Paul Browning

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Evil-doer
Full Name	Shirley "Paul" Browning
Alias	Doctor Browning
Origin	Hollyoaks
Occupation	Doctor Club owner
Powers / Skills	Charisma Intelligence Deception Exceptional intimidation
Hobby	Romancing with Mercedes McQueen Deceiving people
Goals	Prevent Mercedes from discovering his true nature (failed).
Crimes	Murders Sabotage Attempted rape Coercion Kidnapping Attempted murder
Type of Villain	Homicidal Manipulator

Doctor "Paul" Browning is a fictional character and major antagonist of the British soap opera drama Hollyoaks. He debuted on 23rd January 2012 and became the show's main antagonist up until his departure on 16th October 2013 when he was killed-off in the end.

He was portrayed by Joseph Thompson.

History

Paul Browning first came to Hollyoaks in January 2012 as the newly-established local practitioner of the area.

As he establishes himself in the area, Paul becomes acquainted with local resident Mercedes McQueen and the pair embark on a sexual liaison together. He eventually proposes to her and they get married a year later. Beforehand, though, Paul builds an acquaintanceship with several neighbours and employs trainee Lynsey Nolan to be his assistant until she attempts to steal from him. Later on he kills her to stop Lyndsay from exposing Mercedes' dark secret that she has been stalking Mintzee Minniver in an unrelated incident.

Prior to marrying Mercedes, it is then Paul begins taking advantage of her fallout with her family. He steadily manipulates her into trusting him over her own family, but at the same time he accidentally causes her relationship with her mother Myra to gradually reform over various circumstances. It is then he gets involved in Mercedes' family crisis with gangster Trevor Royle, and attempts to sabotage many of her family's efforts as part of his plan to further woo Mercedes into trusting him over her family. When they fails, however, he turns his attention to serial killer Lindsay Butterfield and ultimately attempts to rape her when she rejects his advances.

Eventually, Mercedes learns the truth about Paul after discovering that he killed her mother Mrya not long afterwards and that he also attempted to murder her friend Cindy Cunningham after they slept together - which was really part of his plan to silence her for good. He is arrested and sent to prison, but later manages to escape and confront Mercedes on her 30th birthday. They have a showdown in which Paul attempts to kill Mercedes, but she ultimately kills him by hitting him twice in the head.

Trivia

• Joseph Thompson (the actor who played Paul Browning) received nominations for both "Villain of the Year" at the 2013 British Soap Awards and for "Best Newcomer" at the 2013 National Television Awards.