Hollyoaks star Duncan James pictured filming on set as new character Ryan Knight

The 38-year-old recently underwent surgery for a slipped disc in his spine and could be seen walking with a stick in-between takes.

He will play newcomer Ryan Knight, a policeman who moves to the village along with Hollyoaks returnee Amy Barnes (Ashley Slanina-Davies).

While it has previously been reported that Amy will be Ryan’s girlfriend, actress Ashley is wearing what appears to be a wedding band on her ring finger in the pictures suggesting they are actually married.

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The snaps also reveal another blast from the past in the shape of Amy’s dad, Mike Barnes (Tony Hirst).

The former shopkeeper was last seen on the Channel 4 show in 2010 when he decided to go travelling with ex-girlfriend Zoe Carpenter (Zoe Lister) following the death of his eldest daughter Sarah.

It appears that Mike is helping Amy and Ryan move into their new home.

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Also on hand to offer assistance is Amy’s ex and the father of her two children, Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson).

Speaking to The Sun Online earlier this year at The British Soap Awards about his new co-star, Kieron said: “I’m really excited, I was a massive Blue fan growing up so I think it’s going to be a bit weird on set, like, ‘oh, my god, that’s that guy from Blue’.

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“I think he’s going to be a really great addition to the show.

“It’s a cheesy thing to say, but I know that he b-lue them away in the audition.”

The 30-year-old continued: “It’s a great storyline involving [Ste’s] kids quite a lot. I saw them earlier and they were like, ‘we’ve got a new stepdad!’

“I’m like, ‘you better not love him more than me!’”.

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Actress Tamara Wall, 36, who plays character Grace Black, has been friends with Duncan for years having appeared together in the west end production of musical Legally Blonde.

She gushed: “I’m so excited.

“He’s so amazing, so lovely and talented.”

Hollyoaks airs weeknights on Channel 4 at 6:30pm with a first-look on E4 at 7pm.