Biggest soap twists ever – 'all a dream' end to shock character revivals

If there’s one thing soap fans can always rely on, it’s to be constantly surprised by the twists and turns of storylines.

Whether it’s shock identity reveals in EastEnders, serial killers in Coronation Street, hit-and-runs in Emmerdale or whodunits in Hollyoaks, viewers are guaranteed to be left reeling as the rug is pulled out from under them time after time.

Soaps have pulled off some of the most far-fetched storylines over the decades, having characters return from the dead, take on secret identities, and even dream up the entire thing.

As Crossroads fans mark nine years since the show’s shocking ending which goes down as one of the most outlandish twists in TV, we take a look back at some of the biggest surprises in soap history.

Crossroads – It was all a dream

Crossroads returned in 2001 after a 13-year hiatus – it was cancelled by 2003 because of poor ratings, but not before pulling off one of the most outrageous twists in television history.

In the final episode, Crossroads hotel boss Angel woke up in her real-life job in a supermarket – that’s right: the whole thing had been a dream all along.

It turned out that Angel’s real name was Angela, and that she had dreamed up a more interesting life while working as a checkout assistant in Birmingham with supermarket customers featuring in her hotel fantasy.

Fans of the soap, which ran from 1964 to 1988 before its return, were left reeling when Angel/Angela told a checkout colleague: “I’ve just woken up from an amazing dream and dreamt that I owned a hotel called Crossroads.”

EastEnders – Kathy Beale returns

EastEnders fans were thrilled when one of the soap’s most iconic original characters made a shocking comeback that was kept tightly under wraps.

Kathy Beale had been played by Gillian Tayforth since the very first episode of EastEnders back in 1985, but the beloved character was believed to have died off-screen by 2000.

It was a huge surprise to see Kathy return to Walford alive and well as part of the show’s 30th anniversary celebrations in 2015.

In true soap style, it transpired that Kathy had faked her death to escape the controlling clutches of her husband Gavin – and her tight-lipped ex-husband Phil Mitchell had known she was alive all along.

Coronation Street – Pat Phelan’s killer comeback

One of Corrie’s most notorious inhabitants, Pat Phelan (played by Connor McIntyre) terrorised Weatherfield with a string of murders and other cruel crimes.

Pat’s killing spree came to an end in March 2018 when his crimes were exposed during a confrontation with Eileen – after a dramatic struggle Eileen shoved him off a cliff into the sea, and he was presumed to have drowned.

But of course a soap serial killer wouldn’t go down that easily, and Pat returned for a final terrifying outing in special post-watershed episodes, shooting Nicola and Michelle before eventually being stabbed to death by Anna.

It doesn’t look like Pat will be making any more surprise comebacks – his last appearance in 2021 was in an urn as a pile of ashes – but you can never be quite sure you’re rid of soap baddies.

Emmerdale – Tess’s shock death

Teaching assistant Tess Harris was known to Emmerdale viewers for her steamy affair with vet Paddy Kirk, and was all set to reveal the relationship to Paddy’s wife Rhona – when the plan was suddenly cut short.

Fans were left gobsmacked in 2016 when Tess was mowed down in a hit-and-run incident by drunk driver Kirin Kotecha on her way to spill all the details to Rhona.

After Paddy and Rhona found her by the side of the road, Tess managed to tell Paddy she loved him one last time before being rushed to hospital, where she died of her injuries.

Hollyoaks – Lynsey’s whodunit murder

Karen Hassan made her debut as nurse Lynsey Nolan in the first season of spin-off Hollyoaks Later in 2008, before moving to the main show from 2010.

A 2011 Hollyoaks storyline saw Lynsey spark a feud with serial killer Silas Blissett which led to several terrifying close shaves – but in the end Silas wasn’t behind Lynsey’s downfall.

In 2012 Lynsey was found dead in a tragic discovery by Brendan Brady, and the shocking twist sparked a whodunit storyline with a number of suspects in the frame.

It was later revealed that she had been strangled by doctor Paul Browning – who got his comeuppance the following year after taking a fatal blow to the head with a shovel by Mercedes.

Coronation Street – Gavin is an imposter

“Gavin” arrived on the cobbles back in 2014 posing as the estranged son of Michael Rodwell – but all was not as it seemed.

It transpired that he was in fact Andy Carver, who had been posing as his former flatmate Gavin as part of a joke to prank Michael that quickly got out of hand.

As expected, the truth didn’t go down well when Andy was rumbled in 2015 after the real Gavin arrived back on the scene – before being killed off in a car accident.

However, Andy managed to keep his place in Weatherfield, even patching things up with Michael to the extent that the pair moved in together – before tragically being killed off at the hands of that pesky Pat Phelan.

EastEnders – ‘You ain’t my muvva!’

We couldn’t have a list of the most shocking moments in soap without mentioning perhaps the most iconic scene of all time.

Kat Slater, played by Jessie Wallace, revealed during a fiery Albert Square row in 2001 that she was in fact the mother of Zoe Slater, not her sister as everyone thought.

It turned out that Zoe was born after Kat was raped aged 13 by her uncle Harry, and later adopted by Kat’s parents Charlie and Viv.

And you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the UK who hasn’t watched the infamous confrontation where Kat reveals the truth, screaming “yes I am!” in response to Zoe yelling: “You can’t tell me what to do – you ain’t my mother!” before the iconic cliff-hanger doof-doofs chimed in.

This wasn’t the last shock this storyline had in store – years later in 2015, Kat visited the convent where she had given birth to Zoe only to find out that she had actually had twins and had a secret son too.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk