Many people can relate to Eva Price’s struggle to get on with her mother-in-law Maggie Driscoll – but returning Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley has indicated that the monster-in-law may be worse than many!

TV legend Pauline McGlynn portrays fierce Maggie, who is the opposite to the kind, tear-offering Mrs Doyle in Father Ted.

And while it starts off as standard bickering and interference in Eva’s relationship with her boyfriend – and Maggie’s son – Ben (Aaron McCusker), things may turn a bit sinister, leaving Eva fearful of her.

‘It’s an interesting one,’ the popular actress who makes a comeback after seven years, mused to Metro. ‘Early doors, I wouldn’t say she’s scared of her, she’s more irritated by her.

‘But as time goes on, Eva does start to see this side to her that’s like “Wow, okay, I’ve got your number,” and I think that element develops where she goes “Yeah, I am a little bit scared of her now and intimidated.”

‘I’ve watched a lot of what Pauline’s done and when I’m watching what she’s doing on set, sometimes I’ll just the monitor and I know I am seeing a Corrie icon.

‘And the way the writers have structured things for our characters, it’s hilarious, it’s constant jibes.’ But I think deep down, there’s a moment that we did not so long ago where Eva, in a roundabout way, says ‘If I wasn’t with Ben and I’d just met Maggie, I think we’d be mates.’ There’s a lot of similarities.’

Eva is back to take over the Rovers and she will bring great energy and community spirit to the premises – although Catherine adds she is still the Eva we all know, complete with that iconic laugh.

‘I think it’s easy to underestimate Eva as a dizzy blonde,’ Catherine said. ‘She does have that side to her and she’s great fun and can be dizzy and spontaneous, but she is a very strong woman and we start to see even more reasons why, as time goes on, why she has got this inner strength.

‘And also, she’s her mother’s daughter, Stella was a really strong woman, and that is probably part of the reason why her and Maggie clash so much, they’re such strong personalities. But again, to bring that fun dynamic into The Rovers, especially with Sean and Glenda, has just been an absolute scream.’

Often, returning and new characters can come with a lot of baggage and trauma, but Catherine was delighted to find out from producer Kate Brooks that actually, Eva has had a great time and she and Ben love each other deeply.

That was part of the reason that tempted her back, although she admits she screamed down the phone when Kate told her she’d be the landlady of the Rovers Return – despite her agent insisting she plays it cool!

‘I was just really shocked!’ she admitted. ‘It’s an absolute dream, I remember watching the show as a kid, thinking, “God, I’d kill to be landlady one day, how cool would that be?”

‘And for me in my personal life, I’d literally had a conversation with Tom, I’d been away for like nine months at this point, I feel really, truly blessed to have carried on working and done some great things but I felt like the universe had combined things at the time.

‘I remember Tom saying to me, “God, I hope your next job’s in Manchester, Cath” and then we got this call. I’ve been asked before to come back and I always made a point of emailing the producers because it genuinely didn’t work in the past because I had other projects and I was like “Actually, this could work.” So it all came around at the right time, on a personal and professional level it felt right and I’m so thrilled to be back, it’s just been gorgeous.’

The brilliant thing about Eva is that she still has links to Weatherfield, and one of my favourite aspects about her comeback is the flaring up of the war with Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie). And the great news is that it will continue!

‘I was so thrilled when Kate said we’d be playing that out. With Maria, Kate referenced Gail and Eileen, which I just absolutely loved. She is a dog with a bone, she will lock onto things in the same way that Maria does.

‘And Eva really loved Aidan, she really loved him. Although she’s moved on and she loves Ben, she finds that very hard to let go of and she loves a grudge, so I think that’s going to be a long-term thing. Don’t let them near any water features, I think!’

And then there are her currently warring sisters Leanne and Toyah Battersby (Jane Danson and Georgia Taylor) – and only time will tell if Eva can help reunite them.

But either way, Catherine is thrilled to be working alongside them again.

‘It’s extra lovely to come back to. That dynamic, the three witches reunited, it’s great. It’s strong women, again, and when they’re together, they’re even stronger, they’re a real force to be reckoned with, they’ve got each other’s backs, it’s that solidarity, it’s such a joy to play as an actress – the three concubines of Nick Tilsley!

‘The girls are just a dream and we’ve stayed in touch. I felt really welcomed by everyone, especially my sisters, so it’s great that we’ve got lots of stuff coming up together.’