Former 'Coronation Street' baddie Bill Ward is returning to soapland after joining the cast of rival ITV show 'Emmerdale'.
Bill played 'Corrie' builder and villain Charlie Stubbs for just over three years before he was killed off at the hands of Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) in 2007.
Now he is set to arrive in the Dales as Moira Barton's brother-in-law James Barton, a farmer and single father to three grown up sons.
Bill Ward has joined Emmerdale
Bill said: "I'm really looking forward to it. The Emmerdale team are a very talented bunch indeed and I'm extremely chuffed to have been asked to join them."
He will start filming in September and his character will arrive on-screen from late October.
Bill has had an extensive career in the West End, and most recently appeared as a Simon Cowell-inspired TV talent show judge in the ill-fated Spice Girls musical Viva Forever.
But he is best known for playing notorious 'Corrie' villain Charlie Stubbs who wreaked havoc on the cobbles.
He had a controlling and abusive relationship with Rovers Return landlady Shelley Unwin (Sally Lindsay) before beginning his dangerous and fatal affair with the equally nasty Tracy.
