Todd's Rollercoaster
Todd discovers Sarah's secret, Phelan ramps up the stakes with his schemes and there's the small matter of telling Sean about Billy...
We spoke to Bruno Langley about keeping up with all the drama in Todd's tempestuous life!
How have things been going between Todd and Billy?
Todd hasn’t been in a relationship that he’s been really serious about for a really long time so this is quite strange for him. He genuinely really likes Billy and there’s been nothing in the way of that apart from the obvious - Sean.
Todd really cares about Sean as a friend and it has been playing on his mind that Sean is going to find out about him and Billy sooner or later. Todd has tried to persuade Billy that they should just get it out of the way and tell Sean so they can move on. But things keep cropping up and obstacles keep getting in the way so Billy keeps telling Todd they should wait until a better time. But all's fair in love and war!
It’s hard to define how Todd feels about Billy. We’ll see what happens between them, but I’m not sure what kind of relationships Todd had whilst he away in London. But this is definitely the first person he has been very serious about in a really long time, and we’ve seen Billy and Todd grow closer and closer as time has gone on. It would make sense for something to grow between them and develop. That desire for it to go well is definitely genuine.
Why have they decided to keep their romance a secret from Sean?
The thing is is that Todd was anxious about getting together with Billy because of what he knew what it would do to Sean. Sean is like family to Todd and Todd has really started to see how important family is in recent months. He’s protective over not only Eileen and Jason but also those he perceives to be like family too - Sean, and Sarah in many ways too. So Todd knows that when Sean finds out the truth, it’ll be another example of Todd hurting his family again. But he knows that they have to tell him at some point.
Can you talk us through how Sean finds out that they are together?
Sean sees Todd and Billy being quite close and affectionate and I think he is probably harbouring some deep-rooted suspicions that maybe he isn’t even aware he has yet.
Then at Kylie’s funeral, Todd is like a dog with a bone because he’s adamant David killed Callum and he’s fuming that he let Tony take the rap for it, which caused Jason to leave Weatherfield. So Todd and David end up scrapping and then when Billy and Todd comforting each other, Sean sees the affection and love between them and puts two and two together.
Neither Todd nor Billy can lie and it’s written all over their faces.
What is his reaction?
It never goes well for Sean does it! He reacts the way most people would act. He goes through the stages...shock, anger, denial, depression. At first he’s affronted and then later he’s more angry with Eileen because he jumps to conclusions and thinks she was in on it and didn’t have his best interests at heart and maybe went behind his back. That really hurts Sean that he feels Eileen wasn’t on his side.
How are things at home after the truth comes out?
Sean feels completely betrayed by Todd and Eileen and says he can’t live under the same roof as Todd. Sean gives Eileen an ultimatum and says she needs to choose who she wants living with her. Eileen is in a predicament but at the end of the day Todd is her son and it dawns on Sean that he’s going to have to be the one to move out.
Eileen thinks, here Todd goes again, hurting people and him no longer being the person he once was. She knows he can cause trouble but at the same time Eileen is someone who believes in love so over time she probably will give Todd and Billy her blessing.
Does Todd have any idea about what’s Phelan’s plotting?
He’s got Phelan’s card marked definitely. Todd is suspicious of him - he doesn’t trust Phelan whatsoever. Phelan is looking after Jason’s business whilst Jason is away and Todd doesn’t like that one bit. He doesn’t believe the business is in safe hands at all. Todd knows what Phelan is like because he has some similar aspects and traits in himself so he can spot them a mile off!
How do you think Todd would fare against Phelan if push came to shove?
In a war of words Todd would win, hands down. He’s more intelligent than Phelan. I think if push came to shove he could pull one over on him, definitely.
Meanwhile, he’s got all the stuff with Sarah going on. What’s his reaction to finding out that Kylie’s the killer?
Todd does a complete 360 over who he thinks killed Callum - he goes from Sarah to David, to then discovering it was actually Kylie! Todd has believed for so long that it was Sarah, so he is flawed by this. But he trusts Sarah so when she tells him it was actually Kylie, he does believe her. And actually Sarah never categorically said it was her who killed Callum - Todd just inferred it from something she had said ages ago.
How does he react when Sarah begs him not to tell the police?
Todd is flummoxed by this. He’s pretty adamant about going to the police, even though it would have implicated himself. He thinks it’s the right thing to do, despite the consequences. But Sarah is like family to him and seeing the journey she’s had recently he can’t bring himself to do it to her.