West Midlands Coronation Street star wins praise for powerful zombie knife crime message

Coronation Street actor Harry Lowbridge from Bridgnorth has won praise for his starring role in a fictional zombie knife murder.

Harry, who attended the Central Youth Theatre in Wolverhampton, plays Logan Radcliffe - one of Mason Radcliffe’s criminal brothers.

Corrie fans were left devastated as Mason (Luca Toolan) died following a knife attack by Logan and his other brother Matty (Seamus McGoff) on Monday night.

Coronation Street bosses say the storyline was inspired by an 80% rise in knife crime in England and Wales over the last 10 years, according to a report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The West Midlands has seen some of the worst incidents in the UK with 16 year-old Ronan Kanda stabbed to death in Wolverhampton in 2022.

The city was also the setting for the horrific murder of Shawn Seesahai who was knifed to death by two boys aged 12 at the time of the chilling crime in November 2023.

Following the episode Harry posted a picture of him with his fellow Corrie stars on his Instagram page and commented: “These lads did an amazing job."

His followers responded by praising the show for showcasing such an important issue. One said: “Absolutely incredible portrayal… brilliant effort from you all! Let’s hope it stops just one more person dying from knife crime”

Another said: “Well done lads, you all did outstandingly well, best storyline that Corrie has done for a while. 

“They need to have more talented young actors like you lads more often and focus on certain topics like knife crime or anything that affects young people these days. Absolutely devastated about Mason, it was an honour to have met Luca in 2023.”

Speaking about appearing in the episode, Toolan said: “I truly am honoured to be a part of this storyline.

“I’ve always enjoyed Coronation Street as a viewer, but I completely underestimated the power that it has on its audience until I was involved in the bullying storyline.

“Fingers crossed this storyline will be received the way we are hoping it will be and ultimately, if one person drops a knife and someone is saved, that would definitely make it all worth it.”

The story escalated when detective Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) shows Mason photographs taken at the crime scene of her late partner Becky’s death, and reveals that Mason’s brothers were behind the murder.

In an effort to take his brothers down, Mason searches his brothers’ flat and found a Second World War helmet, matched to one listed in a case file for the death, and handed it in to the police station.

After being questioned by detective Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) the brothers go looking for Mason intent on revenge.

A fight then broke out in the children’s play area, with Abi Franklin (Sally Carman) first at the scene to find Mason bleeding, doing her best to stop the flow of blood before an ambulance arrives.

As news of the stabbing spreads around the cobbles, the whole community is left shocked.

Speaking about the storyline, Coronation Street producer Kate Brooks said: “It’s vitally important to shine a light on this topic, and really show the impact knife crime has on not only the victim and their loved ones, but also the wider community.

“With the alarming statistics, we want to do anything we can as a show to combat this violent endemic. After watching this harrowing, but important story unfold, if one person thinks twice about bringing a knife to a fight, then we’ve achieved our aim to raise awareness.”

The soap says it worked with the Ben Kinsella Trust to ensure the storyline was told as accurately and sensitively as possible.

Coronation Street is on ITV1 at 8pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and on ITVX and STV.