Last night’s episode of Coronation Street revealed that another of its soap villains is dead – sending Joel Deering to his watery grave. And, unless he somehow faked his death (which one can never discount in soapland), that seems like a fairly definitive end to Joel and his crimes.
There’s still the matter of who killed Joel to deal with, but otherwise Joel seems to have escaped (criminal) justice. His grooming of Lauren – and his attempt to forcibly abort her unborn child afterwards now goes unpunished.
This makes Joel the latest Weatherfield wrongdoer to die rather than go to prison for his crimes. In doing so, he joins the ranks of a motley lot of serial killers, abusers and wannabe gangsters who died before they could be properly punished for their crimes.
Coronation Street fans fuming as Joel Deering’s body is found
Writing on X as the episode aired, fans were left fuming at Joel’s sudden end. Many were angry that he’d not gotten truly punished (aside from the whole being dead thing) for his crimes.
“If Joel really is dead then I am FURIOUS, because Stephen and Joel were both so evil and neither got what they truly deserved,” wrote one angry fan.
“I’m quite annoyed that Joel is dead. I wanted the satisfaction of a judge telling him what an evil man he is,” said another.
“They killed off Joel way too early. I wanted him to be a menacing presence for months/years before being locked up. Not another whodunnit,” said a third dismayed viewer.
“Killing Joel off like this feels kinda anti climactic after everything,” wrote another.
Was Joel’s death a senseless waste?
Coronation Street villains: Stephen Reid
Much of last year’s Coronation Street was concerned with the antics of Canadian serial killer Stephen Reid. His reign of terror included the murder of three people (plus the attempted murder of dim Tim Metcalfe), drugging Carla Connor, and holding Jenny hostage during his ill-fated siege at the Rovers.
After so much time spent following Stephen’s crimes, viewers had been hoping to see a Weatherfield judge throw the book at the serial killer. However, this wasn’t to be, and Stephen ultimately met his end after being run over by a vengeful Peter Barlow.
Coronation Street villains: Geoff Metcalfe
Hospital radio DJ Geoff Metcalfe was the abusive partner of Yasmeen Nazir. Behind his cheesy demeanour lay a cruel and controlling man, whose darker impulses emerged as the pair grew closer.
Over several months, he undermined and cruelly tormented Yasmeen – even going so far as to make her believe that he had killed and cooked her beloved pet chicken. Staging a burglary, he manipulated the situation to put himself in control of her finances, while making her believe he was struggling with (faked) health problems. In a precursor to Emmerdale’s ongoing coercive control storyline, he also spied on Yasmeen by installing cameras in her home so as to spy on her better.
In 2020, Geoff snapped, threatening Yasmeen with a knife. She retaliated with a wine bottle – only for him to twist the situation, and paint her as the aggressive party. Months later, as he attempted to burn Yasmeen to death, Geoff fell to his own demise, slipping off the rooftop of No.6, even as Yasmeen attempted to save him.
With him died any chance of Geoff facing punishment for his crimes.
Pat Phelan
Monstrous builder Pat Phelan was one of the soap’s most unpleasant figures – building a list of serious crimes which included kidnap, rape and murder.
After fleecing Owen Armstrong out of his business and blackmailing Anna Windass into sleeping with him, the morally bankrupt businessman moved on to a relationship with Eileen Grimshaw. Scaring her son Jason off to Thailand, Pat’s crimes escalated as he watched a man die of a heart attack, then murdered three more.
Pat’s reign of terror came to an end in 2018, as Eileen and daughter Nicola turned on him – causing him to fake his death after apparently dying at sea. He returned later, for one final confrontation with Anna Windass – only for her to stab him to death.
Richard Hillman
Serial killer Richard Hillman is perhaps the soap’s most iconic villain. First appearing on the soap in 2001, the smooth-talking financial advisor revealed his true colours after marrying Gail Platt – ultimately killing three people.
Once his crimes had been revealed, Richard decided to kill himself and his family. Kidnapping Gail, David and Sarah, he bundled his bound-and-gagged wife and kids into the car and headed straight for the local canal.
However, Richard succeeded in killing only himself. For better or worse, his sudden death serves as a template for decades of soap exits to come.
Tony Gordon
Scottish businessman Tony Gordon is the rare soap villain to actually face justice for his crimes – only to later escape and die anyway. Killing love rival Liam Connor after learning he’d had an affair with fiancée Carla, Tony confessed to the murder after suffering a heart attack in front of Roy Cropper.
Surviving the heart attack, Tony then tried to silence Roy. However, he then handed himself in to the police, where he stood trial for murder.
Tony’s punishment was short-lived, as he then subsequently escaped – returning to Weatherfield to further torment Carla. After a week-long siege at Underworld, Tony perished after setting fire to the factory, allowing himself to die in the ensuing explosion.
John Stape
Hapless serial killer John Stape found himself on the wrong side of the law after his affair with student Rosie Webster. Blaming Rosie for the collapse of his relationship to Fiz, John snapped. He kidnapped Rosie and trapped her in his attic for several weeks.
Although the law arrested and imprisoned John for this crime, he was out on the streets again by 2009. He reconciled with and married Fiz, and resumed his teaching career after adopting a fake identity (hi, Colin Fishwick).
Unfortunately, John couldn’t hold his double life for long. After killing two people to keep his secret hidden, John first let Fiz take the blame for his crimes. He then kidnapped Rosie Webster all over again. This would prove to be his undoing, when he was killed during a car chase while trying to get away from her dad, Kevin.
His legacy lives on in daughter Hope.
Coronation Street usually airs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV.
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