- "I just wanted to teach. People died because I wanted to teach!"
- John Stape
John Stape was the husband of Fiz Stape and the father of Hope Stape and Jade Rowan. He was a relatively sinister man who was a teacher but was sacked after an affair with Rosie Webster. Mostly spent his time kidnapping people (mostly Rosie) and bumping people off accidentally, and being a serial liar and constantly digging himself into more dire situations.
He also has this knack of falling off towerblocks and surviving, and is possibly the most comical and hapless serial killer in Corrie (and perhaps even television) history. John first appeared in Ep 6549 - 6 May 2007, and last appeared in Ep 7724/7725 - 28 Oct 2011. He was possibly the most friendliest kidnapper as well. He only wanted to teach after all. People died because he wanted to teach, so perhaps he had good intentions.
John was played by Graeme Hawley.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Born on the 22nd November 1978. John was close to his grandmother. John and Fiz met around 1997/1998 when he was 19 years old and working as a DJ, and she was only 13. They ended up losing contact due to Fiz always being in foster care, and John later moved onto university and later graduated. Years prior to meeting Fiz he was in a relationship with another woman, and she ended up giving birth to John's daughter Jade, although they never met.
2007-2011[]
John Stape met up with former girlfriend Fiz Brown again. They start dating but he then starts dating Rosie Webster and gets fired from his job due to this.
He gets a job at Street Cars and after being insulted by Rosie in the street abducts her and threatens her, however releases her. Despite Rosie's claims, no one believes her. A couple of weeks later after thinking his relationship with Fiz was over, he kidnapped Rosie again and imprisoned her in his dead grandmother's attic, where he forced her to send postcards to her parents to give the allusion she was traveling. Around this time John reconciled with Fiz, and was left with the dilemma whether or not to let Rosie go.
After five weeks, she attacked John and escaped and he was arrested and imprisoned. John got two years, with a chance of probation in one.
When Fiz needed advice on how to home school her young brother Chesney, she reluctantly turned to John on what to do, but told him it was for Chesney and not because she wanted a reconciliation. Regardless though, the pair of them fell in love again and Fiz continued visiting John in secret. When Chesney found out that Fiz was seeing John again, he told Sally and moved out of the house as he was disgusted with his sister. When John found out, he decided to cut off contact with Fiz as not to ruin her relationships with her family and friends, and turned away any visiting requests. John was later put on suicide watch when he fell into depression.
Fiz tried unsuccessfully on numerous attempts to reach John, but he ignored her. In order to get his attention, she chained herself to the prison gates and held up a sign revealing her love for him. John was happy, and allowed her to see him. The pair got engaged. They married in the prison chapel, with Chesney giving his approval.
After spending a year in prison, John was released and returned to the street, where he faced (unsurprising) backlash from Rosie's family, especially Sally. However John was forgiven by a few, such as Fiz's friends Roy Cropper and Hayley Cropper, and even Rosie's sister Sophie Webster, who had recently gotten into Christianity and wanted to forgive John for his actions.
Rosie attempted revenge on John by confronting him at the cafe when he was alone and then went and told everyone he tried to touch her. When the street residents held a meeting in the pub whether or not John should be accepted back into the community, John managed to out Rosie as a liar in the pub, confirming that he didn't attempt to assault her in anyway. This earned John's trust back into the community, and the Websters decided to bury the hatchet with John in order to avoid Rosie being in trouble for lying to the police.
John attended the retirement party of old colleague Colin Fishwick, who was leaving for Canada and caught up with some of his other old friends such as Charlotte Hoyle. Despite John's criminal past and involvement with Rosie, they were fine around him and said his actions were all in the past. During the party John stole documents belonging to Colin, as he contemplated stealing his identity in order to teach again. Fiz wasn't pleased, however decided to allow John to go through with it as it was a job he loved. John took on Colin's identity, and got a job at a high school.
John caused more trouble, by killing Colin, but was very bumbling and hapless. John became a father (again, as revealed 9 years later) when him and Fiz had a baby girl Hope Stape in 2010. In December 2010, he killed Charlotte Hoyle and dragged her body to the tram crash site to make police think she was a victim of the tram crash. In 2011 he killed Joy Fishwick.
John was later exposed as a killer and the police were after him. He kidnapped Hope but returned her to Fiz. In June 2011 he climbed onto a hospital roof and tried to kill himself by jumping off. By some sheer miracle, he survived. He went on the run. Fiz was later arrested for John's crimes.
