Death is huge. Not to get all ‘existential’, but it really is a big deal, isn’t it? Unless you live in Soapland, of course, where death is quite often

shown to be temporary, and the bosses of Coronation Street, Emmerdale, EastEnders and Hollyoaks have all practiced a spot of necromancy over the years.

 

 

One executive producer can decide to permanently axe a character, sending them to the soap graveyard, while their successor can quickly reverse that decision with a skilful (or not) plot twist that can completely undo their demise.

Recent years have seen a plethora of corpse-reanimation. The originators of the ‘back from the dead twist’, EastEnders, have given Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) both his mum and his ex-wife back from the afterlife. He’s probably half-expecting to bump into his dead daughter, Lucy (Hetti Bywater), at some point.

With all of the soaps practicing resurrection over this past year, some comebacks have been welcomed. Clare Devine (Gemma Bissix), long-heralded as Hollyoaks’ ultimate villain, re-wrote history with her return and proved to be just as magnificent as she ever was. Their second bite of the cherry with James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan), however, made little sense to viewers.

In a unique case, the Corrie comeback of Becky Swain (Amy Cudden), a character we’d never actually seen before, was heralded initially as a brilliant obstacle in the tumultuous path of Swarla, Lisa Swain (Vicky Myers) and Carla Connor (Alison King), though, by the end of the confusing plot involving unseen gangsters, firebombs and airing cupboards, fans were scratching their heads.

With the news that Jake Moon (Joel Beckett) is returning to EastEnders for another stint, Metro readers were a little confused. His initial stint that ended in 2006, saw him presumed murdered after a gangland mix-up, though he returned, very much not executed, in 2024 to coincide with the exit of long-time love, Chrissie Watts (Tracy-Ann Oberman).

Rose Turner said: ‘I don’t know who’s who anymore, if they’re dead, pretending to be dead or alive’, clearly perplexed at the complicated timelines, while Erika Louise Fry added: ‘How many people are they bringing back from the dead?’.

Glyn Lavender pointed out the frequency with which soaps are bringing back dead characters: ‘Emmerdale has brought back Graham, Corrie brought back Lisa’s wife now we have a trio’.

Clare Langdon was equally confused: ‘Why are all these soaps being people back the dead?’ while Alan Labinjo added: ‘Give it a rest! Who’s next, Dot Cotton and Eccles? Give it up’. Wendy Spence thinks the same: ‘Not again Can’t they think of something else?’

Of course, with the current flood of dead returnees, fans are hoping their own favourites might reappear.

‘If hope its either Martin Fowler, Steve Owen or Dennis Watts’ said Brian Smith in response to our tease of a ‘returning’ dead character. Helz Gardner hoped for three other dead ‘Enders: ‘Mick? Fat boi? Vincent?’. Synz Gill echoed this sentiment: ‘Another dead story?! If they’re bringing back people from the grave then bring back Vincent!’

With this reaction, we got to thinking about just how many characters have been resurrected in the past few years…

The most recent and (arguably) the most successful resurrection in recent memory is everyone’s favourite gravel-voiced ghoul, Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough).

Graham was the subject of his own whodunnit, seemingly being murdered by rapist Pierce Harris (Jonathan Wrather). Graham was (and is, we suppose) a deeply intriguing, dark and gothic character who’s arch-camp presentation could feel jarring in the overall context of Emmerdale.

Andrew’s performance, though, captivated audiences and it always seemed a huge waste to kill him when they did.

Returning as a surprise during the much-hyped Corriedale event, fans accepted the (admittedly convoluted) story retcon, simply delighted to have the sinister SAS agent back.

James’ death was recently reversed (Picture: Lime Pictures)
James was a victim of Hollyoaks’ controversial restructure, with their output being slashed from five, half-hour episodes a week to three 20 minute offerings, meaning reductions in staff both behind the scenes and cast.

He perished in a car bombing prior to the time jump that ushered in the shows new era and that seemingly was the end of that.

As the show aired its 30th anniversary celebration, it transpired that James had actually survived the blast; the mechanics of which have yet to be fully explored, with Gregory’s return being a late addition to the anniversary eps.