Iain Dean was supposed to return to 'Casualty' months ago.
Michael Stevenson
Michael Stevenson - who plays Iain in the medical drama - took a break from the show in 2019 in order to spend more time with his family, and his return to the BBC programme was actually due to happen months ago, but it was delayed because of the pandemic.
He explained to Digital Spy: "I knew how long I wanted off and I really wanted to spend some time with my family. The run-up to the exit story was really intense and the hours we work are phenomenal.
"I knew I’d spent a long time away from my family and I wanted to be at home with them – to be a dad, to take the kids to school and things like that. I was due to go back a little bit sooner but obviously the pandemic hit."
Michael was in talks about a return for months, but the pandemic meant that storylines needed to be amended.
The actor - who originally joined the show back in 2012 - said: "I am probably coming back about six months later than I would have if the pandemic hadn’t have hit. That would have been about a year initially and I knew time-wise that was the right amount of time to have away.
"When the producers got in contact and stuck to their word by asking me to come back, it was a no brainer. It’s home to me. The show has been very good to me and so there was nothing to think about really."