By Angie Quinn

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Coronation Street’s Tony Maudsley has taken a trip down memory lane, sharing a throwback from his Brookside days as the soap gears up for a one-off special episode.

Brookside, fondly known as Brookie, was a Channel 4 hit that ran from 1982 to 2003. It’s set to make a triumphant return in a crossover episode with its successor, Hollyoaks, to mark its 30th anniversary.

The special episode is due to air in October and will pay tribute to Brookside and its creator, Sir Phil Redmond, who also penned Grange Hill. The crossover will see the return of iconic Brookside characters to celebrate the milestone, including Ricky Tomlinson as Bobby Grant and Sue Johnston as Sheila Grant.

Tony, 57, joined the Coronation Street cast as undertaker George in 2020, playing the son of Archie Shuttleworth (Roy Hudd), and has been at the centre of plenty of drama.

In August 2022, George was joined by his sister, Glenda (Jodie Prenger) and he even found love with local legend Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver), reports the Liverpool Echo.

However, their romance wasn’t meant to last, with Eileen leaving him earlier this year to start a new life in Thailand following the death of her sister, Julie Carp (Katy Cavanagh).

Before joining the cobbles, Tony was a familiar face on the popular sitcom Benidorm, where he played hairdresser Kenneth Du Beke from 2011 to 2018.

The soap star has also graced our screens in a plethora of other television series including New Tricks, Holby City, Poirot, Doc Martin, The Bill and many more. Tony also portrayed Grawp in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

In 1988, Tony made his debut on Brookside as an extra and has shared a nostalgic snapshot from his time on the Channel 4 soap with his followers on X (formerly known as Twitter).

He captioned the image: “When I was an extra on Brookside. About 1988.”

Fans were quick to express their surprise at Tony’s Brookside appearance with one person exclaiming: “No way”, while another simply added; “Ohh.”

“Love it! You haven’t changed a bit”, declared one person as another chimed in: “Little did you know then what was ahead of you Tony now a Corrie legend #Corrie.”

While one Brookside fan queried: “Did you play a kid called bumper?”, while another also enquired: “Was that your first tv?”.

Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday on ITV and ITVX