‘Decent return at last!’ Coronation Street fans buzzing for character comeback

News broke earlier this week that Ian Puleston-Davies will be reprising his role of the perpetually angry Owen Armstrong in Coronation Street.

‘I can’t wait to pick up where I left off ten years ago!’ said Ian of his return.

It’s brilliant to be back and to get stuck into a cracking storyline. Owen’s back and he’s still angry!’

With his grandson Jake (Bobby Bradshaw) moving back in with mum Izzy (Cherylee Houston) following dad Gary Windass’ (Mikey North) imprisonment, Owen’s back to look after his family – and less than impressed with Gary’s recent actions.

Coronation Street Producer Kate Brooks said of Owen’s comeback: ‘We’re thrilled that Ian is back, and Owen brings a ton of drama.

‘As he joins forces with an unlikely alliance, he wreaks havoc on the Street, and his relationship with Gary is severely put to the test, needless to say, there’s never a dull moment when Owen’s around.’

Over on Metro Soaps Facebook page, our readers were chuffed; Kim Naylor was buzzing at the news, writing: ‘DECENT character coming back for a change’.

Dylan Blackman agreed: ‘Really good news! Great character!’ and so did Elizabeth Park adding: ‘Absolutely outstanding actor -some good news at last’.

Denise Berrow Peters wrote: ‘Oh brill, I loved him in Corrie, great news’, with Dave Reid adding: ‘I might start watching corrie again, i liked his character. Although I havent watched it in about 8 yrs’.

Doreen Travis said: ‘I just saw it’s Owen!!! Real shocker!!! It’s gonna get good!!!!’, while Val Williams theorised over a potential plot twist for the returnee: ‘he will be the one to bring down Tyrone’s dad’

Over on X/Twitter, @Izzy1728047 was full of praise: ‘Corrie has been brilliant the last few weeks. Really good & now Owen Armstrong is coming back! Best soap’.

@StuartBeckMP also saw the potential for a cross with toxic Ross: ‘I hope there will be overlap with Owen Armstrong and the stuff that’s going on with Ross. They’re both heavily masculine gruff older men and it would be interesting for Corrie to demonstrate the toxic masculinity that Ross is displaying by using Owen as a positive alternative’

Who was Owen Armstrong in Coronation Street?

Owen rocked up in Weatherfield back in 2010 alongside his daughter, Katy (Georgie May Foote), in an attempt to reconcile with his older daughter, Izzy, almost immediately clashing with Gary.

He bought the local builder’s yard and established himself as a local business man, before getting into a messy love triangle when he dated both Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard) and Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) at the same time, though his dalliance with Eileen ended when he caught her stealing money from his business.

He later dealt with Katy’s pregnancy with Chesney Brown (Sam Aston) and took guardianship of their son, Joseph, after she dealt with a bout of post-natal depression, before forming a relationship with Anna Windass (Debbie Rush) and merging the Windass and Armstrong families, though their relationship struggled when Owen slapped Faye’s adopted daughter, Faye (Ellie Leach).

When Izzy struggled to conceive, Owen employed Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) to act as a surrogate, though trouble arose when Tina bonded with the baby and tried to keep him.

Owen’s exit came as part of the Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre) storyline, which saw Pat con Owen into investing £80,000 into a non-existent housing development, absolutely destroying his bank accounts and causing his business to fall into insolvancy.

When Gary battered Phelan, he blackmailed Anna into sleeping with him, and when the truth was outed and with Owen broke and declared bankrupt, he bid a bitter goodbye to Weatherfield, heading for a fresh start in Scotland.