Coronation Street star reveals what Paul would’ve made of his funeral – and the other farewell plot
Peter Ash and Daniel Brocklebank have spent time reflecting on their emotional Coronation Street storyline.
Daniel portrays vicar Billy Mayhew in the show, who lost husband Paul Foreman, played by Peter, earlier this year to motor neurone disease.
In Paul’s final episode, he was found unresponsive on the sofa by Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove) and Summer (Harriet Bibby). As they rushed him to hospital, Billy remained unaware of what was happening due to losing his phone on a night out.
Once he eventually found it and caught up with what was going on, he raced to the hospital hoping for one last moment with Paul, but it was sadly too late.
In the aftermath, Billy and Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove) have clashed multiple times over funeral arrangements. In the end they reached a compromise – Billy hosted a traditional funeral for Paul and then towards the end of this week, the Weatherfield residents will gather in the street for a party to remember the beloved character too.
Pondering over this, actor Peter recently revealed how Paul would’ve felt about the two options.
‘When Paul came into the show six years ago, he would’ve just wanted a rave’, he said during a chat with us at this year’s Inside Soap Awards.
‘After meeting Billy, the love of his life, and finding his faith, there’s obviously room for both. Why not do both? Don’t argue, do both.’
‘It’s overwhelming, but in the best possible way’, he added, reacting to winning the Best Actor award.
‘It’s been a team effort. Everyone involved in the storyline has put their heart and soul into it and rightly so. MND is such a cruel disease and we were so grateful to shine a light on it, raise some awareness and hopefully some money.’
Reflecting on the final part of Paul’s storyline, star Dan Brocklebank added: ‘We knew it was coming. We had been building up to it and it was inevitable that was going to happen. I was really pleased with how the writing team handled it and there were some beautiful moments.
‘As actors, it had got to a point where we had really represented the MND community truthfully. I don’t know what else we could’ve done with it. As much as I miss Pete everyday at work, I’m emotionally glad that it’s over.
‘We spent a lot of time crying, it was very emotionally draining. I’m very proud of what we managed to achieve.’