Tony Maudsley: I won't take Corrie role lightly

Tony Maudsley is "honoured" to be joining the cast of \'Coronation Street\'.

The 52-year-old actor was due to join the cobbles in April as the son of undertaker Archie Shuttleworth, who was played by the late Roy Hudd from 2002 to 2010, but his debut was postponed due to the coronavirus.

But Tony is taking his new role as George Shuttleworth in the "most important show" very seriously prior to joining the soap in July.

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Taking to Twitter, he wrote: "I\'ve all kinds of emotions going off, watching \'The Road To Coronation Street\'. I don\'t take my casting in this brilliant show lightly, believe me. This is not just another job to me. I\'m honoured to be joining one of the best and most important shows in the history of television."

It was announced the former \'Benidorm\' star - who played Kenneth du Beke in the ITV comedy - would be joining the ITV soap in April, and despite the filming of his scenes being halted, bosses are reportedly "really excited" about his casting.

A source revealed at the time: "The bosses are really excited about Tony joining the soap.

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"He\'s a great comedy actor and created one of Benidorm\'s most-loved characters in Kenneth.

"So it\'s a shame he didn\'t get to start when he was supposed to.

"But he\'s looking forward to making his entrance when things finally get back to normal."

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Tony\'s casting comes after he previously appeared in a play, \'Our Lady of Blundellsands\', written by \'Coronation Street\' scribe Jonathan Harvey, alongside former \'EastEnders\' actress Annette Badland.

Gemma Bodinetz, artistic director at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, said: "We have an extraordinary spring season this year featuring a wealth of new writing and the very best of touring work from around the country.

"We are proud to produce the world premiere of \'Our Lady of Blundellsands\' by Liverpool playwright Jonathan Harvey, directed by Nick Bagnall and featuring a stellar cast."