Planking on the cobbles: Young Coronation Street stars get in on the internet fad by posing on the set of the legendary soap
By Jody Thompson
Last updated at 12:57 AM on 20th August 2011
It's the online craze that's taken the world by storm - and even the fictional streets of Weatherfield appear impervious to the daft charms of planking.
This week, a clutch of Coronation Street's youngest stars got in on the act and Sacha Parkinson, 19, was there to preserve their planking for posterity and share it on her Twitter for all the world to see.
Sacha, who plays Sian Powers on the soap, appeared to start the trend amongst the cast when she posted a picture of herself away from work, getting her highlights done at a hairdressers in Manchester.
Curling up: Coronation Street star Sacha Parkinson started posting up pictures of her and cast members planking on her Twitter page this week
However, co-star Simon Gregson, 36, made his move on the set of the soap and Sacha was there with her camera.
He could probably get away with planking on the bar of the Rover's Return however seeing as his character Steve McDonald does own the pub after all.
However, what Stella Price would have to say about him getting down amongst the beer towels is another matter...
Man walks into a bar: Simon Gregson gets in on the act in the Rover's Return
Sacha then took up the baton again, and planked on top of a postbox outside the Corner Shop.
Brooke Vincent, 19, who plays Sacha's onscreen partner Sophie Webster and is her real life best friend, then took matters one stage further, and planked on the counter of the Kabin
Previous silly plankers have included Gordon Ramsey, Chris Brown, Phillip Schofield, Hugh Hefner and Jenni Falconer, who did the controversial reverse plank due to being pregnant.
Special delivery: Sacha then planked on a postbox on the cobbles outside Dev Alahan's Corner Shop
For the uninitiated, planking sees people lying stretched out flat and face down in the most unlikely of public places, then sharing their poses on social media sites like Twitter, Flickr and Facebook.
Aficionados are required to lie expressionless with a straight body, hands by their sides with toes pointing into the ground.
According to the BBC, two groups claim to have invented the prank, either in Somerset in 2000 as the 'lying down game' which went online in 2007, or in South Australia the year after where it became known as planking.
On offer: Brooke Vincent then planked across the counter at The Kabin
Both groups have rival Facebook sites boasting more than 100,000 fans.
The phenomenon caused alarm in May when an Australian practitioner was killed trying it on a balcony in Brisbane, but falling to his death instead.
The victim, a man in his 20s, fell while a friend photographed him, according to police.
However, the only danger that the Corrie crew were likely to find themselve in was what Norris Cole would have done to Brooke if he'd caught her...
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2028115/Coronation-Street-stars-internet-fad-posing-set-legendary-soap.html#ixzz1VYuY22XG
