Ian Kirkby (born 28th May 1968 in Nottingham) appeared on Coronation Street in June 2006 as Simon Stevens, a bus driver who disastrously dated Shelley Unwin.
Graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1992, he was employed in a number of minor roles in theatre and television productions, receiving his first TV credit in a 1981 episode of Sons and Lovers, aged twelve. He also spent a year with the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in the West End.
Other credits include roles in Shine on Harvey Moon, Dramarama, Peak Practice, The Bill, Wycliffe, Doctors, Wire in the Blood, Casualty, Scoop and The Slammer. He penned and appeared in the 2007 TV movie Harry Batt, the character he portrayed in the Dick and Dom series of programmes.
On stage he has appeared in productions of What the Butler Saw, Richard III, The Duchess of Malfi, The Crucible, Arsenic & Old Lace and Dancing at Lunaghsa.