Next week on Coronation Street, Billy and Bernie clash over Paul’s funeral, Dee-Dee closes in on Joel, Tyrone sabotages Alina’s departure, and Bethany scores an international job.
1) Billy and Bernie continue to clash
At the flower shop flat, Billy (Daniel Brocklebank) and Summer (Harriet Bibby) are struggling to come to terms with the death of Paul (Peter Ash) last week.
Although Paul had been suffering with MND for 18 months, his final moments came much quicker than anyone could have imagined, with Billy unable to make it to the hospital before his beloved husband passed away.
Billy’s only small comfort is believing that he spoke to Paul on the phone shortly before he died, not realising that it was already too late by that point. Bernie (Jane Hazlegrove), Gemma (Dolly-Rose Campbell) and Summer are keeping that fact a secret from Billy to not cause even more hurt.
Reality kicks in next week when Living Aids, who provided a lot of Paul’s equipment, notify Billy that they want to pick up Paul’s wheelchair and his voice machine. Billy panics, knowing that he still has to make a copy of all the recordings that Paul had made on the machine in his final couple of months.
Shortly afterwards, Todd (Gareth Pierce) calls over to tell Billy that Paul’s body is now in their care at the undertakers, so he can spend some more time with him if he so wishes.
Later in the week, Billy continues to clash with Bernie as they try to talk funeral arrangements.
“Billy’s a man of God and Bernie isn’t a woman of anything really, other than spirituality and the essence of life, whatever that is,” Jane Hazlegrove told EverySoap at a recent press event. “So yeah they are really going to lock horns about how they’re going to celebrate and remember Paul. She doesn’t really think that Paul was a man of God, even though Billy had baptised him and Paul I think got great solace from that.”
“Paul made his own decision to get christened,” Daniel Brocklebank added. “Whereas Bernie believes in a divine power, but not necessarily God, as Billy would describe. What’s brilliant is you’ve got tragedy and comedy happening simultaneously. Some of the conversations are going to be very real, and actually in some ways funny.”
Summer soon finds herself caught in the crossfire, and as she tries to convince Billy to reach some sort of compromise with Bernie, Bernie’s assertion that Paul wasn’t religious could prove to be a sticking point.
“She’s definitely the person in the middle who can see both sides,” explains Harriet Bibby. “She does sort of try to reason with both parties and say ‘Well, Bernie’s his mum, and Billy’s the husband, we need to calm down and think about what Paul would want’, and I think eventually she does become a voice of reason and tries to tell them off a little bit and refocus their energy.”
When Summer later drops some of Paul’s clothes over at No.5, Gemma pulls one of Paul’s favourite t-shirts out of the bag. At that moment it all becomes a bit too real for Summer, as she makes a hasty exit.
2) Dee-Dee and Lisa close in on Joel
Elsewhere Lisa (Vicky Myers) and Dee-Dee (Channique Sterling-Brown) are still struggling to gather enough evidence against slippery Joel (Calum Lill).
With the police investigation into Joel having been called off, and her having already been warned to not dig further, Lisa has to tread carefully if they’ve any chance of bringing Joel to justice.
Joel in the meantime is maintaining his innocence and fighting against anyone who says otherwise. Carla (Alison King) couldn’t help but have a pop at him when she saw him in the hotel bar, loudly telling the whole room exactly what Joel was capable of.
That interaction comes back to bite Carla next week, as Joel serves her with a letter informing her that he’s started proceedings against her for slander. Lisa and Dee-Dee are seething as they watch the exchange.
But when Joel’s victim Lauren (Cait Fitton) receives a surprise visitor at the hospital, they may just be able to provide evidence that brings Joel down…
Later in the week, Lisa and Dee-Dee are still pursuing other avenues, with Dee-Dee recalling the strange package that she received at the flat, which Joel claimed was for one of his clients.
Realising that it likely contained the abortion-inducing drugs that Joel used on Lauren in an attempt to kill their baby, the two have a brainwave when they spot that the Bistro van, often parked opposite Dee-Dee’s flat, has a dashcam on it.
The pair gather and review the footage in the hope of catching sight of the company van that delivered the parcel.
Their search is successful, and they’re soon able to ascertain that the parcel came from a private health clinic. As Lisa phones them to ask for details of the customer, are they about to find the evidence they need?
3) Betsy has a guilty secret
Meanwhile, Lisa’s daughter Betsy (Sydney Martin) is struggling with her conscience over something.
Meeting up with friend Sabrina (Luana Santos) in the precinct, Betsy admits to her that she’s done something really bad.
Besty later confides her guilty secret in Carla, before finally admitting everything to Lisa.
Lisa has no choice but to tell Betsy they need to head down to the police station so they can get her confession on record.
But what has Betsy done, and who does it concern?
4) Baby Frankie takes a turn for the worse
Lauren is thrown yet another blow next week when baby Frankie is taken seriously ill. Lauren (Cait Fitton) is having a brief respite with Max (Paddy Bever) as they enjoy some breakfast at Roy’s Rolls, when the hospital call to say that she needs to return immediately.
Rushing back to Weatherfield General, Lauren is told by one of the doctors that Frankie has suffered a seizure, and that he has been taken down for a scan.
