Billy Savage is the son of headteacher Steve Savage.
Although being the new headteacher's son wasn't always easy, Billy effortlessly captured the attention of the Waterloo Road students and teachers with his intelligence and charm.[1]
He had an underlying vulnerability that stemmed from losing his mum when he was young. He hated confrontation and wanted a life of peace and harmony, which proves difficult when he arrived at Waterloo Road.[2]
Series 14[]
In Series 14 Episode 2, Billy has his first day of school at Waterloo Road after Steve becomes the headteacher. He befriends Tonya Walters after meeting her on the stairs, despondent with grief over her grandmother. He suggest to her to call her nan's answerphone to hear her voice, as he does with his own late mother Anya. When Schuey Weever rails at Tonya for dissuading his sister from running away with him, Billy stands up to Schuey to defend Tonya, sparking Schuey's hatred of Billy. After Schuey learns that Billy is the head's son, he physically attacks him and begins a campaign of bullying against him alongside his sidekick Boz Osbourne.
In Episode 3, Billy befriends Mog Richardson after buddying up with her i science class, and she encourages him to try out for Preston Walters and Noel McManus's new band. Preston is reluctant, saying they don't need a new guitarist, but Noel encourages him to give Billy a chance and Billy wins him over with his singing and guitar playing, and is accepted into the band, however later, Schuey destroys his guitar, which was one of the last gifts Billy's mother gave him before she died. Enraged, Billy tries to fight Schuey but some friends push him to the ground and pull his pants down while Schuey records it on his phone. Steve tries get Billy to tell him who did this to him, but Billy tells him that it was nothing.
In Episode 4, Billy tells Steve that he lost his guitar and Steve reacts badly. When Schuey mocks the fact that Billy will be performing a solo at the Battle of the Bands later that day, Billy tells Preston and Noel that he will be dropping out of the Battle of the Bands, but when Steve finds out, he talks to Billy, apologising for how he reacted over the guitar and urging him to reconsider dropping out. Ultimately, Billy does perform at the event, singing 'Run' by Coldplay, which was his mother's favourite song, moving Steve to near tears. Steve tells Billy he is proud of him and his mum would be too, but afterwards, as Billy attempts to go back into the venue to retrieve his forgotten phone, Schuey corners him and beats him up.
In Episode 5, Billy sees a disguised Boz and Schuey stealing Dwayne Jackson's bike. He picks up Schuey's bracelet at the scene and withholds the thieves' identities from Dwayne, later giving the bracelet back to Schuey, hoping that not dropping Schuey in it would lead to Schuey respecting him, but Schuey sees straight through this and the bullying only gets worse. Steve tries to get Billy to talk, but he keeps pushing and pushing him. This causes Billy to lash out at Steve, saying if he couldn't save his mum, how could he help him. Steve gets angry and tells him to stand up for himself otherwise the bullying will never stop. Billy runs off into a bathroom. Billy phones his mum's answerphone and apologises to her. Boz hears him, but doesn't bully him, instead saying that he knows Schuey can be out of order sometimes, and that Billy is supposed to be the smart one, "so stop making it so easy for him". Billy then goes into the caretakers' office and takes a roll of wire. On a towpath by a canal, Billy sets up a wire trap. He sees a hooded figure on a bike passing by. Thinking it's Schuey, Billy activates the trap and the wire trips up the the bike wheel causing the figure to go flying into some bushes and hit his head. Billy goes to see if he's alright and is horrified to see that it isn't Schuey, it is Boz, and he is dead. Billy calls Steve and asks him for help, and Steve arrives at the towpath and finds Billy standing next to Boz's lifeless body. Steve tries to wake Boz up, but realises he's dead. Steve yells at Billy to tell him what happened, but sees the broken wire and Boz's bike, and realises that Billy did this. Steve nearly calls the police, but changes his mind and puts his phone away, telling Billy to get in the car. Steve then picks up Boz's body and throws it and his bike into the canal.
In Episode 6, Billy has his first day at school after being off for a few days after killing Boz. Steve tells Billy that it's going to be a hard day, but they'll get get through it. Billy wants to go to the police, but Steve instantly shuts him down and tells him if anyone asks, he caught a cold and been in bed for a few days. At his office door, Joe tells Steve that Boz hasn't been seen for days, and offers to go to Boz's care home to see what's wrong, but Steve simply brushes it off.
