Billy Mayhew, the vicar who led his Weatherfield flock for 11 years, will be heartbroken for millions of Coronation Street viewers, but actor Daniel Brocklebank explains why he’s not upset.
Coronation Street’s vicar Billy Mayhew may be leaving the cobbles but the actor who plays him, Daniel Brocklebank, says he hasn’t shed a tear about leaving.
But only because he’s been far too busy. Forty minutes after receiving uproarious applause from 150 members of the cast and crew, he sped down the cobbles to a Manchester theatre to join rehearsals for his next role in the cult comedy classic Young Frankenstein.
“I don’t think I’ve ever finished one job and started another one on the same day,” he laughs. “I walked out of the Coronation Street studio at ten to one on Tuesday last week and I was at the theatre and in rehearsals for Young Frankenstein by half past one. My feet literally didn’t touch the ground.
“I’ll spend five weeks with Young Frankenstein, and after that, I might be able to get over things.” It’s difficult to explain after 11 years in one place how much has changed. Billy will be missed.
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It’s like having two lives when you play someone for that long. But I’ll miss the cast and crew’s camaraderie the most, though.
Daniel claims he had been considering the show’s departure for a year after it was announced over the summer. He recalls that I had spoken to my other half and said, “maybe it’s time.” “I enjoy being challenged, and I was very quiet there for the entire year. I was wondering what exactly was left to Billy after the Motor Neurone Disease storyline, which is probably what I’m most proud of.
He could enter a new relationship, marry his daughter Summer, and be a grandfather. However, the impact of his husband Paul’s MND storyline prevented me from figuring out what might have happened to him if it hadn’t already been done.
“He’d been a drug addict, he’d adopted a child, got married, had the first ever same sex wedding on the show and lost his husband. It’s not like he hadn’t packed it in – it’s been quite a colourful 11 years. I was in a show at the Palladium earlier this year and it just reminded me that there was a whole world happening outside of that Weatherfield bubble.”
The producer of Coronation Street then called Daniel in June and informed him that Billy had been written out. He recalls: “They claimed it was entirely storyline-based, as is so frequently the case. I was philosophical about it because it felt so good. At the end of the day, there is no other character more important than the show.
We only have a year’s contract, and I don’t believe anyone in their right mind would want to live there permanently because you could be in the market for a fall. As the show’s structure changes, new producers are eager to insulate old characters and exit characters who they believe have had enough.
“When it was announced in the press, I received a lot of messages from producers and directors I’ve worked with in the past saying, “This is great news, when are you free?” I’m going to think of you because of this, I promise. That was nice, and those people didn’t forget me.
One such call came from the producers of Young Frankenstein the Musical, offering Daniel the lead role of Dr Frederick Frankenstein, who inherits his grandfather’s Transylvanian castle. A musical comedy horror, based on the 1974 film written by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, Daniel stars in the show for a limited five-week run at the Liverpool Playhouse over the Christmas season.
He exclaims, “It’s fun and eccentric.” “My character incinerates a 7-foot-green monster with a brain!” The writing is a little sloppy; I enjoy the old-fashioned humor and the tap dancing. After leaving Coronation Street, I wanted to do something a little left-field. I’m usually interested in watching a kangaroo eat some b*****ks in the jungle, so I’m going to do a panto and maybe a little reality TV, but I’m not particularly interested in that!
Young Frankenstein does both of my goals, which is to terrify and stretch me. It’s been fascinating to meet some lovely new faces, and part of the appeal is that I’m playing a completely different character in Frankenstein. Even though I’m not like Billy, the thing about playing one character for so long is that you become a synonym for that person.
Daniel claims he was pleased with the scripts, but it’s a closely guarded secret how and when Billy leaves Weatherfield. I’m really pleased with Billy’s departure because it’s appropriate for a character who has been at the center of the show for a lot of his time, and it’s funny that he smiles.
“On the street, where 150 people gathered to wave me off and give me a hug, was the last scene I shot.” Thank goodness for my daughter Summer, Harriet Bibby, who plays her, was very emotional. You’re saying goodbye to a time in your life in an emotional way. I avoided tears myself, primarily because I didn’t want the Young Frankenstein cast to see me as a blubbering wreck.
Away from work, Daniel has a camper van and loves hiking, walking his three sausage dogs, Colin, Jean and Doris, and working on his allotment near the Manchester home he shares with his partner of two years, singer Jordan Coulthard. He began acting at 14, playing the lead role in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Lord of the Flies. At just 19 he starred in the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love.
He has collaborated with other household names, including Dustin Hoffman, Kirsten Dunst, and Sam Neill, in addition to the screen success that he has had in The Hours. He joined Coronation Street at the age of 34 in 2014, and despite his distinguished career, he has no worries about what the future might hold.
He goes on to say, “I think I would have been terrified about how I would exist outside of the show if Corrie had been everything I’d ever known.” I know that I can come out and live beyond it because I lived for 22 years before I started it. After Young Frankenstein, there is already a ton of work in progress, including a Jersey short film and a horror movie, which is fantastic considering I only finished Corrie last week.
Only two people have lived there their entire lives in the 65 years of Coronation Street, and that’s Barbara Knox and Bill Roache, and hundreds, perhaps thousands of actors have passed through the cast during that time. It was perfectly put by David Neilson (Roy Cropper). You must remember that this is the beginning, he said, despite how sad it is that you are leaving us. And he was correct.
The next chapter of my life will begin with this statement. I’m only 45. Corrie is a wonderful challenge, and I look forward to returning to it because I’ve loved every second of it and will cherish it forever. I firmly believe that everything happens in the right way. I believe that the universe has the right timing for what you need, and I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
Source: Mirror
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