993 to see Pivaro's character take Tommy away from Jack and Vera and sell him to his other grandparents.
Coronation Street producer Phil Collinson said: "I'm very excited to be welcoming arch villain Terry Duckworth back. This time though he'll not only be blighting the life of his son Tommy but the lives of every resident with a typically audacious scheme."