There is often confusion and amusement when characters from any soap go away for while and suddenly return with a different head. But it may not come as any surprise that there are a huge number of Coronation Street characters that have been played by multiple actors.
In more recent years the likes of Summer Spellman, Max Turner, and Aadi Alahan have all seen the original actors who played them 'replaced' as they returned to the cobbles and faced some big storylines. But the swaps actually stretch back years with the likes of Tracy and Peter Barlow not being played by Kate Ford and Chris Gascoyne as we see now.
While some stars are replaced when characters return to the show due to them needing to be played by someone older, others have been replaced due to actors quitting the show.
And with that in mind, the Manchester Evening News has taken a look back at some of the Weatherfield residents who have had different heads over the years - from the aforementioned Tracy to Ryan Connor.
Tracy Barlow
Tracy Barlow, or should we say Tracy McDonald as she's married to Steve, was born on-screen in an episode in January 1977. She was previously played by Christabel Finch until late 1983, then Holly Chamarette took on the character from mid 1985 to 1988 and Dawn Acton followed in the 90s.
It wasn't until 2002 that the current actress Kate Ford picked up the role of the divisive character. The 46-year-old, from Salford, has been in the role ever since and in those 20 years has faced a whole host of storylines from killing her ex Charlie Stubbs in cold blood to drugging Roy Cropper and faking they had slept together before finding out she was pregnant after her one-night-stand with Steve McDonald.
As for former Tracy Dawn Acton, now 45, who played the role of for just over 10 years having joined the ITV soap aged 11 - she has ventured away from acting. She has instead worked within the charity sector and has performed at gigs as a DJ. Talking about her departure from Corrie to Christine Lampard on ITV's Lorraine in 2019, she said: "My son was a baby and priorities change I suppose [...] The acting world is precarious."
Peter Barlow
Ken Barlow's son made his debut on the cobbles over five decades ago and has been played by a record SEVEN actors in that time, with the character facing a whole host of storylines including bigamy, alcoholism, a custody battle, doomed love affairs and being framed for the murder of his lover Tina.
Peter was born on-screen during an episode broadcast on 5 April 1965, along with his twin sister Susan. He was portrayed as a baby by Robert Heanue, from 1965 to 1970, before Christopher Dormer took over the role for a year. Then in 1971, Mark Duncan appeared as Peter briefly before Linus Roache took over the casting from 1973 to 1975.
In 1977, Peter returned, this time played by Joseph McKenna until the following year while David Lonsdale portrayed Peter in 1986. Chris Gascoyne didn't make his first appearance in the role until 2000 during the 40th anniversary live episode. He then left the role in 2003 and returned in 2007 for a brief stint before returning full-time in 2008.
In January 2014 it was confirmed that Chris would be leaving once again, but the following year he did reprise the role for two episodes for the funeral of Deirdre Barlow, played by Anne Kirkbride. It was then revealed in 2016 that Peter would be making a return to Weatherfield with Chris remaining in the role ever since.
Sarah Platt
Viewers of the ITV soap are used to see Tina O'Brien in the role of Sarah Platt but she hasn't always played the role. The daughter of Gail Platt and Brian Tilsley, Sarah was born three weeks prematurely in 1987 where she was portrayed by twins Leah and Lynsay King.
Lynsay was kept in the role until Sarah turned 12 on-screen in 1999 which is when Tina, then 16, joined the cast. And, over the years she has faced a whole host of hard-hitting storylines from giving birth to her first child, Bethany, at 13 and being kidnapped alongside her family by her psychotic stepfather Richard Hillman - to suffering child loss when her son, Billy, died shortly after his birth, to being attacked by Callum Logan and witnessing him be killed by sister-in-law Kylie.
Nick Tilsley
Nick Tilsley, the son of Gail Platt and Brian Tilsley was born off-screen on New Year's Eve in December 1980. He made his first appearance on January 1981 when he was played from a baby by Warren Jackson until 1996.
After Brian was stabbed to death, Nick was adopted by Gail's second husband Martin Platt but changed his surname back to Tilsley in 1995 in order to inherit 5 Coronation Street as a condition of his grandmother Ivy Brennan's will.
When Warren left the role, after the then-producer wanted to take the character in a new direction, Adam Rickitt was snapped up as the new Nick for various stints from October 1997 to April 1999, July to August 2002 and September 2003 to July 2004. At the same time, the actor attempted a pop music career and charted with three top 30 records including the No. 5 hit 'I Breathe Again'.
The role of Nick was later recast a second time in 2009, with Ben Price taking over the role, as Adam was instead appearing in the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street as Kieran Mitchell. Adam has since gone on to star in Doctors and Hollyoaks and runs the bar Dexter and Jones in Cheshire with his wife, Good Morning Britain star Katy.
In 2009, following the return of Nick to the cast, a Corrie spokesman said: "It will be great to see the return of Nick, he has so many links with the street - both with his family and also with the various women he has had relationships with."
