Coronation Street actor Peter Gunn has spoken about how his co-star David Neilson helped change his career.

Gunn first played Brian Packham in 2010, and after a break, has been on the ITV soap continuously for the last decade.

And he has revealed that it was down to Roy Cropper actor Neilson that he got a big acting job early on his career.

Appearing on the On the Sofa podcast to talk to fellow Corrie stars Jack P Shepherd, Colson Smith, and Ben Price, the Hannah Montana: The Movie actor talked about how he first worked with Neilson.

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Reminiscing on about the time they were in drama school together, Gunn said: “Dave Neilson wrote a play, a panto, called Robin Hood: The Truth Behind the Green Tights. Ralph Fiennes was Robin Hood and Dave came in and directed his play. In 1984, Christmas 1984, that’s when I first met Dave Neilson. I got on with him like a house on fire.”

There was then another panto in Scarborough that a now-deceased Corrie writer had penned, and Neilson had directed.

“Dave had recommended to him, recommended me to go up for the part,” he explained. “And I got the part because of Dave.”

“So your career, really, is down to Roy Cropper,” Shepherd and Smith joked.

Gunn also stated that on his first day of Corrie, the first thing he did was seek out Neilson to reconnect and have a catch-up.

Price and Gunn also shared a story about how the beloved Roy Cropper used to have a day job as a gas fitter, and didn’t actually quit that job until about six months into working on the soap, as he didn’t think the role would last.

And it looks like he hasn’t forgotten his old skillset, as Price said: “Not long ago he redid his flat. Did the radiators himself.”