| “ | You bitch! YOU STUPID, VINDICTIVE BITCH! Maybe you're time is up and all! | „ |
| ~ Alan Bradley's breakdown as he attacks Rita Fairclough for putting an end to his fraudulent dealings. |
Alan Bradley was a fictional character and recurring antagonist of the British soap opera Coronation Street. He appeared in January 1986 and became the show's main antagonist throughout the year and in between 1987-1989 before he was eventually killed-off in December 1989 during the show's three-thousandth episodic week.
First appearing as the father of Jenny Bradley in 1986, Alan quickly established a relationship with Jenny's foster mother Rita Fairclough. This went on for three years, during which Alan's villainous nature was first explored without Rita's knowledge, up until she ultimately discovered his status as a illegitimate fraudster. Afterwards, Alan embarked on a campaign of terror against Rita for putting an end to his fraudulent dealings and went as far as to try and kill her after serving time in prison for attacking her. The result caused Rita to flee to Blackpool, where Alan tracked her down and was killed-off in an exit that is deemed "one of the most iconic" in soap history.
He was played by the late Mark Eden, who had married to Sue Nicolas who plays Audrey Roberts in the show.
Character Development
He is arguably the first major villain in the series as he was a regular character for 3 years. This style would follow on to other antagonists such as Richard Hillman, Pat Phelan, Tony Gordon, Geoff Metcalfe, Frank Foster, Tracy Barlow, Karl Munro, John Stape, Lewis Archer, Kirsty Soames, Ray Crosby, Maya Sharma, Charlie Stubbs, and Rob Donovan. Originally the character started out seemingly ordinary and nice, but overtime developed into a sinister figure, a plot development which would be common with other antagonists in the show.
Biography
Alan Bradley made his first appearance in 1986 after his wife Pat gets killed in a car accident. Due to him being away working, his daughter Jenny is temporarily fostered by Rita Fairclough in Weatherfield. Alan soon met Rita and they had a relationship as he managed to recoup his bond with Jenny.
Eventually, Alan proposes to Rita and plans a surprise wedding between them. To his shock, however, Rita chooses not to go through with it and insists that she and Alan remain friends rather than proceed to marriage - much to Alan's unhappiness. This led to Alan having an affair with Rita's friend Gloria, a barmaid of The Rovers Return public house, but he later ended the affair due to him growing interested in Rita's assets.
It was at this point where Alan's villainous streak had emerged. He already proved to be a violent and deranged psychopath after beating up Jenny's wayward neighbour Terry Duckworth in the pub for badmouthing him. Alan also intimidated several of Rita's closest friends, such as Jenny's boyfriend Martin Platt and the show's protagonist Ken Barlow. Later on, he employed Martin's colleague Dawn Prescott to work closely with him and developed an obsessive crush on her. Alan attempts to seduce Dawn, who rejects his advances, and he ends up trying to rape her before she is able to escape. Dawn confronts Alan for trying to rape her, but Alan dismisses her threats and sacks her before pointing out that her accusations would prove false; they went to a dinner party to "talk business" with Ken's archenemy Mike Baldwin.
When Dawn informed Rita about Alan's attempt to rape her, she disbelieves her at first until Rita later makes a startling discovery about Alan; he had recently borrowed the deeds to Rita's house, and posed her late husband Len Fairclough in order to get a mortgage to pay for his burglar alarm business. When Rita came across evidence that confirms Alan's deception and status as a fraudster, she confronts him during Jenny's 18th birthday party and tells him that she has informed the Building Society about what he did - therefore stopping Alan from continuing his fraudulent plans. When Jenny calls to check on why Alan and Rita have not attended the party, Rita goes to answer the phone when Alan - enraged that Rita ruined his plans - suddenly attacks her. He beats her and nearly suffocates her to death when Jenny and Martin walk in on the incident, prompting Alan to make a getaway. Rita is rushed to hospital and the police are called in to locate Alan, while Rita's friends all learn what Alan did to her. When Jenny goes to meet her father, Alan learns the police have followed her and gets arrested before he could make another get away.
After getting arrested, Alan is held in police custody and locked in prison up until his trial. He is found guilty, but is released on prohibition due to having already served several months in prison. Alan exploits his prohibition to his advantage and resolves to torment Rita in retribution for her betrayal. Alan soon begins a campaign of harassment towards Rita, going as far as to take a job across the road from her, working on a building site for new houses. This goes on until Rita has a nervous breakdown due to Alan's presence, and she soon flees to Blackpool.
When Rita's absence is called into question by everyone, Alan is suspected of murdering her or causing her disappearance. This continues when the police are called in to the building site where Alan works, turning the place into a crime scene as it is publicly alleged that Alan buried her there. When Alan gets sacked due to the situation, he blames Rita and drowns his sorrows in the pub. He finds himself hounded by nearly everyone, including Terry's father Jack Duckworth and his punter Don Breenan alongside Rita's love interest Percy Sugden. Moments before Alan could attack them, Jenny's best-friend Sally Webster informs them that the police may have found a body, which settles the issue between them and Alan.
At somepoint, Alan learns from the pub's landlord Alec Gilroy days later that Rita has fled to Blackpool. He traveled there with the intent of bringing her back to Weatherfield to prove his innocence. After encountering Rita's old roommate Bet Lynch and confronting her over Rita's whereabouts, Alan finally comes face-to-face with Rita and tries to bundle her into his car while the police are called in. Rita manages to make a getaway from Alan and he chases her, which leads to the two rushing into an oncoming tram. Although Rita narrowly gets out of the way in time, Alan doesn't make it in time and gets struck by the tram. Consequently, Alan was killed instantly and his reign of terror on Rita is over at last. When Jenny learns of her father's death, she blames Rita and initially assumes that she is the reason behind Alan's evil crimes. But after her father's funeral, Jenny steadily learns that her father never really loved her or Rita and the two woman make amends, thus leaving Alan's legacy in vain.
Since then, Rita and Jenny have moved on with their lives away from Alan. At one stage Rita told up her house to her best-friend Emily Bishop in order to get away from the memory, due to Alan still haunting her for years whenever she was living there.
