Kelly played Kev Ball as a regular character in the show’s first three series.

Speaking at the launch of his new BBC One drama Frankie in London last week, Kelly told CultBox: “I’ve just gone back for the very last episode. It’s not just a token appearance, it’s part of the main story. There was a quite a few came back, not James McAvoy – don’t think they wasted the call [laughs]. I don’t think he was asked. Lovely fella, lovely fella. It was nice to go back and bury it; nice to be at the wake [laughs]. It’s over. It’s great, amazing. But it was nice to go back.”

Channel 4 confirmed earlier this year that the finale will feature Fiona (Anne-Marie Duff), Lip (Jody Latham), Carl (Elliott Tittensor), Monica (Annabelle Apsion) and Yvonne (Kelli Hollis).

Looking back on the long-running Channel 4 drama, the actor commented: “[It was] amazing! Proud to be Shameless, as the posters said. I’m never far from it, people are always stopping me. I’m really proud to be a part of it. It gave a lot of people good careers as a result of it. I think it had a real wobble in a couple of the series in the middle, because Paul [Abbott, the show’s creator] wasn’t as much steering the ship as much as he was initially because he’s got so many other projects going on.”

> Buy the complete Series 1- 8 boxset on Amazon.

Written by Lucy Gannon (Soldier Soldier) and starring Torchwood‘s Eve Myles, BBC One’s Frankie is “a modern and redemptive take on the life and work of a dedicated district nurse whose patients matter more to her than her personal life”. The six-part drama series begins next month.

Who do you want to see back in the last ever Shameless episode? Let us know below…