I'm exactly where I'm meant to be... putting a brain in a 7 foot monster

Daniel Brocklebank's quick change from soap to comedy horror world of Young Frankenstein

- BY SUE CRAWFORD

Millions of Coronation Street fans will be heartbroken to see vicar Billy Mayhew preach his last sermon, after 11 years guiding his Weatherfield flock.

But actor Daniel Brocklebank, 45, is far too busy to shed a tear.

Forty minutes after a huge applause from 150 members of the cast and crew, he sped down the cobbles to a Manchester theatre to rehearse for his next role, in the cult comedy classic Young Frankenstein.

He says: "I don't think I've ever finished one job and started another one on the same day. I walked out of the Coronation Street studio at 12.50pm on Tuesday last week and I was at the theatre and in rehearsals for Young Frankenstein by 1.30pm.

"I'm in Young Frankenstein for five weeks then I might be able to process things. It is a big change after 11 years in one place, a lot to get your head around.

"I will miss Billy. When you're playing someone for that long it's like having two lives. But I'll miss the people the most - the camaraderie among cast and crew." His Corrie departure was announced in the summer but he had been thinking about it for a year.

"As an actor, I enjoy being challenged and I was very quiet in the last year there. After the motor neurone disease plot, probably the thing I'm most proud of, I wondered what was left for Billy.

"He could drift into another relationship, his daughter Summer could get married and he could become a grandfather. But that MND storyline with his husband Paul had such an impact, that I couldn't work out what could happen to him that hadn't already been done.