Top 10 Coronation Street Moments That Broke the Cast

#10: The Twenty-First Century

Lloyd Mullaney and Steve McDonald were sitting down to have a serious heart to heart, but longtime “Corrie” viewers will know that actor Simon Gregson, one of Weatherfield’s staple residents, has a reputation for trying to make his castmates break. He’s regularly doing things to try and befuddle them and make them laugh, but apparently, Craig Charles is just as bad. Simon messes about pulling his chair over, causing Craig to forget his lines completely and have to be prompted by Simon and somebody else off-camera. Later, Craig breaks again when Simon puts a finger on his lips, which apparently wasn’t in the script.

#9: Nipping Out

Another moment from Gregson came when he was supposedly sabotaging a scene on purpose to infuriate Jack P. Shepherd, better known as David Platt. In a comedy moment, David’s lip-locked with Kylie, played by Paula Lane, in the foreground of the scene while Steve observes, disinterested, from the back of the Rovers Return. As Shepherd laments in a behind-the-scenes programme full of “Corrie’s” greatest bloopers, he thought Simon was messing up his lines intentionally so that Jack and Paula would have to keep kissing for minutes upon minutes, which isn’t the best use of anybody’s workday. Plus, it was their first day together playing a couple.

#8: The World

Jack’s also a “Corrie” stalwart, though, who regularly gives his fellow cast members a hard time. In this scene, David and Nick Tilsley are out for a drink when Ben Price, who plays Nick, delivers the word “world” in a strange way. Devout fans will know that Price isn’t a Mancunian, and actually grew up in Newcastle, explaining why he might sometimes produce a dud word with an unconvincing accent. Ben gets into a rage after Jack questions his pronunciation, effing and blinding while both Jack and the crew off-camera can’t stop laughing. Playing it up, Ben asks the director to reset the scene.

#7: Spare Key

David Neilson, in character as Roy Cropper, is graciously given a spare key by Melanie Hill, AKA Cathy Matthews. It’s a hell of a line she’s been given by the writers, a brazen euphemism about her back doors being infiltrated that she realises immediately is going to give her trouble. As noted by other cast members in behind-the-scenes clips, it would have been impossible for anybody to say that line without getting into bother – except for perhaps William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow and is legendary for never breaking or forgetting his lines. Cathy hands her spare key over in the end, but not before the whole cast collapses.

#6: Fresh Blood

All she’s got to say is that she wants some biscuits with her tea, but that proves too difficult. There was something about the suggestion of “stretching to a biscuit” that was undeniably amusing on the day, as she fumbled the line over and over again. It’s not quite on the level of Cathy having her back doors smashed in by Roy Cropper, but it still caused trouble in front of Jack and William Roache. We can imagine that Roache was livid about having to do the scene over and over again, but perhaps not as angry as the production crew. Soaps don’t have the leeway to do lots of retakes, so it’s always a hassle when the actors make a mistake.

#5: Industrial Tribunal

Leanne Battersby was bickering with Nick here, but Jane Danson couldn’t get the words “industrial tribunal” to come out. Danson said she distinctly remembers the scene because even in rehearsals, she knew she was going to have trouble with “industrial tribunal”. It’s not always that part of the line she flubs, though; while dreading her difficult words, she stumbled over the easy bits and messed up the performance. But then, a twist! Right at the end of Jane’s successful line reading, Ben Price made a blunder and they had to do it at least one more time. It’s a traumatic memory for both of them.

#4: The Bleach

During Geoff Metcalfe’s intense villain arc with long-suffering wife Yasmeen – who at one point he feeds her own pet chicken – Ian Bartholomew bungled his lines about a bottle of bleach. He’s worried that somebody might have drunk the bleach in a desperate bid to get some alcohol, never mind that bleach is both toxic and doesn’t contain any alcohol at all, so where he got his information from is anybody’s guess. It’s fun to see a character usually so sinister break down in laughter though, especially when Shelley King joins in. Usually, Yasmeen’s petrified of Geoff and wouldn’t dare to laugh at him! Even when he falls off the roof, she doesn’t laugh.

#3: CPR Goes Wrong

It’s difficult to remember people’s character names when you see and chat to them out of character every day, sometimes for decades. But one of the funniest times it’s happened was when Leanne Battersby was run over. Jane Danson recollected having to lie on the ground nursing her car collision injuries for days, desperate for the scenes to be finished so that she could get up and get warm. James Burrows, playing Ali Neeson, was performing CPR on Leanne and trying to save her life, when he informed the attending paramedics that her name was Jane. From the cold ground, Jane breaks character.

#2: A Heated Moment

Jim Moir, better known by his comedy stage name Vic Reeves, guest starred in “Corrie” for two months in 2017. Playing Colin Callen, he’s got to ask Moira to move away with him and share a romantic kiss. Unfortunately, the director wanted to play a prank on one of our best-loved comedians, so didn’t call cut on the scene for quite some time. They were left playing tonsil tennis in the pub for what felt like an age, while the rest of the cast and crew stood around watching, waiting for it to be called. It’s not the only time an amorous scene has gone badly. In another, someone forgot he was meant to be delivering lines and not just canoodling with his lady love.

#1: Mark From Props

They’re all filming a big knees-up in the Rovers when a brand-new character we’ve never seen before walks in. It’s a bold decision to introduce a new character midway through a scene while two others are talking; however, as it soon becomes clear, one of the crew has just wandered into a live take to detangle a balloon. He didn’t realise they were filming, and is promptly embarrassed by the cast and cameramen, zooming in on his face since the scene is already ruined. Behind-the-scenes clips reveal that his name’s Mark and he works in the props department, hence why he was so interested in the balloon.

Let us know in the comments who your favourite “Coronation Street” actors are.