After months of sickening sweetness as the wife of Coronation Street's dastardly villain Richard Hillman, Gail finally discovers this week why her fans have been shunning her.

How will the soap's most tragic character cipe with beign married to a serial killer?

CORONATION Street's Gail has had, shall we say, an eventful life. She's been married three times (twice to the same man), widowed when husband Brian was murdered, had an affair, married a cheating toyboy, employed a psychotic nanny, found her 13-year-old daughter was pregnant, rescued the same daughter from an Internet pervert, and then saw her almost killed in a joyriding accident.

This might be considered enough for any woman. But no, Gail Hillman, as she now is, must suffer more. Then again, what else can you expect when you marry a serial killer?

This is worse than having forgetful Audrey the hairdresser as your mother. She's been claiming for months that Gail's husband Richard tried to murder her, action that's understandable but, unfortunately for Tricky Dicky, against the law. Finally next week, the penny drops with an almighty clang. Gail finally twigs that the man with whom she shares her life has left his partner to die, killed his ex-wife, murdered Maxine Peacock, and bashed Emily over the head with an iron bar (although the rapidity of her recovery suggests that the bar suffered more than the sherry-swigging do-gooder).

In a highly-charged two-hander on Monday night, Gail confronts Richard about his bad behaviour, providing Tricky Dicky with some sticky moments. The outcome means that he's on his way out of Weatherfield. The exact manner of his departure - living or dead or a contract to join the living dead in Crossroads - is a big secret. Except we've already seen pictures of his car plunging into the canal, allegedly with Hillman at the wheel and Gail and her troublesome children, gymslip mum Sarah Louise and demonic David, in the back.

Whatever happens, he won't just pack his bags and leave quietly. Actress Helen Worth, who's been playing Gail for 27 years, will be praying that Corrie fans forgive her for marrying a serial killer as well as looking like an agitated gerbil. She's used to fans recognising her and stopping for an autograph or for a chat. Since evil Richard moved in, they've been behaving very strangely towards her. They've even started shunning her.

"Gail's a very approachable sort of character, so I've got used to people coming up to me for a chat, an autograph or a photo. Through the years they've been very quick to let me know what Gail's men are up to behind her back," says Worth, 54. "But this time it's very different. I've noticed a real change in the fans' behaviour. They may stop to say hello, but they don't stop for long and I'm certain that some are even avoiding me. I can see them looking as if they're weighing up how to tell me that I'm married to a murderer, but can't bring themselves to say it."

For the past 18 months, Worth has been dreading the moment her character finds out the truth. Gail's life has been one long trauma and the actress wouldn't have it any other way. "Without conflict there's no drama, so long may her conflict continue," she says. "She's been happy for 18 months or so now, so I suppose it's about time she had the smile wiped off her face. Soaps are not real life, you can have happy moments but people never live happily ever after."

All that Gail has seen is a loving family man who's made her happier than she's been in a long time. "Women don't know if their husband is having an affair, so why would Gail know what Richard is up to?," she says. "You read about women all the time who've been married to criminals and had no idea what was going on."

Filming scenes with Brian Capron, who plays the dastardly villain, have been fun. "An absolute ball," she says. "We have had such a fantastic time, but it's been a bit of a problem sometimes because we are both terrible gigglers. We only need one of Richard's hysterical double entendres to set us both off. So far, we have managed to pull back and get our faces straight at the crucial point, though."

Next week's episodes don't mark the end of Tricky Dicky in the Street, so Worth has more dramatic scenes to film in coming months. Then she'd like to catch up with her friends and indulge in her passion for theatre.

"I've been concentrating so hard on this storyline that I haven't had time to get down to London, and I miss it," she says. "But I'm certainly not complaining. The public reaction to this storyline has been fantastic. I only hope that the fans will start speaking to me again once Gail has found out."

Published: 22/02/2003