Coronation Street does villains better than any other soap.
And if this week is anything to go by fans of the ITV soap are about to get another one with Stephen Reid hitting his stride.
“He will continue to get more and more desperate and more and more dark as the story unfolds,” Corrie boss Iain MacLeod said.
“He’s a bit of a blank canvas. If you think back through his archive scenes, we don’t really know a lot about him.
“So we thought, ‘Well actually, if we’re going to fill in those blanks, and we’re going to learn more about him, shouldn’t we make him dark, dangerous, interesting, scheming?’
“Mischievous is probably too light a term; but certainly, Machiavellian may be a stronger word.”
He added: “Our viewers are so canny as well.
“As soon as [Stephen] arrived everyone was like, ‘Ah, I’ve got him marked, he’s gonna be a wrong’un,’ and they’ll prove to be right in no small measure.
“I’m excited to see the audience’s reaction to the unfolding story when they realise that he’s every bit as desperate and dangerous as they predicted.”
But with Stephen set to join the ranks of Coronation Street villains, who else is he up against?
Richard Hillman
Norman Bates with a briefcase terrorised the cobbles for two years 20 years ago when he arrived and married Gail Platt.
He left Duggie Ferguson to die, murdered his ex-wife Patricia in cold blood and kidnapped Norris Cole before he really got going.
Then he tried to burn Audrey Roberts alive, battered Emily Bishop over the head and then murdered Maxine Peacock in chilling scenes.
He ended up trying to drown himself, Gail, Sarah, David and Bethany in the canal after being exposed for the serial killer he was.
His legacy lives on and it’s safe to say he is the greatest Corrie villain of all time.
Mad Maya
If anyone could stand up against Richard Hillman in the infamy stakes alone it’s Mad Maya.
Arriving as a lawyer helping Roy and Hayley, Maya soon set her sights on Dev Alahan and in the year she spent on the cobbles, she was very prolific.
She forced Dev to propose to her, kidnapped Tyrone’s dog, married multiple illegal immigrants while posing as love rival Sunita Alahan, before burning down all of Dev’s shops.
Maya then lived up to her name by kidnapping Sunita and luring Dev to his final shop and tying him up with plans to burn them both alive.
Sadly for Maya they were rescued – so she did what all stable people do and drove directly at them – twice – trying to kill them.
Instead she ended up in intensive care and later prison.
But she is still alive…
Pat Phelan
While Maya and Richard Hillman belong to Classic Corrie, Phelan the killer is very much a modern day soap villain.
Beginning his life on the cobbles as a seedy rapist, he terrorised Anna Windass before moving onto kidnap and murder.
Like Hillman, he first let a man die in front of him – this time Michael Rodwell.
Then he moved onto kidnap and murdering Andy Carver, Luke Britton and sort of Vinny Ashford.
His crimes were exposed as wife Eileen Grimshaw confronted him – and then she kicked him into the sea where he was hoped dead.
But he returned to terrorise the cobbles again, shooting his own daughter Nicola and Michelle Connor.
Phelan died after Anna Windass finally got her revenge, stabbing him through the heart.
Alan Bradley
Jenny Connor’s dear old dad was anything but.
The cruel, vicious man spent three years on the cobbles from 1986 to 1989 and he spent most of it terrorising Rita Tanner.
He seduced her after she fostered his daughter but soon realised she had enough cash to ensure he wouldn’t have to work again.
Alan posed as her late husband Len Fairclough to remortgage her house, stealing thousands from Rita.
However when Rita found out, he beat her to almost death to silence her.
He was arrested, but only served a few months in prison before being released and resuming his campaign of terror.
Rita fled to Blackpool, but he hunted her down and in one of the most iconic soap scenes ever he chased her in front of a tram before dying under its wheels.
Nathan Curtis
Vile Nathan groomed and abused schoolgirl Bethany Platt in a harrowing 2016 storyline.
Isolating her from her family, Nathan convinced Bethany he was in love with her and if she was in love with him too she’d sleep with all his friends.
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Bethany eventually realised just how evil Nathan was after he tried to sell her abroad to another paedophile gang.
She escaped and bravely gave evidence in court ensuring Nathan and his cronies went to prison for what they’d done.
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Coronation Street usually airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.
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