Lewis Archer

Evil-doer
Full Name	Lewis Archer
Alias	Lewis Mr. Archer
Origin	Coronation Street
Occupation	Male escort Conman Ex-fiancé of Audrey Roberts and Gail Platt
Powers / Skills	Charisma Deception
Hobby	Deceiving his targets. Spending quality time with Audrey.
Goals	Extort money from the Platt and Barlow families. Exact revenge on Gail for figuratively destroying his relationship with her mother Audrey (both succeeded). Recoup his vendetta against Gail (failed).
Crimes	Fraud Conspiracy Blackmail
Type of Villain	Charismatic Trickster

“	"I hope, by now, Gail has acquainted you with our little scheme... to cut you adrift and start a new life in Italy. I'd like to say she took a lot of persuading to abandon her family but alas, no! As with my seduction... she didn't need asking twice. You made it easy, Gail... far easier than I dared hope. But did you seriously think I could ever love you? and after what you did to Audrey and myself... you destroyed my best hope of happiness, so let me return the compliment. There is no new life in Italy, no job in Tuscany and no money left in your bank account... because by the time you've watched this, I'll have taken it - as compensation for what you stole from me. Which brings me to you, Audrey. You did what no other woman ever could, you made me happy and content. I truly was a changed man until Gail meddled and forced me to revert to type. We could've been so happy, Audrey... but I'm afraid this is our last goodbye. And that really, truly breaks my heart. I'm sorry for any pain this may cause you and I mean you no harm. Ti amo, my darling. Kylie... I like you very much, you've got something about you and you could do a good deal better than that weasel of a husband. And you deserve happiness too, Nick. I hope you both manage to find it one day. Hey look at that, the perfect cocktail. It just requires a toast, and this one's especially for you Gail... 'Chi cento ne fa, una ne aspetti'... Or as we say in this country, 'What goes around comes around'. Ciao!".	„
	~ Lewis Archer exposing his scheme to the Platt Family and their matriarch Gail for meddling in his relationship with Gail's mother Audrey Roberts.

Lewis Archer was a fictional character and supporting antagonist in the British soap opera show Coronation Street, appearing on and off from December 2009 to January 2019.

He first appeared as a main character in December 2009 and went on to serve as a supporting antagonist in 2010, an overarching character in 2011, the secondary antagonist from 2012 up towards January 2013, and returned as a major antagonist in the second half of 2018.

He was portrayed by Nigel Havers.

Biography

Lewis Archer first appeared in Weatherfield on 2009 and developed a relationship with Audrey Roberts. His nature was elevated in 2010 when he forged a romance with Audrey's longtime friend Deirdre Barlow, which was all part of his plan to defraud money from Deirdre's stepson Peter Barlow. This steadily came to fruition and both families learned about Lewis' actions, thus leaving both Audrey herself and Deirdre's husband Ken distraught over the events.

In 2012, Lewis returned and sought to make amends with Audrey. He also managed to repay Deirdre and her family what he stole from them. However, despite proving to Audrey that he is a changed man, the constant interference of Audrey's daughter Gail Platt had slowly diminished their relationship - which provoked Lewis into seeking revenge on Gail. He does this by entrapping Gail in a false relationship, then blackmails her daughter-in-law Kylie Platt into helping out with his plan. Lewis later reveals his scheme to Gail, along with her two sons Nick Tilsley and David Platt, in 2013 on a video tape and asserts his true love to Audrey before bidding her farewell at the end of the video. By the time the Platts have watched the video, Lewis has fled the country once more.

In 2018, Lewis reappears at the same time as Weatherfield has seen local villain Pat Phelan getting killed by his rape victim and archenemy Anna Windass. It was at that same time that Gail had been concerned with some usual family problems, especially in David's case with his feud against his nemesis Callum Logan; witnessing Kylie's death at the hands of Callum's associate Clayton Hibbs; launching a hate campaign against Clayton and his half-brother Macca Hibbs whilst romancing with Clayton's estranged mother Shona Ramsey; and most recently being raped by his former friend Josh Tucker.

It soon transpires that Lewis is the mastermind behind Gail's concerning belief that her family is being cursed by past events, such as David's problematic experiences; her granddaughter Bethany Platt undergoing a traumatic ordeal from her ex-pimp boyfriend Nathan Curtis; and the whole family's most troublesome of being nearly killed by Gail's murderous late former husband Richard Hillman. In order to put his plan in motion, Lewis enlisted his cohort and fellow conwoman Rosemary Piper to trick Gail into believing that the deceased Richard has inflicted a curse on them. Gail's friend Roy Cropper is later suspicious of Rosemary's ulterior motives, particularly when she uses Roy's past marriage with his beloved late wife Hayley Cropper as a test. Eventually, Lewis' scheme is exposed when Roy and Gail discover his presence whilst investigating Rosemary's fake show. Rosemary is arrested in the end, but Lewis flees after reuniting with Audrey.

Later on, Lewis had someone transfer the money back into Gail's account - much to her surprise. Immediately afterwards he handed himself into prison. He sent a visiting order to Audrey, who paid him a visit. Lewis informed her on what he had done, and that he was due out of prison soon before asking Audrey for another chance. Lewis was released from prison and joined Audrey at her home, which she kept a secret from her family by claiming that she has gone away on a cruise holiday as to not arouse suspicion. But they soon learned about this and Gail sought to oppose Lewis at all costs. When New Year's 2019 emerged, Lewis was set to leave and invited Audrey to come along. She agreed, but was devastated when she and Gail found Lewis dead in a room. He passed away of abrupted natural causes and his funeral took place later in the week.

Trivia

• Lewis passed away on the 20th anniversary of the death of Audrey's husband Alf Roberts, who passed away on the 1st January 1999.