John Stape (Graeme Hawley) interview

• Character

• John Stape

  

  1. D.O.B: Circa 1979
  2. Address: 5 Coronation Street
  3. Work: Barlow's Bookies
  4. Married: Fiz Stape
  5. Children: Daughter; Hope (6/12/10)

  First Appearance

  • 6 May 2007: John was first seen at a school play rehearsal where Kevin Webster revealed his daughter Sophie’s crush on him and he encountered his former girlfriend Fiz Brown.

  Street History

  • 2007: Resumes his relationship with Fiz Brown
  • Gives Sally Webster private lessons in English Literature
  • Begins a torrid affair with Sally’s daughter Rosie
  • Is attacked by Kevin Webster when his affair with Rosie is revealed
  • 2008: Takes a job as a driver at Street Cars in order to be near Fiz
  • Is forgiven by Fiz but ostracised by her friends
  • Kidnaps Rosie and locks her in the attic of his grandmother’s house for five weeks
  • Is arrested when Fiz calls at the house and finds Rosie
  • 2009: Sentenced to two years in prison
  • Thrilled when Fiz visits him in prison for advice on Chesney’s home schooling
  • Gives Rosie £150,000 of his inheritance from his grandmother as compensation
  • Marries Fiz in prison
  • 2010: Gets out of prison
  • Works at an adult education centre but gets fired when they find out about his jail-bird past
  • Steals his friend, Colin's identity, so he can get back into teaching. Fiz finds out but goes along with it
  • Caught using Colin's identity by Charlotte Hoyle, a fellow teacher, who uses the information to emotionally blackmail him. Colin is attacked and seeks out John for compensation over the stolen identity, but suffers a fatal heart attack. John and Charlotte hide the body and burn his belongings. Continues to visit Charlotte secretly, but becomes worried by her mental state, especially when she introduces him as Colin to her parents
  • Meets Colin's mother Joy Fishwick, who comes looking for her son
  • Fatally attacks Charlotte on the night of the tram crash and pretends to have found her body in the wreckage as police find him moving her body. On the same night, Fiz goes into labour and their child Hope is born prematurely
  • 2011: Continues to worry for baby Hope when it is revealed she has a hole in her heart but it can be treated with medication. Joy Fishwick dies after John confesses all to her
  • John suffers a breakdown following all his secret and murderous actions and is hospitalised
  • Returns home to Fiz and baby Hope and tries to put his sins in the past
  • When Chesney unearths the truth about John's link to the Hoyle's, John takes all three of them hostage in the Hoyle's cellar
  • Makes a partial confession to Fiz when she discovers him trying to move the body of Colin Fishwick from under the factory floor
  • Flees with baby Hope when Fiz refuses to run away with him; Fiz is run over whilst pursuing them
  • Returns Hope to a desperate Fiz before jumping off the hospital roof and disappearing into the night
  • Returns to Weatherfield with a plan to save Fiz from prison
  • Kidnaps Rosie and forces her to learn his account of what happened so she can go to court and clear Fiz's name. Jason and Kevin come to Rosie's rescue although John escapes, he crashes into a lorry and is taken to hospital. Before he dies he is finally reunited with his wife and daughter and makes a police statement which proves that Fiz was innocent

  Likes

  • Shakespeare 
  • Deception

  Dislikes

  • Older women
  • Confined spaces

  Key Relationships

  • Fiz Stape
  • Hope Stape
  • Charlotte Hoyle