The truth was revealed at last (Pictures: ITV)
There was a massive twist in Coronation Street during Wednesday’s episode (October 12) when Stu Carpenter (Bill Fellows)’s daughter Bridget (Beth Vyse) revealed that she was the person who killed Charlie, the young waitress Stu was convicted of killing years ago.
While the Nazirs have been helping Stu to try to clear his name, he has been more focused on reconnecting with Bridget and her daughter Eliza (Savannah Kunyo) – so this revelation came as a huge shock to him.
It was as much of a surprise for Bill Fellows, who plays him. ‘When I first found out that Bridget was the murderer I was shocked beyond belief!’ he says. ‘I was surprised that it was Bridget but I thought it was a great storyline idea.’
The aftermath begins (Picture: ITV)
The storyline has been running since the summer, with viewers first becoming aware of Stu’s apparently shady past when his ex wife, Lucy (Lynda Rooke), showed up in the Street and revealed that he’d spent years behind bars after a waitress from the restaurant where he worked was murdered.
We now know that Lucy was covering for her daughter Bridget all along. Bridget attacked Charlie after rowing with her when she found out that she’d been having an affair with Stu, hitting her over the head and killing her. Lucy helped her to move the body and then they let Stu take the blame – and the punishment – for the killing.
Bill likes that the story took a long time to play out. ‘I think that it’s worked really well because it’s more like real life this way, things don’t get settled in days and weeks, it can take months,’ he says.
‘I thought it was a really lovely twist,’ he continues, ‘And I loved it personally, because I feel like a lot of people guessed that it was the ex wife, Lucy, because she seemed to have more of a motive.’
Bridget’s revelation obviously brings a mass of conflicting emotions to Stu, as Bill describes.
‘Stu wasn’t expecting this bombshell at all, it’s an immense shock for him, to be blindsided completely,’ he says.
Everything has changed for Stu again (Picture: ITV)
‘He also feels tremendous hurt that his daughter that he loves and his wife have just let him take the blame and not even confessed to him. He feels anger especially towards his ex wife Lucy. The most heartbreaking thing for Stu is that if they had told him, he still would have taken the blame for his daughter but at least he would have known what was going on.
‘If he had known he could have pleaded guilty and he would have got parole, which means he would have spent less time in prison and he still would have protected his daughter. That is the biggest hurt for him.’
Despite Bridget and Lucy’s actions, Stu still feels partly responsible, Bill says. ‘Although Bridget was 14 years old at the time, Stu feels very responsible for what she did because he was the one having the affair. He feels the guilt of this and it’s a massive weight on his shoulders. He still wants to save Bridget from the pain of that.’
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Stu also knows that this isn’t the end of the matter, which makes him terrified on Bridget’s behalf. ‘He is very scared about what to do and what will happen next because he knows straight away that although he served the time, it is still a crime now. He is going to constantly worry about Bridget’s secret coming out,’ Bill says. ‘All he knows is that Bridget is a woman who has never been in prison. It’s not an easy regime and he knows that.
‘There are no winners in this situation and he doesn’t know what will happen next but after Bridget’s confession, he feels like he has ruined his granddaughter’s life by opening this tin of worms.
‘He now just wants to let people think he is a murderer because this whole situation has caused him a lot of pain and still does.’
Charlie’s murderer has finally been revealed.