Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank) becomes hellbent on locating Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) in Coronation Street, after he’s given reason to believe that his former lover has gone missing.
Todd metaphorically came back into Billy’s world when Sean Tully (Antony Cotton) and Mary Taylor (Patti Clare) intercepted a letter addressed to Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver).
The letter in question was seemingly from Todd, and it became apparent that the young man was after some money.
After notifying Billy of the development, Sean — along with Mary and Billy — decided to comply with Todd’s request, and therefore left a bag of money in Victoria Gardens.
Speaking about how Billy feels in regards to Todd’s apparent return, actor Daniel Brocklebank — who portrays Weatherfield’s vicar — said: ‘I think he’s angry, but then on some level, relieved that he’s ok. More so for Eileen than for Billy’s sake because it’s her son. Billy wants to get to the bottom of this for Eileen as she is still away visiting Jason.
‘Billy has moved on, he’s with Paul now and Paul has moved in and they are a little family with Summer.
‘So, for Eileen’s sake Billy is relieved but still very angry at Todd for leaving them all in the way that he did, and for everything he put Summer through.
‘And even now Todd is playing games, or so it seems, why send a letter? Why not just come and see them?’
Things take a bit of a turn in the next episode (Monday, August 24), as Sean and Billy fear that Todd is in some kind of trouble. After giving it some more thought, Billy decides it’s time that they report Todd to the police as a missing person.
Matters escalate further as the week progresses, and — as Sean trawls through the missing persons database — he discovers that a body has been found in the river.
Daniel continued: ‘It’s terrifying when they are scouring the website for info and see that a body has been found in the canal, particularly as some personal effects of Todd’s were found near the canal.
‘You can play a line a million ways, but I chose to make it quite obvious that regardless of the history, Billy still cares deeply for him, even if it’s not romantic.’
While the identity of the body in the canal remains to be seen, we know now that Todd will be making a return to the cobbles — with actor Gareth Pierce taking over the role — but how will Billy react when coming face-to-face with his ex?
Daniel said: ‘It’s always horrible when you run into an ex, never pleasant for anyone.
‘It’s a mixed bag of emotions and realistically he’ll want answers. Once they’ve established that he’s alright, Billy is going to want to know what the bloody hell has been going on!’
‘I’m so excited that Todd is coming back. It feels very unfinished from Billy’s perspective. Billy’s still unaware as to why Todd up and left in the first place, so I’m assuming that Billy has got a lot of questions for him.
‘I was involved in the casting process which was brilliant as it is important that the same level of chemistry is there between Billy and Todd that there always was.
‘I was thrilled that they chose Gareth as both Sue and I felt he really brought such a lot to the character. All the actors in the final screen test were great but Gareth felt like Todd.’
Coronation Street continues Monday August 24 at 7:30pm on ITV.
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