Attitude magazine reprint Daniel's quotes to the Mirror - you can read the article here.
Daniel says of the role: “We’re here to cause some sort of stir and you’re never going to please everyone. Some of the religious viewers so far have not been too happy.
“A woman came up to me in a supermarket three days ago telling me I was going to go to hell playing a gay vicar. The show itself has had a backlash.”
However, Brocklebank remains positive that Billy can be a force for good in the long run.
I couldn't agree more.
After Daniel tweeted the link to the article in Attitude magazine, two gay vicars tweeted back to show their support to the actor and the role.
@AttitudeMag @Dan_Brocklebank Well, here's one gay vicar who's really enjoying the storyline. Thank-you, and keep up the good work.
— Robin Fox (@RevRobinFox) March 15, 2015
http://t.co/nYO1VJHvY6 You'd be made very welcome in my church whenever you want. @Dan_Brocklebank @itvcorrie
— Antony Dutton (@antSJD) March 16, 2015
See also: The return of the handsome man to Coronation Street
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All of this makes one realise why they wrote the whole Emily part in - as a loyal churchgoer, she represents the demographic of devout viewers who might object to a gay vicar. (Personally, wouldn't have thought it possible in 2015, but there you go.) Then it turns out she has no objections to a gay vicar, just low-brow comedy. I suppose they wanted the viewers who had identified with her displeasure up to that point to do a double take. Not sure how well it succeeded, however.
ReplyDeleteKeep him and give the obnoxious Sean the boot!
ReplyDeleteI love Billy but not to be unkind I think he is out of Sean's league. Billy being an ordained minister would have a university degree and I wouldn't think he and Sean would have much in common. As much as I like Sean he can be very needy and childish and being a partner to a member of the clergy a person would need to realize that the church and his parishioners would take a lot of his time. As the Mum of a gay son I would be thrilled if he met someone as lovely as Billy.
ReplyDeleteCould not agree more. Billy is a good addition character and could easily fit in to the day to day life of the Street. But he is to be dragged down as the partner of the ghastly Sean. So the more scenes and stories Billy is in, we will have Sean in them as well. Sean is a middle aged loser, still living in lodgings and working behind a bar. Not particularly intelligent and with a not very nice character, Billy would be way out of his league.
ReplyDelete