From Who Shot Phil to Who killed Lucy: EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks’ biggest whodunnits
SOAPS are known for their huge whodunnit storylines that often have fans guessing for weeks and sometimes months as to the truth behind some of the most shocking deaths on TV.
Across Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks – they have all seen their fair share of gripping whodunnit plots. Let’s take a look at just a handful of the most memorable…
Who Killed Lucy Beale? – EastEnders
It is one of EastEnders biggest and most gripping plots and it rumbled on for just shy of a year.
Back in 2014, viewers were left asking themselves just who really was responsible for killing Lucy Beale after she was found dead on Walford Common.
In a huge soap first, every single character was viewed as the potential murdered until one-by-one, the BBC soap began to focus on a more targeted group of people including all of her family members.
The hard-hitting plot eventually came to an end during the show’s epic 30th anniversary celebrations which featured a full live week of episodes.
Throughout the week, the Beale family acted out their scenes, including the killer reveal, live in order to prevent any leaks occurring.
During this week, fans learned that Lucy’s younger brother Bobby had killed her during a scuffle gone wrong and that Jane had helped to conceal the death by moving the body.
Who Killed Calvin Valentine? – Hollyoaks
Calvin Valentine, played by Ricky Whittle, was the centre of a whodunnit plot on the Channel 4 soap back in 2009.
In a rare move back then, Hollyoaks opted to broadcast a flash-forward scene which saw Calvin gunned down on his wedding day.
The scenes, set six months in the future, saw him shot by a mystery assalian during his first dance with bride Carmel.
As the soap returned to the present day in the following episode, fans were left following a guessing game of clues over the next few months to establish who was responsible for his death.
Eventually, it was revealed that Carmel’s scorned cousin, Theresa, was the one to deliver the final blow.
It was revealed she shot him as an act of revenge after he got her pregnant behind Carmel’s back and forced her to have an abortion.
Who Killed Archie? – EastEnders
Rewind five years before Lucy Beale and EastEnders were treating fans to another whodunnit plot after Archie Mitchell was killed on Christmas Day 2009.
He was bashed in the head with the bust of the Queen Vic leaving him dead in an instant.
Two months later, Stacey Branning was revealed to be the killer in the show’s first ever attempt at a live episode.
Lacey Turner was in fact only told 30 minutes before filming the live scenes that she was the killer with multiple endings having been rehearsed and the rest of the cast and crew kept in the dark until the major reveal.
Who Killed Frank Foster? – Coronation Street
Whilst he is ever seldom mentioned these days on Coronation Street, Frank Foster’s killer reveal was one of the ITV soap’s biggest plots back in 2011.
Frank had horrifically raped Carla Connor and got away with it when he failed to be brought to justice.
However, it was just a month later when the dastardly factory boss met his end when he was struck by a mystery person.
Whilst Carla, Michelle Connor, Peter Barlow, and Sally and Kevin Webster were all revealed to be the suspects, the soap ended up choosing an entirely different person to be the killer.
It was revealed that Frank’s mother Anne Foster had killed her own son after learning the truth about Carla’s rape.
Anne had only appeared in a handful of scenes prior to the reveal and hasn’t been mentioned again since the storyline.
Forgotten soap storylines
The nation's soaps have had many gripping storylines play out over the years. However, some plots proved to be far less memorable. Here are some forgotten stories from Weatherfield, Walford and more...
- Ken and Audrey’s romance (2015): After the death of wife Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride), Coronation Street original Ken Barlow (William Roache) started to move on in his life. He started to develop a spark with old friend Audrey (Sue Nicholls), with then-Corrie boss saying it would be like “Ross and Rachel”. In the end, nothing ever came of it and the two remained platonic pals.
- Beth’s bigamy (2016): Despite being happily married to Kirk (Andrew Whyment), a troubling secret came to light about Beth Tinker (Lisa George). It transpired that she had never divorced from her first husband, Darryl (Paul Loughran), father of her son Craig (Colson Smith). Although Craig and Kirk were shocked – and Beth was arrested – the storyline didn’t didn’t go much further.
- Kat Slater’s secret son (2017): Capitalising on the popularity of Kat (Jessie Wallace) and Alfie (Shane Richie), the two received a spin-off back in 2017. Titled ‘Redwater’, it saw the two travel to Ireland where they met long-lost son Luke, now called Dermott Dolan, played by Oisín Stack. Despite the high-tension events during Redwater, Kat seems to have put the experience behind her as Dermott’s not been mentioned since.
