John Simm of Doctor Who, Grace and Life on Mars fame features in The Coral's new track ‘Drifter’s Prayer’

The 52-year-old BAFTA-nominated star, who grew up in Blackpool and Burnley, is mostly known for his 30 year acting career which has seen him work on popular shows including Doctor Who and Life on Mars, as well as various feature films.

However John, a former Blackpool and The Fylde College pupil, has another bow in his string, making a surprise appearance on The Coral’s latest track.

Called ‘Drifter’s Prayer’, the song features a narration from John and is the first to be taken from ‘Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medical Show’, which will be released on September 8.

Formed in Liverpool, The Coral is a platinum-selling English rock band made up of bandmates James Skelly, Paul Duffy, Nick Power, Ian Skelly and Paul Molloy.

Speaking to NME about their collaboration with John, James said: “Nick had this poem and we thought that we’d do something with, like a murder ballad. He also had this acoustic, country-style riff so we recorded it in the studio and it fitted with the words perfectly but it needed someone to do the narration.

“We just messaged John, he’d already been to a few gigs, and he said ‘yes’ straight away. Nailed it perfectly. He’s a pro. It’s great to be able to see someone like that working, someone who is just that good at doing their job.”

Nick added: “We were talking about having a spoken word track on the album, but maybe bringing an actor in to voice it. I had the idea of this fairground worker looking back on his life, sort of like a eulogy to the old travelling carnival world and its customs. How those people were their own community, constantly on the move, drifting through England.

“And this person coming to terms with the modern world leaving him behind, in a way. John Simm came in and understood it right away. I think it took about two or three takes.”

Lancashire’s John Simm is not the only famous actor to collaborate with The Coral on new music. On the same day ‘Holy Joe’s Coral Island Medical Show’ is released, the band is also releasing ‘Sea Of Mirrors’ featuring a track with Peaky Blinder’s Cillian Murphy.