Richard Hillman

Richard Charles Hillman is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, played by Brian Capron. Richard first appeared on 20 June 2001 following the death of his cousin Alma Baldwin (Amanda Barrie). He later went on to develop a love interest in Alma's close friend Gail Platt (Helen Worth) and marry her. He also leaves his work colleague Duggie Ferguson (John Bowe) to die, kills his ex-wife Patricia (Annabelle Apsion), sets his mother-in-law Audrey Roberts' (Sue Nicholls) house on fire and then convinces her that she has Alzheimer's disease and attempts to kill Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) for money but ends up killing Maxine Peacock (Tracy Shaw). The character departed on 14 March 2003 after driving into the canal and drowning. He has been rated one of the best soap villains of all time and in the programme itself, alongside the likes of Alan Bradley (Mark Eden) and Frank Foster (Andrew Lancel) and Pat Phelan. Richard's death was also the hundredth death featured in the show.