Coronation Street, Emmerdale and EastEnders have more than their fair share of villains.
But sometimes those villains can be redeemed – and we’ve got a list of characters who have changed for the better.
Peter Barlow – Coronation Street
Womaniser, alcoholic, violent thug – Peter Barlow made his dear old loverat dad Ken look like a benedictine monk in his heyday.
But the decades have been brutal to Peter – and now he’s like a zen master with a new liver.
Happy with Carla Connor, Peter has mellowed and is less of a nightmare and more of a decent family man these days.
Kim Tate – Emmerdale
For a woman who fixed her makeup in the mirror used to check her husband had died in front of her, Kim Tate has become quite the kind grandmother.
Time was that she’d bash you over the head, steal your family fortune and make millions building a criminal empire.
But in recent years Kim is less gangster granny and more plain old granny.
She’s still the ultimate soap superbitch, but she’s got a heart and will defend those she cares about to the death.
Stacey Slater – EastEnders
Troublesome teen Stacey Slater was like a tornado when she arrived in Walford all those years ago.
Leading the charge as the second group of Slaters, she was frankly more of a terror than Walford’s actual gangsters.
Sleeping with her father-in-law, accidental killings and the odd criminal stint behind bars, Stacey was out of control.
But now she sells bacon baps and is a much calmer and caring presence in the Square.
Simon Barlow – Coronation Street
There are teen tearaways – and there’s Simon Barlow.
Let’s face it – he even beat his own mum in vile scenes as a teenager.
That made his later drug dealing seem like child’s play – but even that came from a good place.
Turns out having a dead birth mum, a prostitute adopted mum and a violent alcoholic for a dad really does turn a troubled teen into a thoroughly decent young man.
Cain Dingle – Emmerdale
The badboy of Emmerdale village is probably the most violent and evil villain to ever have been redeemed.
While he’s stopped short of out and out murder, Cain has beaten, attacked, schemed and even groomed and abused his victims over the last 20 years.
Now even though Cain has never actually paid the price for any of his many vile crimes, he has become a slightly nicer person.
He’s even managed to forgive his mum Faith – though she did have to get terminal cancer before that happened.
Tracy Barlow – Coronation Street
Murderess, temptress and all-round evil do-er – to protective mother and florist – it’s not a journey most people could pull off, but Tracy Barlow has done it.
The years she spent playing her tapes upstairs clearly turned her slightly mad – culminating in her deciding to kill actual villain Charlie Stubbs.
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It’s the only planned out soap murder that viewers got behind.
A few years behind bars and now she’s half a double act with Steve McDonald and arranges flowers in her spare time.
Though she’s still got a killer instinct – she mostly saves it for people who threaten her family.
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Coronation Street usually airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.
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