Coronation Street Actress Opens Up About Emotional Funeral Filming
Harriet Bibby, who portrays Summer Spellman in the long-running ITV soap Coronation Street, has candidly discussed the profoundly emotional and somewhat surreal experience of filming funeral scenes for her on-screen father, Billy Mayhew. The character's sudden death has sent shockwaves through Weatherfield, particularly affecting Summer, who is already grappling with immense personal loss.
A Devastating Blow for Summer Spellman
The passing of Billy Mayhew, played by Daniel Brocklebank, represents a crushing blow for the residents of Coronation Street. As the local vicar, Billy served as a spiritual guide and confidant to many. However, for Summer Spellman, his death carries an even deeper, more personal significance. Billy was her father figure, the stable and caring presence in her complex family dynamic.
Harriet Bibby reflected on Summer's unique relationships, noting, '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.' This loss comes painfully soon after the death of Paul Foreman from Motor Neurone Disease in late 2024, plunging Summer into what the actress describes as 'a whirlwind of grief.'
Grief Leading to Impulsive Actions
In the aftermath of Billy's death, Summer's character arc takes a dark turn as she struggles to process her pain. Bibby explains that Summer turns to alcohol, a decision born not from rationality but from sheer, overwhelming shock. 'Summer's not consciously living through this period of time,' the actress revealed. 'She's just making decisions in the moment, and she's not really aware of herself, because she's just in complete shock because no one knew that Billy was going to die, and just absolutely heartbroken, because her whole world has just been flipped on its head. So, she's acting quite impulsively.'
The 'Bizarre' Reality of Filming the Funeral
While Summer grapples with loss on screen, Harriet Bibby faced her own emotional challenges filming the poignant funeral sequences. She admitted the process felt 'kind of bizarre' on a personal level, primarily because actor Daniel Brocklebank had only recently left the set. 'I don't know if it was the same week or the week after, so it did feel very strange,' she recalled.
The bond between the two actors is well-documented. Billy took Summer under his wing in 2017 after her biological father's death, meaning their on-screen relationship spanned nearly a decade. Brocklebank recently celebrated this connection with an emotional Instagram post, writing: 'My final day today working with this beautiful human. I've loved playing her tv dad. What an honour it has been.'
A Church Full of Memories
Adding to the surreal nature of filming was the location itself. Bibby pointed out that the same church building had been the backdrop for numerous pivotal moments in her character's story. 'It felt really recently that we'd filmed Paul's funeral in the same church,' she said. '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.'
This convergence of fictional history made the scenes intensely emotional. The church had witnessed both profound joy and devastating grief for the characters, creating a layered, poignant atmosphere for the actors. '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,' Bibby concluded, highlighting the unique challenges soap actors face when filming such resonant, consecutive storylines.
