Nigel Havers has joined the cast of 'Benidorm'.

Nigel Havers

Nigel Havers

The 64-year-old actor is set to appear in the next series of the comedy, scheduled to hit screens next year, after he nabbed the role of a vicious crook who attempts to con cash from staff at the famous Solana hotel in Costa Blanca.

A source said: "Signing Nigel up is a real coup as he loves comedy and has a class acting background."

Bosses also hope the star - who has a number of film roles under his belt - will provide eye candy for older women.

The insider told The Sun newspaper: "He also appeals to women of a certain age as he was a real heartthrob."

And Nigel is certainly no stranger to ruffling feathers as he also appeared in 'Coronation Street' on and off for two years as suave scammer Lewis Archer, who forged a plan to steal money from Peter Barlow's (Chris Gascoyne) betting shop by cashing fraudulently franked betting slips.

Meanwhile, a new face may be joining 'Benidorm' but a familiar one is set to temporarily walk away as Tim Healy was forced to be written out of the ninth series when he fell ill with a mystery ailment while shooting scenes last month.

The 64-year-old actor - who is known for playing eccentric cross-dresser Lesley in the sitcom - was left fighting for his life in a hospital in Spain for almost a month.

But, despite being at death's door, the star was stable enough to be airlifted back to the UK over the weekend and is now recuperating at a hospital in Manchester.

However, producers of the show don't think he'll be well enough to return to filming any time soon and have made the decision to write him out for the foreseeable future.