Summer Spellman
Summer Spellman arrived on screen as the adopted daughter of Billy Mayhew's old flame Drew Spellman. Summer lost the only parent she'd ever known in 2017 when Drew died from complications caused by cancer. In accordance with Drew's wishes for after his death, the then-twelve-year-old was placed in the guardianship of Billy and his partner Todd.
Summer was originally played by Matilda Freeman from 2017 to 2020 but after she made a shock exit, Harriet Bibby took over the role. Matilda decided to leave the famous cobbles earlier this year to explore new opportunities. The actress said when her replacement was announced: "I'd like to say thank you to my second family, the cast, crew and viewers who have supported me during my time on the cobbles. After three and a half lovely years I felt it was time for a change and I'm excited to be starting that next chapter with a new role."
Lincolnshire-born actress Harriet, who trained at ALRA North, then took over the role, having had roles in the BBC drama Doctors and the Sky One comedy drama Brassic starring Michelle Keegan, remaining as part of the Corrie cast since.
Ryan Connor
Ryan Prescott, from Stockport, has played Ryan in Corrie since 2018. However, the character was first brought into Weatherfield in 2006, and played by Ben Thompson until 2010 when Ryan accepted a university placement in Glasgow. Two years later, however, he was kicked off his course and returned home, hooked on cocaine.
Sol Heras then took on the role from 2012 to 2013, when Ryan went to Ibiza to work as a DJ. Five years later there was another change as Ryan Prescott was recast in the role in 2018 - when his character's job in Ibiza fell through and he moved back in with his mum, Michelle, played by Kym Marsh.
But it wasn't Ryan's first stint in a soap. His first major role was as Flynn Buchanan in Emmerdale in 2011, who was introduced as a love interest for Aaron Dingle. After enjoying a 12 episode stint on the Yorkshire-based soap, Ryan went on to bag roles in Holby City, The Syndicate, Doctors and Casualty before finally landing the job on Corrie.
Max Turner
Fans wondered who had turned up in David Platt's living room when his step-son made an on-screen return. The son of the late Callum Logan and Kylie Platt was played by Harry McDermott from the age of four.
However, viewers were left gobsmacked when Paddy Bever took over the role in 2021. A Corrie spokesman said in a statement at the time: "We have all watched Harry grow up alongside Max Turner for the past 11 years and we want to thank him for everything he has brought to the character.
"It is always a difficult decision to recast a role and we look forward to following Harry's career as he continues with his acting studies and explores other opportunities. We wish him every success for the future."
Daniel Osbourne
Daniel is the son of Weatherfield stalwart Ken Barlow and Denise Osbourne and was born in the soap in 1995, portrayed by a baby Lewis Harney until 1997. Ten years later, in 2007, he was back, briefly played by Dominic Holmes.
It wasn't until 2016 that Daniel made a big return to Weatherfield, this time played by Rob Mallard, with viewers having seen him push dad Ken down stairs and marry cancer sufferer Sinead, with whom he had son Bertie, before her tragic death. He has now found love with Daisy Midgeley.
Todd Grimshaw
Todd Grimshaw, the son of Eileen Grimshaw, made his first appearance in Weatherfield in 2001, played by Bruno Langley. The actor remained in the role of the scheming character until 2017 in which time he got involved with teenage mum Sarah Platt before he, after having an affair with Karl Foster, came out as gay when Sarah's heart was pregnant with their son Billy Platt - who sadly died after his premature birth.
In December 2017, Todd fled Weatherfield with Summer Spellman as he feared her grandmother would take her away from him and his partner Billy Mayhew, who was her godfather. They were on the run for a month, before the police tracked them down. Todd urged Summer to find Eileen and Billy, before he assaulted a police officer and fled into the woods and disappeared.
Then, in 2020, Todd returned to Weatherfield with a new face, but the same attitude, as Gareth Pierce took over the role. The Welsh actor said in a statement at the time: "I'm thrilled to be joining such an iconic show, and to have been entrusted with taking Todd forward into some really exciting storylines."
Adam Barlow
Adam Barlow has had two different faces over the years. The son of the late Susan Barlow and Mike Baldwin was born in 1988 and was raised in Glasgow in isolation from virtually all of his family.
He made his first on-screen appearance in 2001 where he was played by Iain De Caestecker who is now best known for portraying Leopold Fitz/The Doctor in the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He stayed in the role until 2003
The recasting in 2004 saw Sam Robertson bag the role of Adam. He originally appeared until 2007 and then returned to the role from November 2016 onwards. However, he had to undertake a second audition for the role.
As for Iain, he studied Drama and English at Manchester University, but dropped out at 18 to concentrate on his Corrie role. He has since starred in films Shell, In Fear, Not Another Happy Ending, Lost River, and Overlord.
David Platt
While Jack P Shepherd is famed for playing David Platt in Corrie, there was a decade where the troublesome son of Gail was played by another actor.
Born on Christmas Day 1990, David was originally portrayed by Thomas Ormson until 2000. The same year, Jack was recast in the role at 12-years-old and he has since gone on to play a part in the soap's biggest storylines, with viewers even seeing him torment his own family.
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