Corrie airs at 8.30pm on ITV1
The cobbles of Weatherfield are feeling a little emptier following the tragic passing of Billy. For Summer, the loss is more than just a departure; it has shattered her world. In a new interview, Harriet Bibby chats about how Summer is navigating this latest heartbreak, her impulsive downward spiral, and the “bizarre” experience of filming yet another funeral in such a short space of time.
Summer has faced more loss than most her age, but the bond with Billy was unique. Reflecting on Summer’s current headspace, Harriet explains the specific void Billy left behind: ‘This is the third dad that Summer’s lost. There was a scene the other night where she was talking about the three-dad setup that she had with Todd, Paul and Billy.
She compares Paul to almost like a big brother, and Todd is the funny one that she has this banter with, but Billy was the one who was like her proper dad, the one who was always there and took care of her. So, I think this is massively impactful for Summer, and she is just in a bit of a whirlwind of grief for a little while, as you can imagine.’
In a strange twist of fate this week, Summer recovers her lost bag only to find Paul’s ashes inside. While it’s a jarring discovery, Harriet suggests it offers Summer a rare moment of spiritual comfort:
‘She’s just gobsmacked. It’s almost like, maybe Billy is up there and he’s sending her a sign to say, ‘Look, I’m all right. I’m with Paul.’ So, it’s not closure at all because this massive thing has happened, but there’s a little hint of, ‘I know they’re together.’ So, at first, she’s gobsmacked but quite touched by the fact and just pleased that they found his ashes, and in some way, it might mean that Billy and Paul are together again.’
Grief often leads to impulsive choices, and Summer finds herself turning to the bottle to numb the pain. When Roy Cropper finds her intoxicated in Dev’s shop, his intervention is exactly what she needs. ‘Roy acts exactly how you imagine Roy would react. He sees a hurt person in need and does what he feels is right in the moment to just get her to speak and calm her down. Summer’s not consciously living through this period of time.
She’s just making decisions in the moment, and she’s not really aware of herself, because she’s just – one, in complete shock because no one knew that Billy was going to die, and two – just absolutely heartbroken, because her whole world has just been flipped on its head. So, she’s acting quite impulsively, and Roy does his best to try and put her feet back on the ground and comfort her.’
Filming a funeral is never easy, but for the cast, the timing of Billy’s final send-off felt particularly poignant given the recent departure of Peter Ash (Paul Foreman).
‘It was kind of bizarre, because Dan had only recently left. I can’t remember exactly, I don’t know if it was the same week or the week after, so it did feel very strange. And it was also really strange because it felt really recently that we’d filmed Paul’s funeral in the same church. It was like we’d been in that church for Paul and Billy’s wedding, and then we’d been in that church for Paul’s funeral, and now we were back here again for Billy’s funeral. So, it felt like there’s so many moments that have happened in that church, moments of joy and moments of grief and all of these different things. It was really emotional.’
Catch up on ITVX, and for classic visits to Corrie, these episodes air weekdays on ITV3 as well as on YouTube.