Coronation Street viewers had mixed emotions as Gary Windass seemingly came back from the dead.

The Corrie regular was thought to have been killed in a car explosion while working in Ukraine, but in Friday’s first of two episodes he made a shock return, much to the delight of his partner Sarah Platt.

Sarah and her daughter Bethany had returned home to find him sitting on the sofa and going about making a cup of tea.

As the stunned pair walked into the house, he said, oblivious to the reports of his death: “Finally, the kettle’s just boiled, but I think your milk’s on the turn.”

While many Corrie fans were overjoyed to see Gary, played by Mikey North, make his surprise return, others thought it was too soon and should have happened on Christmas Day.

One viewer wrote on Twitter: “Fs Gary’s back already, was supposed to be a big Christmas comeback #Corrie.”

“#Corrie telling us Gary will come back on Christmas Day. Really good surprise!!” one fan wrote.

One disbelieving viewer said: “Wtf???? Have I missed something? I thought Gary wasn’t back till Christmas! #corrie.”

Some were disappointed with the plot overall, with one writing: “You mean Gary isn’t dead, #corrie did a good job of keeping that a secret NOT, bit of a pointless storyline really.”

Another quipped: “Decided that Gary’s dead and that’s just, you know, his ghost #corrie.”

But some were happy to see him back, despite having cheated on Sarah with Nicola Rubinstein and getting her pregnant.

One viewer said: “So happy one of my favourite couples are still strong now Gary is alive #corrie.”

“Yay, so happy Gary isn’t dead! #Corrie,” another said.

However, in the second episode, Sarah’s brother David revealed that Gary had been unfaithful to her and got another woman pregnant, throwing a spanner in the works for their happy reunion.

As Gary walked into the room, a tearful Sarah said: “If it was some Russian tart, I think I would understand… but here, right under my nose?

“I thought you were dead, and every minute I was thinking, ‘he is the one’.”

Despite Gary’s protests Sarah kicked him out, and the future of their relationship – and their wedding – hangs in the balance.

:: Coronation Street continues on Monday at 7.30pm on ITV.