The unexpected death of a television character can stay with you for decades, whether it’s an animated fox or soap perennial.
Following the choices of Guardian writers, our readers share their own most affecting television deaths.
The cast of Blackadder
Blackadder may have returned in an ill-judged Millennium special, but for most fans it ended, perfectly if starkly, with the gang finally going over the top to meet their fate. Reader edmundberk paid tribute to the moving final scenes: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a change in tone so perfectly handled.”
DCI Bilborough, Cracker
Jimmy McGovern’s classic crime drama killed off one of its main characters at the very start of the second series: Christopher Ecclestone’s DCI Bilborough, stabbed and left for dead by Robert Carlyle’s skinhead serial killer Albie. Behind the scenes, Ecclestone had quit, fed up with playing “second fiddle” to Robbie Coltrane’s genius criminal psychologist.
Producer Paul Abbott later reflected: “We requested the press sat on it ... please don’t mention the last scene. Nobody did, so the audience got it right between the eyes.”
And boy, did they. “I was 13 or 14 when Cracker was on and loved to watch it with my parents, but for some reason I watched this episode on my own, recording it for them to watch later,” said JustALonelyPilgrim.
“I stayed up and made them watch it when they got in, because I was so distraught and in need of someone to discuss it with.”
Adric, Doctor Who
It is not controversial to say that Adric was one of the most annoying companions in Who history. But his death, plunging to prehistoric Earth on a Cyberman-controlled spaceship, was one that lingered with fans of the show.
“Doctor Who characters didn’t really die, so even the loss of a character I cheerfully hated was a gut punch,” said Houman Sadri. “I recently re-watched that, and it still shocks.”
Lt Cl Henry Blake, M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H fan Jeff Haynes wrote: “The Death of Henry Blake in the episode Abyssinia came as a total shock to the audience and most of the cast – who reportedly were unaware of the script change – and so their reactions on camera to the news that the Colonel’s plane was shot down was, supposedly, genuine.”
Joyce Summers, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Joss Weadon’s demon-battling drama was known for its experimental shifts in tone, with comedy episodes, an infamous attempt at a musical, and moments of genuine darkness amid the wise-cracking Scooby-ganging. But in the season-five episode The Body, which dealt with the death of Buffy’s mother from a brain aneurysm, was praised for its shocking realism.
“There’s no music in the episode in contrast to other episodes. The dull, dead light inside the house contrasts with the bright, garish living world outside,” said reader Elizabeth Jones.
“Most striking is the portrayal of Buffy. The super-powered young woman who is so strong and always fights and ultimately wins is gone. She is so numb and frightened and small – working on autopilot and trying put a brave face on for her little sister when you can see she’s in deep distress.
“It’s the little touches – when the paramedics are arriving and Buffy notices Joyce’s skirt has risen up a little so pulls it down before the paramedics come into the room. I have to say there are tears in my eyes thinking about it.”
Ernest Bishop, Coronation Street
Assorted deaths from the venerable soap were cited by our readers, from the writing out of Jack Duckworth in 2010 – “I loved the way everyone in the street found out gradually, with no big dramatic scenes” – to Martha Longhurst in the Rovers Return way back in 1964.
But perhaps most dramatic was the killing of Ernest Bishop in 1978.
“[It] was absolutely shocking given the time, [given] the sort of gentle programme Coronation Street was back then and the equally gentle nature of the character. The aftermath was very moving, too, with the quiet grief of Emily Bishop superbly portrayed by Eileen Derbyshire,” said SalvadorDarley.
