\'Coronation Street\' bosses are said to be hopeful Eileen Derbyshire will return to the soap next year.
The cobbles legend - who played Emily Bishop for 55 years until her exit in January 2016 - has taken some time off from the ITV show for "personal reasons", and now it\'s said bosses are keen for the 88-year-old actress to make a 2020 comeback.
A source told The Sun Online: "Eileen knows she can come back anytime. The door is always open.
"She\'s never said she\'s leaving the soap, just that she needs to continue to take time off, and the bosses will never write her out or kill Emily off.
"The producers are in regular contact with her and are desperate for her to return next year with the offer of a few very small parts."
Executives for the show are said to have always kept the door open for Eileen, if she can be convinced to make a comeback.
An insider added: "Talks are always on-going between Eileen and \'Coronation Street\' bosses, nothing has been confirmed yet but the conversation is always open."
She made a returning cameo appearance in October when a brief clip of Emily wishing Ken Barlow (Bill Roache) a happy 80th birthday aired during an episode.
The \'Corrie\' stalwart first appeared in 1961, meaning only Bill himself has had a longer tenure on the cobbles as he\'s been playing Ken since the show first aired in 1960.
Emily departed Weatherfield in a storyline which saw her travel to Peru to help her nephew Spider Nugent (Martin Hancock) with his charity work, but then she returned to live in Edinburgh to care for her niece Freda Burgess.
