Ralph Birtwell appeared on Coronation Street in three roles:
- A Waiter at the La La Lounge where Tyrone Dobbs intended to propose to Molly Compton in July 2008
- A Weatherfield General-based Doctor who attended to John Stape in October 2011
- A Counsellor who tried to help Jude and Angie Appleton through their marital problems, appearing in July and August 2018.
His other onscreen credits include television roles in Doctors, The Vice and Harley Street and the 1999 feature film East is East.
On stage he has appeared in productions of The Royal Hunt of the Sun, The Far Pavilions, Market Boy, Bombay Dreams, Call Me Madam, A Subject of Scandal and Concern, Paradise of the Assassins and East is East, along with Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Romeo and Juliet, The Relapse, Richard III and From Bard to Broadway.