- Alfie’s brain tumour (2015): Having learned in 2015 that he had a brain tumour, Alfie kept the news from Kat until their trip to Ireland. At the time, actor Shane Ritchie revealed fans would see a change in Alfie as he battled the illness. It would appear that at some point after leaving the Square, was told the tumour was non-malignant. By the time Alfie returned in 2022, fans were left confused over what had happened to the storyline.
- Kathy and Buster’s affair (2016): In 2016, Walford legend Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) fell into the arms of convict Buster Briggs, played by Karl Howman. Buster was the long-time lover of Shirley Carter (Linda Henry) and fathered both her sons – Mick (Danny Dyer) and Dean (Matt Di Angelo). When Buster left, he begged Kathy to join him, but she refused for the sake of her family. Meanwhile Buster didn’t even stop to say goodbye to Shirley before exiting with a broken heart. Fans expected a showdown between the two women, but this never came to pass.
- Jacob’s OCD (2016): After his dad, David (Matthew Wolfenden), was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2016, Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) developed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This manifested in the form of cleaning. Jacob’s OCD made a brief return one year on, after David had another scare after finding a lump. Jacob frantically searched the bins for a “lucky coin” that had accidentally been thrown away. Despite stressful situations – such as being groomed by his teacher Maya, losing his fiancee Leanna to a serial killer, dealing with mum Leyla’s drug addiction, and surviving a stabbing – the condition doesn’t appear to have returned.
- Marlon and Charity’s fling (2003): Few fans would likely remember few will remember the one-night stand between Charity (Emma Atkins) and Marlon (Mark Charnock) in 2003. The pair slept together when Charity was staying with Marlon while still under suspicion for husband Chris’s supposed “murder”.
- Alex Browning’s revenge plot (2014): Fans expected a confrontation when Dr Browning’s son Alex (Ojan Genc) mer stepmum Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe). After all, Mercedes, with Cindy Cunningham (Stephanie Waring) and Lindsey Butterfield (Sophie Austin) had murdered Alex’s dad, double-murderer Dr Paul Browning, after he kidnapped and attacked his new wife. In fact, the soap teased Alex would seek revenge for his father’s death upon arriving. However, he instead gave Cindy’s son Hilton (his half-brother) a life-saving transplant, became his godfather, and leaving the village soon after.
Who Shot Robert Sugden? – Emmerdale
Just over a year into his grand return stint, Robert became the victim of a shooting in September 2015.
No one knew exactly who had attempted to kill him off until a special flashback episode broadcast one month later revealed that Ross Barton was his attacker.
Ross was acting on instruction of Robert’s revenge-seeking brother Andy who had recently discovered that Robert was responsible for his wife Katie’s death.
The flashback episode at the time also left fans stunned when it unexpectedly revealed two other hidden plots that had been occuring.
It confirmed Ashley Thomas was suffering dementia and also showed how Paddy had been embarking on a scandalous affair with Tess Harris.
Who shot Phil? – EastEnders
It was 2001 when EastEnders attempted to get the nation talking with an epic whodunnit – this time involving Phil Mitchell.
He was shown collapsing towards the ground after being shot at on his own doorstep.
17 million fans tuned in to see the attempted murder of Phil and it was only months later that the attacker was unmasked.
His ex Lisa was revealed to be the shooter with more than 20 million people tune in to see.
It even forced the UEFA Cup semi-final between Barcelona and Liverpool to be delayed by 15 minutes in order to broadcast the full extended episode of the soap special.
Who Killed Tom King? – Emmerdale
Before the current Tom King, the ITV soap had Tom King of yesteryear and he met a grisly end back in 2006.
During the festive period, he was bludgeoned with an ornament before being flung out of the bedroom window of Home Farm.
It took five months until it was revealed that the murderer was someone very close to home indeed.
It was Tom’s own son Carl that killed him off but in a soap shock, he was never brought to justice for his crime.
Darkest soap storylines
Over the years the likes of EastEnders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street have all tried to try outdo each other with their outlandish plots in a bid to keep us tuning in each week. But here are some of the darkest that had fans in shock…