When Billy is bullied by Schuey again, Billy leaves the school and goes to the towpath where Boz died. Steve finds him there and they argue. Steve tells Billy to stop feeling sorry for himself because there's two of them in this now, and Billy yells that Steve didn't kill Boz and so doesn't know what this feels like, and that every time he comes here he'll always be reminded about what he's done. Steve tells him he needs to deal with it, because if he doesn't he knows what will happen, before Billy walks back while Steve gives a worried look.
Later, Steve takes Billy out of his class and takes him to an empty classroom, where he tells him that the police have found Boz's body, but says that people drown in rivers and canals every day, and that people have no reason to think they are involved. Steve then tells Billy he's sorry for not being there after his mum died, and not to tell anyone else about Boz, before going off to make an announcement in an emergency assembly. Steve tells the whole school that Boz has died. After school, Billy, finally having enough of Schuey, confronts him and pushes him to the ground, but this leads to Schuey beating and punching Billy to a pulp. Schuey throws him to the ground and tells him it's too late to grow a spine now, and saunters off, leaving Billy bloody and beaten. When Steve goes to head home, he finds Billy's face bloody and with a cut lip. He asks if Schuey did that, but Billy tells him to leave it. In the car, Steve tells Billy the police have no reason to believe Boz's death was anything but an accident, and promises that the two of them are going to be alright, before driving off.
Joe calls Mike at the crime scene, and Mike tells him that they pulled Boz's bike out of the canal and something doesn't add up. Joe asks what he means, and Mike tells him that Boz came off his bike and landed in some bushes, so the fact that he ended up in the canal makes it look like it was not an accident.
In Episode 7, Steve is informed by Mike that Boz's death wasn't an accident, and the police start questioning the pupils. Billy is questioned about his bullying, and afterwards bumps into Schuey. Schuey tells him that he better not have told them about the bikes, to which Billy says he didn't. Pleased, Schuey goes to leave, but Steve stops him and asks what he thinks he's doing. Schuey says he's just going to a class with Val. Steve then tells him to get to class, and Schuey leaves. Steve then follows Billy into the toilets to see if he is OK. Billy tells Steve the police know about the bullying, and that they may need to get him back later, to which Steve replies "no they bloody won't".
Mike questions Dwayne about the last time he saw Boz, and Dwayne reveals that Boz and Schuey were wrecking Preston Walters's bike and Preston got into a fight with them, which ended with Preston punching Boz after he mocked his eating disorder and his cardiac arrest from Series 12. This leads Preston getting taken to the police station right in front of Nicky and Steve. Billy finds out about this from Tonya and goes to turn himself in, but Steve stops him. In a empty changing room, Steve asks Billy how he could cope in prison when he can't even cope in school, and Billy replies asking what he's got to lose, saying that his life here is miserable and everything that Steve has told him do has just made things worse, and that Preston's got his mum, his sister and all his friends that are going to miss him when he goes, but "what have I got?". Steve then replies "You really think no one would miss you? What about me? I've already lost your mum". Billy then says "This might sound bad, but I'm kinda glad she's not here to see this". Steve then says if she was here, she'd tell him to do whatever it takes to protect Billy. Steve tells Billy not to be a hero and he will sort this, and the two walk out of the room.
In the headteacher's office, Mike walks in and the two talk, and Steve tells Mike that on the night Boz died, he saw Schuey heading to the towpath. Mike says Schuey was with Portia that night, but he says he'll talk to him anyway.
After the police search every locker in the school, they find something shocking in Schuey's locker, and they take him out of his class and show him a bag with Boz's bus pass and the wire that caused his death. They tell him they spoke to Portia and they know he wasn't at hers that night. Before they can take him to the police station, Schuey grabs a mop, blocks the door with it and tries to escape the school, with Mike, another police officer and Portia chasing after him. Just when Schuey is about to use the main entrance to escape, Donte stops him and forces him to the ground, keeping him there just long enough for Mike to catch up, and Schuey is arrested, much to Portia's heartbreak. Because of this, Preston is declared innocent and is released.
