Coronation Street's killer Stephen Reid looks set to finally be exposed next week, as tries to add to his grim body count with a cruel plan for Elaine Jones.
The charming assassin, played by Todd Boyce, is hell-bent on doing away with his fiancee, played by Paula Wilcox, so he can get his hands on her life insurance payout.
Little does Elaine know that the Canadian businessman has already murdered three others - builder Leo Thompkins, his dad Teddy Thompkins and former client Rufus Donahue.
But Stephen isn’t the first soap villain to wreak havoc on our favourite TV streets… or the murderer with the most kills. Here we look at soapland’s other famous villains, and their bodycount.
Pat Phelan (Coronation Street)
He was supposed to have died after falling in a river, but evil Pat (played by Connor McIntyre) made a shocking return to the cobbles last year - vowing murderous revenge.
His first killing on the Street saw him gleefully watch Michael, who was on his tail over dodgy dealings, slowly die from a heart attack.
His next was a double - former associate Vinny and Andy Carver, who he kept locked in a basement for eight months.
Then came the brutal slaying of Luke, who was doggedly pursuing the truth about where his pal Andy had vanished to.
His murder count would have kept going up if he wasn’t knocked off himself in June, by arch nemesis Anna Windass, who stabbed him to death after he shot his own own daughter.
He was taken off in a body bag - we’re pretty sure there’s no more coming back for him.
BODY COUNT: 3
Silas Blisset (Hollyoaks)
Arguably one of the worst villains in soap history, Silas keeps getting away with murder over and over again.
He murdered several women, including his own daughter Heidi Costello by mistake.
At the height of his twistedness, Silas (played by Jeff Rawle) held a pregnant Mercedes McQueen hostage in a cellar, after she confessed to having an affair with Heidi’s husband and her boyfriend’s dad, Carl.
He was last seen in 20016 murdering Lindsey Butterfield - aka The Glove Handed Killer - getting away with it once again before leaving the village with an evil smirk spread across his face.
BODY COUNT: 5
Nick Cotton (EastEnders)
He didn't earn the nickname Nasty Nick for nothing.
His murder of pensioner Reg Cox provided the drama for the Eastenders' very first episode in 1985 - although Nick (played by John Altman) got away with probation.
In 1991, he was at it again. While attempting to come off heroin, he killed Queen Vic landlord Eddie Royle.
Not even his family could escape his nefarious activities. He unwittingly caused the death of his 17-year-old son Ashley, who stole Mark Fowler's motorbike - unaware that his dastardly dad had slashed the brakes.
More recently he tried to poison long-suffering mum Dot to get his mitts on her £1,000 bingo win.
No wonder Walford's wickedest son is one of British soap's most notorious figures.
BODY COUNT: 3
Richard Hillman (Coronation Street)
Corrie's smooth-talking financial adviser knew how to make a killing - and not just when it came to business.
Richard Hillman (played by Brian Capron) wasn't about to let anything - or anyone - stand in his way.
After a late-night row when his partner Duggie Ferguson fell through a stair railing, Hillman stole a wad of cash instead of calling for help. From then on, murder was easy.
Increasingly unstable, Hillman bashed his ex-wife Patricia over the head with a shovel. He then tried to silence his suspicious mother-in-law, Audrey Roberts, by setting her house on fire.
And after Maxine caught him trying to murder Emily Bishop, he took a crowbar to the crimper's head in an episode watched by 15 million fans.
Tricky Dicky went to a watery grave in 2003 when he drove Gail Platt and her family into the Weatherfield canal.
BODY COUNT: 3
Lindsey Butterfield (Hollyoaks)
After one of the biggest soap whodunnits ever, Lindsey was revealed as the Gloved Hand Killer in 2015 after a spree that left seven people dead - and only came to an end after she was murdered herself.
The pregnant doctor then went on the run after police discovered she had killed countless victims in the hospital, injecting them with potassium chloride.
But when it looked like Lindsey (played by Sophie Austin) wouldn’t get her comeuppance, she got a taste of her own medicine in May 2016 when fellow serial killer Silas Blissett pays her a visit.
After she opened up about her past, he gave up on his plan to kill Mercedes and turned on Lindsey instead, leaving her dead on the same sofa Lynsey Nolan was found dead on three years earlier.
BODY COUNT: 7
Graham Clark (Emmerdale)
Handsome, charming, intelligent - schoolteacher Graham seemed like the perfect addition to the not-so-sleepy Dales village.
Problem was he was a control freak who'd driven his first wife to commit suicide through his obsessive behaviour and dictatorial ways.
