With two former Coronation Street actors about to headline on Broadway it's interesting to note that the trans-Atlantic traffic is moving in both directions, as the Oscar-nominated actor joins the 51 year old soap opera about life in a working class street in Manchester:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy8W6jgOl98 He's not the first Oscar-nominated actor to join the Street as Ian McKellen has also done a stint. The fact that both Margaret Thatcher and Prince Charles have appeared in it as themselves may have influenced his decision as well. Somehow, unlike Downton, I don't think this will be making its way Stateside so the above link is the best I can provide.