A look back at the most shocking soap moments of 2019 - from deadly fires to wedding day shootouts

5 November 2019, 16:49 | Updated: 5 November 2019, 16:51

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

Quadruplets, a shock whodunnit and far-right radicalisation - there was some seriously shocking storylines this year.

It’s been a big year over in soapland, with EastEnders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks providing some genuine ‘mouth-open’ moments.

But as we look forward to another 12 months of drama for the nation’s best-loved teatime programmes, let’s cast our minds back to some of the standout moments of 2019.

The factory fire (Emmerdale)

The ‘who dies’ fire storyline dominated the Dales this summer after Kerry Wyatt and daughter Amy Wyatt accidentally set the Sharma sweet factory alight.

Unfortunately, it was poor Frank Clayton who was killed in the blaze as he dashed into the flames to rescue trapped daughter Tracy.

Sharon Mitchell’s pregnancy (EastEnders)

After weeks of waiting, EastEnders viewers finally found out the identity of Sharon Mitchell's baby daddy.

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As Sharon (Letitia Dean) nervously opened up the letter, potential new father Keanu Taylor and her step daughter Louise were just metres away in the kitchen.

And in a classic ‘Enders twist , the test revealed that husband Phil Mitchell was definitely not her unborn baby's father – meaning her lover Keanu has two babies on the way.

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Lily McQueen’s tragic death (Hollyoaks)

Hollyoaks viewers were left in tears when Lily McQueen died as a result of contracting sepsis, amid her heartbreaking self-harm battle.

The groundbreaking episode was focused on the events leading up to Lily's passing, which was told both in present day scenes and through flashbacks to her childhood.

Robert Sugden’s sentencing (Emmerdale)

In a shock move by ITV bosses, Emmerdale’s Robert Sugden was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering rapist Lee Posner and will spend a minimum of 14 years behind bars.

The character pleaded guilty to GBH after he beat up Lee for the sexual assault of his little sister Victoria Barton.

But this was later upgraded to murder following his victim’s death.

The factory roof collapse (Coronation Street)

In another tragic death (there’s a lot of them in soapland) Rana Habeeb was killed when the Underworld roof collapsed on her wedding day to Kate Connor.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the residents were desperate to find out who was responsible for the accident, with the likes of Carla Connor and Pat Phelan in the firing line.

But the real culprit turned out to be Gary Windass who sabotaged the factory roof to try and create more work for himself.

Ste Hay’s far-right radicalisation (Hollyoaks)

Ste Hay has been at the centre of Hollyoaks‘ most controversial storyline in years after he was groomed by a far right extremist group.

Over the past few months, evil Stuart and Jonny Baxter have used violence, threats and intimidation to target Muslim family the Maaliks and keep Ste in their grasp, with devastating consequences.

Whitney Dean’s wedding day shootout (EastEnders)

Whitney Dean’s doomed wedding to Callum Halfway turned into a disaster when there were three shootings back in September.

Evil Hunter Owen was killed by police after shooting Ben Mitchell and Keanu Taylor and taking Louise hostage.

Tony Hutchinson's near death experience (Hollyoaks)

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Hollyoaks seemingly killed off the legendary Tony Hutchinson in a dramatic showdown with Breda McQueen.

The much-loved character was brutally stabbed and left for dead in the street by evil serial killer Breda.

But despite the soap taunting viewers with a montage of Tony’s lift in Hollyoaks, it was later revealed Breda didn’t manage to finish the job and instead held him captive at her old family pig farm.

Sinead Tinker’s cancer battle (Coronation Street)

It’s been an emotional few months on Corrie, as viewers have watched Sinead Tinker battle her terminal cervical cancer diagnosis.

In her final moments she told husband Daniel to look after their son before asking him to go and bathe Bertie before bedtime.

Viewers were then devastated as Sinead died quietly in their home while Daniel read Bertie a story.