Billy visits Steve at his office and asks why the police arrested Schuey, and it turns out that Steve put the evidence in Schuey's locker and framed him. Billy is shocked. Steve tells him that an opportunity came up and he took it. Billy replies "But now we've both gotta live with that", and Steve tells him that Schuey would have ended up in prison anyway. Billy tells him this isn't who he is, and Steve tells him they can't undo it, it's done and all of this has got to have been for something. Steve says it's a fresh start for both of them.
In Episode 8, Billy asks Steve what will happen to Schuey after the trial, to which Steve replies he'll be sent to prison. Billy feels guilty, but Steve reminds him about everything Schuey put him though, and tells him to put that behind them. Billy walks out, but starts to see visions of Boz.
At Boz's memorial service, Billy meets Kim Campbell. She tells him that Schuey told her everything. The memorial service begins and Billy stands up on the stage ready to make a speech about Boz, much to Steve's horror, but when he starts to read it he sees Boz's ghost in the crowd, causing him to throw the letter to the ground and run out of the school hall, with Steve going after him. Steve searches everywhere for Billy outside.
Donte spots Billy on the roof ready to commit suicide. Steve and Donte both rush onto the roof, where Billy tells Steve that even if Schuey gets the blame, he'll always know what he's done. Steve tells him that they have to leave Manchester and go somewhere new. Steve apologises for the last few years and for all of this. Billy goes to jump, but Steve catches him and looks at Donte, realising he heard everything. Inside, Donte and Steve argue. Donte sympathetically lets Steve and Billy go, knowing he would have done the same thing if it was one of his kids.
When the memorial service ends, Donte tells Kim that Billy killed Boz, and Kim goes on to tell Joe and Val. Kim bursts into Steve's office and sees that Steve has taken most his stuff except his umbrella. Val rushes to the car park and spots Steve's car, confirming he must still be inside somewhere. Steve rushes behind her and tells Billy that they'll get a cab. Joe rushes between him and the exit and tries to talk him out of escaping the country, but Steve throws him into a wall and he and Billy run off with Kim chasing after them. On the school playing field, Billy trips and falls, giving Kim enough time to catch up with them. Kim tells Steve she would have done anything to save her late son Dexter, and that she knows he thinks he's saving Billy, but a life on the run is no life at all and the best thing he can do now is to tell the truth. She tells him he's a good man and an amazing dad, and that she thinks that when Billy called him that night, he did it because he knew he would do the right thing. Steve tearfully asks Billy what he wants to do and tells him they can still get out of here, but Billy knows that turning himself in is th right thing to do. Billy then apologises, But Steve tells him that this was his fault and after he lost his mum he just wanted to protect him and keep him safe, and he's sorry for messing it all up. Billy tells him that he didn't mess it up and that everything will be alright, and Steve and Billy are both arrested, much to the school's and Nicky's shock.
At the police station, Joe tells Steve that he'll look after Billy. Steve thanks him, and tells him he's sorry. Steve tells Billy to just tell the police everything and it will be alright. Billy hugs him and Steve is taken to a police cell by Mike.
Quotes[]
- "Um, do you know where 10S is?" (first line)
- Steve: "I don't have bullying at my school."
- Billy: "I know you don't believe this, Dad, but there are some things in life that you just can't control."
- Billy: "You know people are staring at me?"
- Tonya: "Yeah, cos you're new. And you're actually not that bad to look at."
- Billy: "I was thinking I might actually try out. But that's like, social suicide, innit?"
- Mog: "Think you've got that covered with the whole 'my dad's the head' thing."
- "No, you wrecked my guitar. I'm gonna wreck you."
- Billy: "Did you make that promise to Mum as well?"
- Steve: "Billy..."
- Billy: "Well, you couldn't protect her, could you? You can't fix anything. You can't promise me anything. But you make out like you've got all the solutions, but you don't even realise that you're the problem! What, you think any of this would be happening if you weren't the head? If you didn't bring me to this stupid school?!"
- Steve: "He's not breathing! How long's he been like this?"
- Billy: "Since I called you."
- Steve: "That's nearly 20 minutes ago!"
- Billy: "He's dead, in't he?"
- "This is your fault! I mean, why-why couldn't we just tell them what happened? Why'd you have to put Boz in the canal? You just made everything worse!"
- Portia: "She'd so be voted off first."
- Billy: "That's not how Love Island works."
- "No, no. You didn't mess it up, Dad. Everything's gonna be OK. It's gonna be alright." (final line)