Not long after setting up his blackboard in 1998, Graham (played by Kevin Pallister) set about seducing unlucky-in-love Rachel Hughes.
He soon moved in, but her pals became suspicious of his domineering ways. Rachel herself began to doubt her man when he made her dye her hair and dress like his first wife.
Their affair came to an abrupt and dramatic end in 1999 with a cliffhanger in every sense of the word - as Graham pushed Rachel off the side of a hill. He later perished in a car crash.
BODY COUNT: 2
Janine Butcher (Eastenders)
She started out as an irritating little madam, but graduated quickly from brattish schoolgirl to double killer - and along the way, Janine became a character everyone loves to hate.
A former cocaine addict, alcoholic and prostitute, she hit an all-time low after romancing used-car dealer Barry Evans simply to fleece him of his cash.
After they tied the knot in Scotland in 2003, she pushed him off a cliff then sat and watched him die.Janine (played by Charlie Brooks) was later tried - but cleared - of the murder of long-term rival Laura Beale.
But she just couldn't stay out of trouble and in 2009 she ran over and killed Danielle Jones.
Once again Janine escaped conviction, and after being found not guilty in her trial left for Paris in 2014, hinting that she planed to con a couple who had won the lottery.
BODY COUNT: 3
Barry Grant (Brookside)
Brookie's shady businessman would do anything to protect his naive pal Terry Sullivan - even commit murder.
In one of the Scouse soap's most famous storylines, Barry (played by Paul Usher) killed Terry's wife Sue and her young son Danny, by pushing them off some scaffolding.
And all to stop Sue spilling the beans to Terry about her and Baz's affair.
In 1994, Barry's ruthless streak surfaced again when brain-dead Terry got brainwashed by a sinister cult that had moved into the Close. When the cult leader Simon tried to gas himself and Terry in a car, Barry was there to pull his mate to safety - and leave Simon to perish.
He also offed gangster Callum Finnegan by locking him in a container in the 1997 spin-off The Lost Weekend. Nice!
BODY COUNT: 4
Cameron Murray (Emmerdale)
At first there was much nothing to suggest Cameron, who arrived in the village after falling in love with Debbie Dingle, would become a cold-hearted serial killer.
But he quickly morphed into one of Emmerdale’s deadliest sinners when he began a spree of killings of the course of a year.
After bludgeoning Carl to death with a brick, Cameron (played by Dominic Power) launched into full-on psychotic mode, killing Alex Moss and then Gennie Sharma in a bid to keep his terrible secret.
He then took the village hostage in the Woolpack, shot Alicia and tried to drown Debbie, Chas and Marlon - but in a satisfying twist of fate, killed himself in 2013 after being electrocuted by a lightbulb he grabbed onto while trying to kill Debbie.
BODY COUNT: 3
Warren Fox (Hollyoaks)
The thuggish ex-con turned up in the Chester-based soap in 2006 to wreak revenge on Sean Kennedy, who he blamed for his time in the nick.
During his three years on the show, Warren cheated, blackmailed and killed anyone foolish enough to get in his way.
All that bad behaviour was good news for Jamie Lomas, the actor who played him. He won three Villain Of The Year gongs at the British Soap Awards.
In 2007, Warren killed business rival Sean and forced a terrified Justin Burton to dig the grave. Insult was added to injury when, a year on, he killed his victim's ex-wife Louise, on their wedding night.
BODY COUNT: 2
Robert Robinson (Neighbours)
Behind the chiselled good looks of businessman Paul Robinson's son, lurked the mind of a psycho - one who went to increasingly twisted lengths to slaughter the good people of Erinsborough.
In 2005, he caused the death of three people by planting a bomb on their aircraft. Then he killed the man accused of the crime.
Robert (played by Adam Hunter) also bumped off a friend of his girlfriend Katya Kinski, who he later kidnapped.
Still, you have to blame the parents. Dad Paul wasn't much better. In 2004, he started the fire at Lassiter's Hotel in which Gus Cleary died. He also abandoned lover Kirsten during a bushfire to save his own skin.
BODY COUNT: 5
J R Ewing (Dallas)
Soap baddies don't come much more ruthless and manipulative than oil baron JR.
He would do ANYTHING, to keep control of the family business, Ewing Oil.
When not taunting his nemesis Cliff Barnes or bedding his latest secretary, JR (played by Larry Hagman) was busy indulging in a spot of murder.
When his long-suffering wife Sue Ellen finally left - taking their son JR Jr - JR threw an almighty tantrum. Then he threw her lover off a balcony.
In another cliffhanger, he was implicated in the drowning of ex-lover Kristin - the woman who shot him in one of TV's most-watched moments.
BODY COUNT: 2
