Riot at Shrewsbury's Dana Prison . . . all in the name of Corrie
Rioting broke out at a prison in Shropshire - but thankfully the drama was all part of action being filmed for this week’s Coronation Street.
The former Dana Prison in Shrewsbury was used by the cast and crew from the cobbles to film blockbuster scenes between characters David Platt and Josh Tucker.
Actors Jack P Shepherd and Ryan Clayton were joined by dozens of extras as chairs were thrown and fighting broke out across the wing at the former Category B/C prison, which closed in March 2013.
Viewers were left gripped by the ending of the scenes in the Victorian prison, with Josh brutally stabbed and David asking partner Shona to find him a lawyer - not revealing whether he was responsible for the knifing.
However, fans are not expecting to see David on the street any time soon - with him being charged with attempted murder in next week’s episodes.
And it seems the soap stars enjoyed their sojourn to Shropshire, with Clayton, who has played bad boy Josh in two spells tweeting: “Big shoutout to whole cast & crew, right up there with one of my favourite eps to film.
“Hope you enjoyed it all at home.”
He also shared several pictures on his timeline from the filming in and around the Dana.
The prison opened in 1793 and was well known for the number of executions by hanging that took place on its grounds.
Many of the executions were carried out by Albert Pierrepoint, the famous hangman who carried out at least 400 in his 25-year career that ended in 1956.
All executions were carried out at 8am and the bodies were buried in the prison graveyard in unmarked graves.
The Dana is currently still open for interactive prison visits by Jailhouse Tours which are often led by ex-prison officers who were based there when it was a working prison.
The Grade II listed former prison building was sold by the Ministry of Justice in 2014.
Since its closure it has been used for filming and featured in the ITV drama series Prey as well as the paranormal investigation show Paranormal Lockdown.
It also appeared in three episodes of Most Haunted and a Halloween special.
Joel Campbell, CEO of The Campbell Group, owner of Jailhouse Tours, posted on Facebook: "We have been very tight lipped for the past few months after @coronationstreet came to film an episode at my prison in @shrewsburyprison As always got the obligatory photo with the cast."
Ryan Clayton said: “Most of the external stuff was done at a prison in Shrewsbury. It was fantastic to go on location for that.
“It was a genuine old prison that was no longer in use, but had been up until a couple of years ago. I sat in one of the cells for a while to get into that mood.”
