Bernie Winter-Alahan (Jane Hazlegrove) is struggling on Coronation Street in the aftermath of the death of Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank).
Billy died tragically when the minibus he was driving was caught up in a multi-vehicle collision. Viewers know that Billy was on the point of escaping from the vehicle just before it exploded, but he was prevented from getting out by Theo Silverton (James Cartwright), who saw a chance to get rid of Billy from Todd Grimshaw’s (Gareth Pierce) life.
For Bernie, her grief over Billy is compounded by the fact that it’s been just over a year since she lost her beloved son Paul (Peter Ash), who died of MND. Paul was Billy’s husband, so losing her son-in-law so soon after losing her son is devastating for Bernie.
‘If you cast your mind back to when Paul died it was very rare that we saw Bernie lose it or burst into tears,’ Corrie producer Kate Brooks told us. ‘She was strong for everyone and the strength of that whole family.
‘She’s watched her son die, which was horrific, and now she’s having to come to terms with the fact that Billy has also died. It gets to the point where, because it’s been bubbling for such a long time, it actually kind of erupts.’
This eruption plays out following Billy’s funeral. Straight afterwards she takes her grief out on Dev Alahan (Jimmi Harkishin) with some nasty remarks and heads upstairs with a bottle of wine.
The following day she sets out for a night out with the girls, but after an evening of drinking with Glenda (Jodie Prenger), Gemma (Dolly-Rose Campbell), Sally (Sally Dynevor) and Christina (Amy Robbins), Bernie is left on her own at the Chariot Square Hotel bar – where she carries on drinking.
She’s soon joined by a man called Mal, who says he’s drowning his sorrows because he’s just found out his wife is having an affair. Bernie opens up to him about Paul and Billy, and how much they loved each other.
At the end of the evening, Mal invites Bernie to his room.
Back at home, Dev is beside himself with worry when Bernie fails to come home. More worryingly, it’s Brody (Ryan Mulvey)’s birthday and Dev knows that Bernie wouldn’t miss her grandson’s birthday without a good reason. Asha (Tanisha Gorey) and Kit (Jacob Roberts) try to reassure him, but as they all get ready for Brody’s party there’s still no sign of Bernie.
And when she finally does appear, she admits to Gemma that she really messed up…
