Favourite Corrie Stories: Richard Hillman's reign of terror

Another of my all-time favourite storylines has to be the saga of Richard Hillman. From the first time he appeared, dapper and slick, at Alma's funeral, to the last time we saw him, in a body bag, this story kept me watching.

Richard was a financial advisor. He said he was Alma Halliwell's cousin. Was he or wasn't he? I think probably not. I think he was an opportunist out looking for gullible clients. He immediately charmed both Audrey and Gail but it was Gail he was attracted to. I do think that was genuine. Richard badly wanted a home and family, having had a rough upbringing and failed first marriage. He slowly insinuated himself into the Platts' lives, even winning over skeptical David in the end, with holidays and a dvd player.

Neighbours were interested in his financial services. His company became the owner of Emily Bishop's house which allowed her to finance nephew Spider's business venture. He went into business with Duggie Fergusson, converting one of the houses his company "inherited" after the death of the owner into luxury flats. That's where it started to go wrong. Costs went up, Duggie started using inferior materials. Late one night, Duggie fell through the stairwell and Richard, thinking he was already dead, rushed off to rob Duggie's safe before returning to discover Duggie hadn't died straight away but was expired by Richard's return. Norris Cole never trusted him and was himself the victim of some of Richard's scare tactics in the same structure. The flats were constructed, using Steve McDonald's company as the builders but then another disaster struck. A halfway house for parolees was going to be built in the neighbourhood and nobody wanted to buy the flats!

Meanwhile, Richard and Gail were planning an expensive wedding and cash flow was coming to a halt. What to do? Richard soon set about making Audrey think she was going senile. That way, Gail could get control of Audrey's money and that would save Richard's bacon. In a desperate move, Richard tried to burn Audrey and her house down but Archie Shuttleworth saved her life. Foiled again! Even Gail was horrified at Audrey's accusations against her newly minted husband.

Just before the wedding, Richard's ex-wife Patricia turned up wanting her share of the business. They argued at the building site

and Richard, in the heat of the moment, bashed Patricia over the head with a spade and pushed her into the foundation where he buried her. Her grave was then covered over the next day by cement, poured to correct a fault in the original foundation (costing even more money!)

Richard got his hands on the Duckworth's nest egg but he used their money to pay for the wedding and other related building expenses and provided them with faked financial statements. More and more desperate, Richard was pushed to the wall with creditors and angry heirs of former clients causing trouble. A desperate man took desperate measures when he decided to kill Emily to get the house back. He framed runaway Aidan Critchley and snuck into the Peacock house where Emily was babysitting and hit her over the head with a crowbar. Maxine came back from her mother's birthday party early, surprising the intruder and she, too, got the crowbar treatment. Sadly, Maxine died though Emily survived.

Little by little, though, the cracks were showing and the guilt was weighing heavily on Richard's shoulders. Soon, Gail eventually figured out what a monster her husband had turned into. "Norman Bates with a briefcase" is what she called him! He went on the run but returned two weeks later, deciding that he could ensure his family stayed together forever by killing them all. He tried to gas them in the family vehicle in the garage but when they were found by some of the neighbours, he sped off and drove them into the canal. Everyone was saved by Tommy Harris and Martin Platt but Richard died. Gail identified his body and that was that.

Or was it? Gail nearly got into financial ruin because her name was on his company too. The Duckworths lost all their savings and blamed Gail. A couple of years later, it seemed as if Richard might be alive after all when the family started getting greeting cards signed by Richard! Richard, or some long lost relative out for revenge? That turned out to be a schoolboy prank by David but Richard's shadow looms over the Platt family to this day.

Check out all our choices for Top Stories here