Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
TV licence to kill
Pat Phelan has been on a murder rampage in Coronation Street and is the latest in a long line of soapland killers. MARION McMULLEN takes a look back at some infamous TV baddies
SERIAL killers and soaps have gone hand in hand since the early days of telly. They are the baddies we love to hate as we eagerly wait to see if they will get their comeuppance... or claim another victim.
Currently Coronation Street fans are gripped by the terrifying antics of Pat Phelan.
The Liverpudlian builder first ripped off his neighbours in a property scam before holding barman Andy hostage in a basement for months, eventually forcing him to shoot Pat’s former business partner Vinnie, before bumping Andy off too.
Poor mechanic Luke, looked to be onto Phelan’s deadly ways only to end up victim number three. And, despite suspicions growing by the day about Phelan, the murderer remains at large.
The first killer to turn up in Weatherfield though was Sam Leach, played by Frank Atkinson, in 1962. He was welcomed by the locals until the police came looking for him for the murder of his wife.
Richard Hillman was a classic Corrie villain and got away with murder three times on the ITV soap.
The serial killer, played by former Grange Hill actor Brian Capron, was even voted the top soap villain of 2003 as he murdered local resident Maxine Peacock, bludgeoned but failed to kill widow Emily with a crowbar, killed ex-wife Patricia with a shovel to the head and left business partner Duggie to die.
He also unsuccessfully tried to kill his mother-law Audrey before driving wife Gail and the children into the canal. They survived, but the murderous businessman perished.
Brian says viewers still remember the charming killer and told the Daily Mirror: “I get in a taxi and the cabbie says, ‘I’m happy to drive you – as long as it’s not near a canal!’ I’m delighted the storyline made such an impact.”
Female serial killers in soaps are not exactly common but the Street’s Tracy Barlow literally got away with murder. She bumped off boyfriend Charlie Stubbs in 2007, smacking him over the head with an ornament. Despite her made-up claims that he had been abusing her, she was jailed for 15 years. However, this being soapland, she was released after just three when forensic evidence at her trial was discredited.
She didn’t learn her lesson though. When she sneaked into Carla Connor’s flat in 2015 and lit a candle, Tracy accidentally started a fire that killed Maddie Heath and Kal Nazir.
Schoolteacher John Stape, played by Graeme Hawley, added to the Corrie murder count following his soap debut 10 years ago.
Things first went wrong for him when he kidnapped Rosie Webster and was sent to prison.
He married Fiz while inside and when released, stole former colleague
Colin Fishwick’s identity so he could continue working as a teacher. When Colin died from a heart attack, Stape hid his body. It looked like Stape would come unstuck after Colin’s friend Charlotte became suspicious so he bumped her off too, using a tram crash to cover his tracks – no pun intended. Stape’s last victim was Colin Fishwick’s mum, Joy, who he accidentally killed while confessing his crimes.
He died of a heart attack before he could be brought to justice.
EastEnders began with a murder in 1985 as the residents of Albert Square discovered the body of Reg Cox lying in his flat.
It was later revealed that Dot Cotton’s wayward son Nick was responsible for his death and nearly every other kind of trouble in Walford.
Nasty Nick, played by John Altman, left chaos in his wake and repeatedly broke the heart of his long-suffering “Ma”. He kept turning up like a bad penny over the years and even came back from the dead at one point after faking his own demise.
He notched up five murders in Albert Square and even tried to kill his own mum to get his hands on her life insurance.
Nick finally met his maker in 2015 as the BBC soap marked its 30th anniversary. He died in his mother’s arms in the same flat in which he had murdered Reg Cox years earlier. His final words were: “I’m sorry ma. Everything I’ve ever put you through. Forgive me.”
Proving the countryside is no refuge from serial killers, in 2016 ITV’s Emmerdale had Cameron Murray, played by Dominic Power, on the loose brandishing a gun and managing to put an end to Carl King, Alex Moss, Genesis Walker and himself during a year-long killing spree.
More recently Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks had the Gloved Hand Killer, played by Sophie Austin.
She took out seven people over three years before she herself was murdered by chess-playing strangler Silas Blissett, played by Jeff Rawle who also kidnapped Mercedes. In fact, Hollyoaks is a seriously dangerous spot to live. In 2014 it was worked out that Hollyoaks had a murder rate of 11 murders per 1,000 people – the England and Wales murder rate at the time was 0.009 per 1,000 people.