Apparently this happens quite often

If it's something that's not storyline specific....

For EG, say Sean had lines with Norris at the Bar -- and he's not in -- for EG he would have the same conversation with Roy

Has anyone else come across this, and has it been blatantly obvious in any scenes?

If I remember correctly, Hollyoaks had to retcon Cindy and make her Alfie's mum because originally it was supposed to be Jude but something happened with the actress not being there for whatever reason so they gave Cindy all of Jude's storylines

Funnily enough, earlier today I watched an old episode of EE in which Michelle asks for a motorbike- a storyline originally scripted for Mark before the actor left unexpectedly. Like wise Ian's crush on Sharon was referenced, which again was meant to have been Mark

When Julie Goodyear came back as Bet and then left in the space of two weeks a lot of her scenes and lines were given to Rita.

Ian was meant to have a crush on MARK Never knew that

I thought it was meant to be Nick and Lofty which resulted in Nick becoming recurring when he refused.

Yeah it was EEs top secret incest plot it's funny because that same episode also featured in an inadvertent marriage proposal from Ian to 'Chelle

Yes they were meant to have an affair but John Altman refused to act out the scenes, that would have been quite interesting to see play out in screen though since Nick and Lofty were worlds apart in terms of characters

My sources in EE told me that in an upcoming episode Steve McFadden was off sick during filming, so they had Shakil step in to do the lines where Phil finally accepts Ben's sexuality.

The whole first part of the Frank Foster s/l in Corrie was originally intended for Michelle, but she was swapped for Maria when Kym Marsh had to take emergency maternity leave, hence the very rushed & far fetched scenes with David being made salon manager or whatever & pushing Maria out, while Audrey stood & let him, leading to Carla giving Maria the factory PA job!!

I'm Pretty sure Anna and Mary sometimes understudy each other in the cafe scenes

I've seen no confirmation of it, but Sean started having a lot more scenes in the Rover's and conversing with characters who usually wouldn't that much straight after Bev Callard was signed off sick so I guess they gave Sean Liz's lines.

A few years ago, they brought Natalie Cassidy back for just two episodes so she could say Bianca's lines on behalf of her as Patsy Palmer had to go on Maternity Leave earlier than expected and they needed to film the scenes writing her out.

In Holby City, originally Sandy Harper was going to be accused and stand Trial as the 'Kellar Killer' but the actress (Laura Sadler) died suddenly and the story and lines were transferred over to Kath.

Also, a lot of her scenes were given to Maureen Lipman who came in as a temp for a while

When Michelle was seeing her old school boyfriend (the one whose wedding she was organising and was getting far to close to) I'm sure Sean was saying lines that originally were meant to come from Liz.

Not quite, she filled the role of Rovers manager that was meant for Bet, but the storyline was a total rewrite.

It's not a soap, but in "are you being served" after Mr lucas left, the script his replacement (Mr spooner)received just had ever case of lucas scored through and replaced with spooner.

Though it's never been confirmed, many speculate (me included) that Antony Cotton was given Bev Callard's lines during the tram crash and live episode. The scenes that aired showed Sean holding together the 'recuse centre' in the Rovers, shouting orders to the likes of Janice and Julie. Bev went off sick around October 2010 just as the non-live episodes from the 50th anniversary were being filmed and they filmed the scenes with Sean instead. They continued to use Sean in the live episode in December.

Thanks KK and Brummy Girl - they both make sense.

Another one that i just suspect, rather than know is I think Deardre and Brian probably got most of Ken's lines when Bill Roache was written out following the Rape charges being filed. It just seemed that Deardre suddenly got a lot 'wiser' in her interactions with certain characters (Roy I think mainly) whilst remaining the dippy, poetry loving, stuffed marrow cooking character we knew at that stage in others. Brian also seemed to take over as the 'intellectual' that people went to for advice for several months rather than the quite silly character he was most of the time.