If that wasn’t enough to be concerned about, Lauren later has to attend a meeting with a social worker. With Dee-Dee accompanying her, Lauren is informed that she will have to be monitored whilst they continue their investigation as to whether Lauren tried to abort her baby—a lie cooked up by Joel to cover up his drugging of her.
5) Tyrone sabotages Alina’s return to Romania
Over at No.9, the time has finally come for the Dobbs family to say goodbye to Tyrone’s (Alan Halsall) son Dorin, as he returns with mum Alina (Ruxandra Porojnicu) to their native Romania.
Tyrone and wife Fiz (Jennie McAlpine) have bonded with the two-year-old whilst looking after him after Alina was forced into hiding, following threats from the gang she was about to give evidence against in court. Sisters Hope (Isabella Flanagan) and Ruby (Billie Naylor) have also enjoyed getting to know their little brother.
Worried that he may never see Dorin again, Tyrone resorts to desperate measures to delay their departure, when he steals Alina’s passport from her rucksack when she calls to pick up Dorin.
An upset Alina later returns, explaining that she couldn’t check in at the airport as her passport has disappeared. Whilst Fiz is quick to realise what has likely happened, she manages to get Alina’s passport back to her without implicating Tyrone, and the two are able to head on their way with Alina suspecting nothing.
However, later in the week when Tyrone, Hope and Ruby have a video call with Dorin, they’re disappointed when Alina ends the call prematurely saying that it’s upsetting Dorin.
It seems as though Tyrone’s fears are already coming true, and a disgusted Fiz comments that had she known how quickly things would change, she never would have returned Alina’s passport.
To their horror, they then realise that the call is still connected, and that Alina has heard everything!
Will Alina now choose to cut ties with Ty altogether?
6) Hope picks up a worrying habit
It seems that Tyrone and Fiz also need to be concerned about Hope, when her friends discover her vaping.
Hope first showed an interest in the habit back in November, when Mason (Luca Toolan) forced Dylan (Liam McCheyne) into selling a pen to Hope, even though she was only 12 years old at the time.
Dylan later insisted on giving Hope a refund, telling her she was too young, though Hope claimed that she wasn’t going to smoke it anyway as it was rank.
Sam (Jude Riordan) and Jack (Kyran Bowes) are troubled when they see Hope taking a sneaky drag of her vape in the school corridor, and try their best to warn her about the dangers. Hope isn’t willing to listen however.
But Hope is sprung when grandma Cassie (Claire Sweeney) later finds the vape pen in Hope’s bag.
Hope pleads with her gran to not tell Tyrone and Fiz, but will Cassie give in?
7) Bethany scores an international job
Elsewhere on the cobbles, Debbie (Sue Devaney) approaches writer Bethany (Lucy Fallon) with an exciting opportunity. A friend of Debbie’s is the CEO of a cosmetic surgery company who are opening a new facility in Turkey, and they are looking for someone to write an advertorial to advertise their services.
Bethany initially declines the offer, but Daniel (Rob Mallard) thinks she’d be crazy to turn down such an opportunity and talks her into accepting the job.
However, as Bethany leaves a message for Debbie explaining her final decision, she’s stunned to see Daniel hugging ex-fiancée Daisy (Charlotte Jordan), perhaps leaving her wondering whether Daniel would prefer her to be out of the way for a while.
Later in the week, Bethany has been clothes shopping for her trip, but is disappointed after believing that all the swimsuits she tried on made her look fat.
Daniel later takes Bethany to the airport, but will her recent shopping experience cause her to do something she may regret whilst in Turkey…?
8) Will Ryan end things with Daisy?
Daisy manages to disappoint boyfriend Ryan (Ryan Prescott) when she tells him that she can’t spend time with him as she’s busy babysitting Bertie for Daniel as he takes Bethany to the airport.
Feeling that they could do with more time together, Ryan again suggests that he could move into the Rovers, an idea that Daisy had previously rejected.
But when Daisy still refuses to commit to the idea, Ryan thinks he knows why, telling her that it’s obvious that she’s still in love with Daniel.
Is that the case, and if so, does it mean the end for Ryan and Daisy?
9) Tracy gives Steve her blessing
Also next week, at No.1, Tracy finally decides to return to Spain to be with partner Tommy (Matt Milburn). Tracy has been wavering over their relationship, after realising that life in a luxury villa in Spain wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, with Tommy working all the time.
After Ken (William Roache), Amy (Elle Mulvaney) and Cassie wave Tracy off as Steve drives her to the airport, Tracy informs Steve that Cassie obviously fancies him.
Although Tracy has previously accused Cassie of trying to get her claws into Steve, Tracy has now changed her tune and tells Steve that he should go for it if he’s interested in Cassie too.
Will Steve take Tracy’s advice and finally make his move?
- “Corrie Spoilers: Carla Faces Threats, Hope Strikes Again, and Updates on Bethany”
- “CARLA Connor Shares a Heartfelt Moment with Another Resident Following Her Attack at the Factory in Next Week’s Coronation Street”
- “Coronation Street’s Betsy Swain Actress ‘Senses Trouble’ with Major New Arrival”
- “Exclusive: Coronation Street Star Speaks Out About Rowan’s Comeback”
- “Coronation Street: Kit Linked to Joel’s Disappearance”
- “Former Coronation Street Character Makes a Comeback Before Heartbreaking Loss – But He’s Keeping a Secret”
