Corrie's John Stape is Fab!

(This post was originally posted by Seapenguin on the Coronation Street Blog in June, 2010, reposted with permission.)
 
Yes, I'm sticking up for him - again! I'm out, and I'm proud - I think John Stape is great. Or more precisely - I think Graeme Hawley's portrayal of the Coronation Street character John Stape, is great.

It's the sinister smile, the glinting specs, and the way he weaves the totally insane things he does (I WON'T go over it all again, but the words "kidnapping" and "identity theft" will be in all our minds) into an - ahem - "normal" life with Fiz and Chesney.

I think he's a brilliant Corrie character and I'll be gutted if/when he leaves. I think the writers can still have a lot of fun with him, if they stop short of having him commit full-blooded murder in the foreseeable. Remember his gran's creepy house, with the ancient wall-paper, where he held Rosie captive, and the fridge with the health foods he bought in for her? I loved all that.

I don't know what he's going to do next, but I'm looking forward to finding out. This Charlotte woman seems to be even more bonkers than John, so it looks like he MIGHT have met his match - though somehow, I doubt it. Will she blackmail John, and then end up in the foundations of Underworld? Will Fiz start to suspect John's having an affair with her, first? I've no idea. Bring it on.