Richard Hillman in Coronation Street was the legendary cobbles killer who almost finished off the whole Platt family.
He went from charming businessman to serial murderer, keeping fans gripped and wondering which Street icon he’d bump off next.
As he makes his debut in Classic Corrie on ITV3, fans have issued a warning to Gail.
Here’s his story.
Richard’s early days in the Street
Richard Hillman was a distant cousin of Alma Baldwin. He arrived in Weatherfield for Alma’s funeral and met Gail Platt (as she was back then).
Richard and Gail hit it off and struck up a romantic relationship.
He won over her children, Sarah and David, and even made friends with her ex-husband Martin Platt.
Everything was great. Until…
Richard’s dodgy deals
Richard was a financial adviser, and he set about finding new clients on the street.
But Norris Cole wasn’t keen on Richard’s business. It was called Kellett Holdings and specialised in buying homes from elderly residents, and letting them stay there until they died.
Norris also discovered Richard had been responsible for some of his clients losing all their savings.
First victim
Richard went into business with Duggie Ferguson, building a new estate of houses.
Duggie liked to cut corners and Richard wasn’t happy about it. They had an argument when they were visiting the building site and – ironically – Duggie fell when a banister gave way, thanks to his love of cutting corners!
Richard made the decision to leave him to die, dialling 999, but then stopping. Cold! Then he cleaned out Duggie’s stash of cash and went home.
Killing spree
Once his first victim was dead, Richard started killing people left right and centre!
His next target was his ex-wife Patricia, who arrived in Weatherfield just before Richard was about to marry Gail.
She wanted to cash in her shares of Kellett Holdings but when Richard went to give her the cheque – at the same development where Duggie died – she threatened to tell everyone that his business was dodgy.
In the row that followed, she fell into a trench and instead of helping her out, Richard whacked her on the head with a spade. The next day, poor Patricia’s body was covered in concrete.
Trouble for Audrey
With the ink barely dry on the wedding certificate, Richard discovered his money troubles were worse than he’d thought.
Wanting to get his hands on Audrey’s cash, he convinced everyone – even Audrey herself – that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and wasn’t thinking straight.
He even tried to kill her by setting her house on fire – though she was rescued by unlikely hero Steve McDonald.
When Audrey and her friend Archie Shuttleworth became suspicious of Richard and reported him to the police, Gail cut ties with her mother.
Brutal killings
With Audrey out of the picture, Richard turned to Emily Bishop instead. He’d bought her house and knowing it would become his when she died, he decided to speed things up.
He drugged Sarah’s boyfriend Aiden Critchley and took his clothes as a disguise. Then he went to Maxine and Ashley Peacock’s house during a party at the Rovers, where Emily was babysitting.
He attacked Emily with a crowbar but when they were interrupted by Maxine, he turned on her and killed her brutally, muttering the now infamous line: “Should have stayed at the party, Maxine.”
Things fall apart
Richard’s downfall began when it was discovered Aiden had been drugged with Audrey’s tranquilizers.
Then other cracks began to appear.
Steve recognised a necklace Gail had been given by her husband as one he’d found on the building site, Sarah visited Aiden – who’d been charged with Maxine’s murder – and believed him when he said he hadn’t done it…
Eventually Richard fell apart and told Gail the truth and she told him he was “Norman Bates with a briefcase”.
Richard’s return
With everything out in the open, Richard went on the run.
Poor Gail struggled on through her husband’s crimes becoming public and even faced accusations she’d been in on it.
And there was worse to come. Eventually Richard decided the only way to keep his family together was to kill them all.
In tense and shocking scenes, he kidnapped Gail, Sarah, David and little Bethany intending to gas them all in the car.
But when Audrey accidentally ruined his plans he drove off with Martin, Kevin Webster and Tommy Harris in pursuit.
Richard drove the car into the canal, but fortunately Gail had picked up some nail scissors and she and the rest of the family managed to free themselves.
Richard didn’t.
He was dragged from the canal and Gail and Audrey watched as he was put into a body bag.
19.4 million viewers watched the episode!
The spectre of Richard has continued to loom large over the years – David wrote poison pen letters pretending to be his former stepdad.
And a medium con-artist, working with Lewis Archer, conned Gail into thinking she’d contacted Richard from the grave.
Who played Richard Hillman?
Richard was played by actor Brian Capron. He’d already made his name in shows including Grange Hill, The Bill and Minder.
Since then he’s been on stage in the West End, including playing the narrator, alongside Emmerdale star Suzanne Shaw, in The Rocky Horror Show, and appearing in Guys and Dolls with former Brookside star Claire Sweeney.
And in 2007, he took part in Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with Karen Hardy.
Fans react to Richard’s return
Richard’s first appearance at Alma’s funeral aired on ITV3 during classic eps today (Tuesday September 6).
And while fans were thrilled to see we’d reaced the stage of his arrival, some issued a stark warning to Gail: Run!
One said: “Ah, flirting, Hillman… be careful, Gail though…”
“Run Gail, run!” added someone else.
Tricky Dicky!!
Run for your life Gail. #ClassicCorrie— Lefty Lainie 🐈⬛ (@ElaineWharton1) September 6, 2022
So it’s Audrey’s fault for introducing Gail to Richard H #classiccorrie
— Freshco Survival Society (@FreshcoSurvival) September 6, 2022
Oh.. Gail and Richard.. what possible could go wrong 😄 #ClassicCorrie
— Danni🍕 (@Dbella91) September 6, 2022
Richard Hillman alert!!!
Bye bye Maxine and your endless nagging.#classiccorrie pic.twitter.com/QoRwqkFHGu— bandit bear & Proff (@banditgrtzk) September 6, 2022
YAY! Its Richard Hillman making his first scene! Lets the death commence! #ClassicCorrie pic.twitter.com/d5o5dslFM1
— Anthony 🏳️🌈🎵 (@TheDoctor2058) September 6, 2022
Coronation Street usually airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV.
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