It's not every day that training for a comedy scene indirectly ends up saving the lives of not one, but two, people08:52, 17 Jul 2026Updated 08:52, 17 Jul 2026Comedy star Diane Morgan has told how her new BBC series Ann Droid played a key part in potentially saving the life of Strictly Come Dancing star Shirley Ballas.‌In the show there is a scene where Diane’s character, AI-powered humanoid robot Linda, performs the Heimlich manoeuvre when Sue’s daughter-in-law Renee, played by Andrea Valls, is choking.‌In order to appear convincing, safety officers were called in to give training on how to perform the abdominal thrusts correctly, and these were watched by the wider crew and production team. Speaking about what followed, Diane declared: “Yes, we saved Shirley Ballas!‌“There is this episode where Renee is choking and the robot does the Heimlich manoeuvre on her and saves her life. So they had to teach me how to do the Heimlich manoeuvre, a first aider had to show me what to do, and we went through it quite a few times.”Paul Ready, who plays Michael, explained that their hair and make-up artist, Jane Green, had been one of the people watching. “Jane was working on Strictly with Shirley Ballas and Shirley started choking. And Jane went in and did the Heimlich manoeuvre.”‌In November, Shirley revealed she thought her time was up after being unable to breath for 20 minutes after choking on a fish bone before she live show from Blackpool. Posting on social media about the "terrifying" ordeal, the show's head judge said: "I really thought that was it."She praised Jane for being able to dislodge the blockage. "I choked earlier on a fishbone," Ballas explained. "It got lodged in my throat, and my wonderful Jane, who has been with me for nine years, did the Heimlich manoeuvre, and we got the bone out. But for 20 minutes there, it was lodged and I couldn't breathe, so it was terrifying.”‌Ballas added: "Gratitude to Jane because I panicked. I really thought that was it, the end, amen."And the Ann Droid cast are also proud to have potentially saved another life thanks to that scene too. One of the show’s electricians had also been watching closely. “He went out for dinner that night and saw his friend was choking,” Diane said. “Because he’d seen the Heimlich manoeuvre he did it and he saved his life - the food shot out of his mouth."It’s amazing,” she laughed. “It’s like a safety video.”‌The comedy follows Sue, played by Sue Johnston, 82, as she receives a care robot from her son Michael, so he can move out and get on with his own life. Sue is initially resistant but then discovers how much she enjoys having Linda around.Sue said she’d loved her role in the show, which airs on BBC1 tonight at 9.30pm, and might want to have a robot of her own one day. “I don't think I'm going to say I never want a robot, because if that's what helps you be independent - and I'm so independent - then, yeah, I'd go for it,” she said.“That's what I love about the series: it touches on the loneliness of old age, and I could really identify with that.Article continues below“I hope other people will too, because there are so many women who lose their husbands and have to go through that stage on their own, finding things that they enjoy again.”Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.