When Mason Radcliffe (Luca Toolan) went to prison earlier this year, the residents of Coronation Street and particularly Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon) and her family heaved a sigh of relief.

Mason had made life a misery for Maria’s son Liam (Charlie Wrenshall), bullying him to the point where Liam was seriously contemplating suicide. With Mason off the streets, the hope was that Liam would begin to recover from the trauma and move on.

But all too soon Maria discovered that Mason was set to be released – and it wasn’t long before Stu Carpenter (Bill Fellows) spotted him sleeping rough in the ginnel.

In upcoming episodes, Stu once again sees Mason and he’s shocked at what he sees. Mason is covered in blood and bruises and has obviously been beaten up. What’s happened to him?

Luca Toolan has promised that we’re going to discover more layers to Mason following his return.

‘You’re going to see a different side to Mason,’ he told us exclusively on the red carpet at the radio Times Soap Awards. ‘You might get to see a bit more of the three dimensional and see why he’s the way he is.’

He said that his first stint, while ‘fun to play’ was focused on the ‘horrible, evil’ side of the character. This time around we would see more of Mason’s vulnerability. The character’s back-story will be explored a lot more.

‘We’re going to see family situations, dynamics, jobs, careers, friendships. Just rounding him out as a person,’ Luca promised.

Elsewhere he’s said that he hopes Mason will make the effort to fit in to the street that he formerly terrorised.

‘I think he’s just trying to do right now especially after having a tough time in jail and experiencing a tough life so far. Mason is trying to keep his head above water and do anything he can to survive, if that means playing the nice guy or changing his life around then I hope he will do it.’

But before all that can unfold viewers will want to know – who’s battered Mason?