Career
Cochrane had appeared as an extra on television for Coronation Street"s production company, Granada television, prior to his successful audition in 1989 for the role of Andy McDonald. A schoolfriend from the year below, Simon Gregson, was hired to play twin brother Steve. Cochrane"s character stayed in the programme for seven years before he was axed, along with several other cast members, in a high-profile cull by a new producer in 1997.
After Coronation Street, Cochrane co-launched a short-lived magazine about soap operas and has also co-hosted a show on Peak FM in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
Cochrane’s other television roles have included playing the character of a golf professional Barry Scripps in ITV1′s Heartbeat. Other television guest appearances have included Loose Women (ITV1), Canada Department of Administration and Management (national breakfast television) The South Bank Show (ITV1), Live and Kicking (BBC1), To Maine To You (CBBC), Confessions ( Independent Television), Win Lose or Draw (ITV1) and most recently Celebrity Eggheads’ for BBC2 in late 2013.
In addition Cochrane has contributed to many Coronation Street-related entertainment shows and documentaries. These include ‘Farewell Liz’, a tribute to Beverly Callard in 2011.
Other shows all for Independent Television stations or for commercial Digital Video Disc release have included.
A Nightmare on Coronation Street, The Kids from Coronation Street, Women of Coronation Street, Coronation Street Through the Keyhole, The Stars of the street 50 years 50 classic characters, Happy Birthday Coronation Street, Classic Coronation Street, Coronation Street Secrets and Coronation Street: The McDonald Family Album. In 2012, he participated in a sold-out Canadian theatre tour, Tales from the Street, which saw him and other Coronation Street stars talk candidly about the soap. He was an executive producer of the tour which earned rave reviews.
He has also turned his hand at television presenting with appearances on Granada television and MUTV where Cochrane interviewed football players Roy Keane and David Beckham.
In addition to giving many radio interviews Cochrane has also presented and guest presented on radio for a number of commercial stations including nationally on talkSPORT. He has appeared in various pantomime productions, including Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin and Cinderella. 2014 saw Nick appear on Piers Morgan"s Life Stories in an episode about Callard, his on-screen mother in Coronation Street.
He is currently making his first film, A Study in Red: The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper.