So Nigel Havers is back in Corrie tonight as suave lothario Lewis Archer, but as it's been over 18 months since he jetted off Barbados (wonder if he bumped into Becky?) we thought we'd offer you the chance to remind yourselves what brought about his departure.

(Clue: it was the partly snogging Deidre in the bookies, partly thieving money from Peter Barlow and partly that he was going to steal all of Audrey's savings. How can you not like the guy?)

Enjoy the short recap clip below and see if you can also spot the character we've all forgotten about already (clue: she was a hairdresser)

So with Steve McDonald getting married yet again in Corrie this week (is it the 4th or 5th time? We've lost count) we thought we'd dig out one of the previous times he has bumbled up the aisle.

Here's a real stonker - the day he married Karen and the ceremony was interrupted by Tracy Barlow, leading to a good old fashioned punch up.

The video is in 4 parts but it's well worth a watch.

Just complaining about the current state of Corrie without offering solutions isn't our style here at Corrie Blog. So here's our answer: team up with Eastenders!

If this Children in need special from last year is anything to go by if might provide both soaps the shot in the arm they need.

As there's a certain wedding happening tomorrow we thought we'd have a look back at some classic Corrie pairings. In 2006 everyone's favourite butcher Fred Elliott was due to marry Shelly Unwin's mum Bev but as he actually loved Audrey Roberts he decided to leave the bride at the alter in a last ditch attempt to follow his heart, a heart that proved to be on it's way out. Fred was soon back at the church but not for expected reasons!

Great to see John Savident in this clip, a true Corrie legend. You can view the clip here on Youtube

For Comic relief day we thought we'd post one of Corrie's funniest ever scenes, the day the Barlow's went to AA to support Peter. The much missed Maggie Jones steals all the best lines as Blanche - hilarious.

Check out David Platt, Nick Tilsley and Tina McIntyre on Jeremy Kyle special.

Found this on the interweb. It's a sort of reggae, dubbie version of the Coronation Street theme tune - quite chilled sounding, a bit like you might expect if you asked The Specials to do a cover version of the Corrie theme tune. Apparently, it's from the 1980s and was first heard on Max Headroom. Check it out and let me know what you think!

As promised yesterday, here's a short clip of Michael opening one of his gifts that the Downeast Streeters presented him with. When he says "I've 'ad a rock, now I've got a slate", he's referring to the first gift he opened. That was a hand painted rock decorated with a picture of Webster's Garage. It was painted by a very talented woman, Debbie Jardine aka The Rock Lady who paints rocks with lovely designs. She's done lots of Coronation Street themed ones before and gave a Butcher Shop rock to Steven Arnold last year. The cariacature is a plaque mounted print so he thought it felt like a slate when he went to open it. I didn't take a film of all of his reaction because I wanted to take a photo of him holding the print as well. Check behind the link below to see the snap of that.

Perusing YouTube, I came across this snippet from 1983. Deirdre has just told Ken about her affair with Mike Baldwin. What's striking is the parallels with what's happening currently. When Deirdre says of Mike, "He talks to me, and he listens, too," you can imagine Ken using those words now to justify his relationship with Martha. In the 26 years since this episode, Ken and Deirdre have stayed together (on and off), but it's debatable whether they are any closer now than they were then.

Some enterprising soul has compiled all of the opening credit sequences from Coronation Street since it began. I was amazed how each one brought back different memories for me, but my favourite has got to be the dog shooting down the Street at high speed in the sequence used from 1993-99 - every time I saw it I expected him to up-end the old woman he's running past.

Look who this is! It's Coronation Street's Norris Cole, aka Malcolm Hebden, from a 1981 appearance in cop show Juliet Bravo. He was already losing his hair, but he's kind of attractive... though I do feel very weird saying that. It's Norris, after all.

Enjoy little glimpses of Bet, Mavis, Rita, Deirdre, Elsie and others in this clip that was used to advertise classic Corrie episodes running on Granada+ in 1996.

Awwww! Look at this little cutie singing and dancing along to the Corrie theme tune! Her name is Julia, and at 22 months old she clearly has great taste in telly.

(to be a Corrie fan of the week, click here)
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After all the hullabaloo and excitement of yesterday's wedding between Carla and Tony, here's a clip from a 1992 episode of Coronation Street. Rita Fairclough marries Ted Sullivan, although they both know that he has a brain tumour and doesn't have long to live. Hankies ready for this one.

Jack P Shepherd (David) recently performed a Christmas lights switch-on in Redcar in north east England, and got a pop star reception with plenty of screaming girls. He had a bit of a sing as well, joining some schoolchildren in a rendition of Walking in a Winter Wonderland. Talking about Christmas and the New Year on Coronation Street, Jack said that David Platt was about to meet his "nemesis" - who would be moving in next door! Have a look at the YouTube video.

If you missed Children in Need on BBC1 on Friday, here's the moment when style guru Gok Wan turned up in Coronation Street.

To make a donation to Children in Need, click here.

Spotted on YouTube - this amusingly-edited little clip in which our Coronation Street favourites "sing" a Spice Girls classic.

YouTube is awash with video tributes to the phenomenon known as "Liarla." This one, made by someone called DustyDreamz, is one of the best I've seen, and the day following Liam's death is as good a time as any to wallow in a puddle of sentimental tears for the love that could never be. Liam and Carla fans, have the hankies ready.

"Which of you charming ladies is Blanche Hunch?" From Shakespeare via Lord of the Rings, the great Sir Ian McKellen charms the Coronation Street bookclub. All apart from Kev Ken.

I was really excited to find this. One of my first posts on Corrieblog was about Richard Beckinsale, the talented actor who starred in Rising Damp and Porridge and who sadly died when he was only 31. He had a brief appearance in Coronation Street in 1969, playing a policeman who arrested Ena Sharples. Some lovely person has put the clip on YouTube, and you can watch it here. Ena isn't the only person wearing a hairnet in this clip - Beckinsale had to wear a hairnet to hide his long hair under the helmet!

Here's a must-see video interview with Coronation Street legend Julie Goodyear (Bet Gilroy). She talks about the new ads she's starring in for Daz Liquitabs - which co-star ex-Corrie actress Sue Jenkins and Eastender Dean Gaffney (who plays Julie's son!).

Julie also talks fondly of her days in Corrie. Hear about how fans tried to stop Alec and Bet getting married, who her acting heroes were and who she'd like to pull a pint for.

Click the continue reading link to see the video.

It would have been Jack and Vera's 51st wedding anniversary today, and to celebrate one of Corrie's most beloved couples, let's enjoy them in action in this ad for ITV.

A while back, we mentioned that an old George Formby movie, Boots! Boots! was being released on DVD. This 1934 movie also featured a very early appearance by a very young Betty Driver. Her scenes were cut but in the DVD, they've been restored and an enterprising person has put that scene on Youtube! She's pretty squeaky sounding but we are assured it really is her! There are more Corrie-related YouTube clips over here!

A bit of archive Coronation Street from YouTube now, and having just watched it I'm still waiting for my feelings of extreme awkwardness and embarrassment to subside. Watch in toe-curling horror as Deirdre snuggles up to Dev's bare torso. "I can't believe we just did that!" she purrs, as Dev looks like he's thinking exactly the same, but with far less pleasure. And the little glimpse of Martin Platt at the end only adds to the general weirdness.

More Corrie YouTube clips