In October 2011, John was back for one final rumble where he kidnapped Rosie Webster. He was interrupted by her father Kevin Webster. Kevin gave chase but John crashed the car into the back of a lorry. He was rushed to hospital. John was in a critical condition, and probably dying. His good side emerged when he admitted that Fiz had nothing to do with Colin Fishwick's death. John Stape had a clear conscience at last, and then he died.
Legacy[]
Hope and her sister, Jade.
John was referenced to in December 2017 by Fiz and Tyrone. When Fiz suspected Tyrone's daughter Ruby had inherited her mother Kirsty Soames' violent streak following pushing Hope off a trampoline and allegedly setting it on fire, an angry Tyrone hit back and said Hope could have been the one responsible, as she is John's daughter. Turns out Tyrone was on point for once and that Hope was showing signs of being manipulative and having a darker side.
As if things couldn't get even more bizarre, it later turns out that Hope's teaching assistant Jade is actually John's daughter, making her and Hope half sisters. Jade is trying to take Hope from Tyrone and Fizz. She has visited John's grave with Hope a few times.
2022: Hope comes across a realistic cardboard cut out of her late father.
In 2022 a true crime book was written about John Stape's crimes, which Tyrone and Fiz attempted to stop being published due to wanting to spare Hope of being mentioned. The book went ahead and got published anyway. Hope, whose dark side had grown, took a fascination in her late father's murders and distributed copies of the book around her school. When she was mocked by her classmates, Hope brandished a hammer and threatened them, mimicking John's murder of Charlotte Hoyle from 12 years before. It is revealed that some of the teachers of the school were still disturbed by John's crimes and Charlotte's murder over a decade on, and Hope was suspended for her actions.
In December 2022 Hope uncovered a cassette tape that belonged to John and played his voice on a player.
Kill Count[]
Total: 2
Memorable Information[]
Appearances: 6 May 2007–6 Jan 2008, 21 Jul–7 Nov 2008, 19 Jan 2009, 6 Apr 2009–3 Jun 2011, 21–28 Oct 2011, 9 Dec & 26 Dec 2022 & 16 Jan 2023 (voice)
Birth: 22 November 1978
Death: 28 October 2011
Parents: Unnamed parents
Grandmothers: Nel
Spouse(s): Fiz Brown (2009–2011)
Children: Hope Stape, Jade Rowan
Trivia[]
- How John Stape ever survived that fall off the roof of an 8 storey towerblock is a miracle. Yes, it is only a TV show but as Corrie always prided itself on realism, the story was very far fetched. In real life you would die from that fall, or be severely disabled for life. His body may have been in a very relaxed state. Or he could have hit an open window that was sticking out of the towerblock, or a pipe sticking out, and it broke his fall. Seems 6 years later, Billy Mayhew also managed to stop his head bursting like a watermelon when he survived a huge fall off a cliff. Stape must have given him a few tips.
- Graeme Hawley returned for a voice appearance as John Stape in December 2022, just over eleven years after his departure from the role. The part went uncredited. This also coincided on the 12th anniversary of when Hope was born and when John committed his first murder on Charlotte Hoyle. The voice was heard again on 26th December 2022.
Appendices[]
List of addresses[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| N/A | unknown date to 5th November 2008 |
| Highfield Prison | 5th November 2008 to 11th November 2009 |
| 5 Coronation Street | 11th November 2009 to 31st May 2011 |
| Anglesey, Wales | 3rd June 2011 to 21st October 2011 |
| N/A | 21st to 28th October 2011 |
Employment history[]
| Role | Institution | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher | Weatherfield High | Unknown to December 2007 |
| Teacher | Unknown institution | January 2008 to March 2008 |
| Minicab driver | Non-Stop Cars | April 2008 to July 2008 |
| Taxi driver | Street Cars | 21st July 2008 to 5th November 2008 |
| Waiter | Roy's Rolls | 13th November 2009 to April 2010 |
| Teacher | Daisyfield High School, Roachdale | 16th April 2010 to July 2010 |
| Clerk | Barlow's Bookies | 23rd August 2010 to 22nd April 2011 |
| Labourer | Owen Armstrong Construction | 27th May 2011 to 30th May 2011 |
Gallery[]
