In September 2003, dozens of families and shoppers queued at a supermarket to hear the man behind one of the soap world's most notorious 'bad guys' answer questions and promise he wasn’t as villainous as his Coronation Street alter ego.
And TV star Brian Capron - aka Richard Hillman - who also visited refitted Kwik Saves in Tir-y-berth, Tredegar and Bargoed’s store, was delighted with people’s support. “It’s overwhelming, it’s been a fantastic reception,” said Brian.
“You just never know if there will be a lot of people and it’s been mad really. It’s hard to say why people liked Richard Hillman. The character attracts people across the board and he’s very popular with children which is amazing.
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“Parents have come to get autographs for their children.
“I put it down to the fact that he loved his family and the pantomime theatricality gets him off the hook. People loved to hate him.
“In New Zealand, they are crazy about it and I was mobbed there too. It seems to have captured people’s imagination.”
Fielding questions from the crowd, Brian turned down the offer of a date from one audience member saying he was happily married. Insisting he was nothing like devious Hillman, he said: “I’m just perfectly straightforward. I’m just an actor, not at all like Richard, though I do look a bit like him!”
The Kwik Save store has, like the brand itself, long since disappeared gone and the building is now home to a Co-Operative.
Brian, now 75, won multiple National Soap Awards for his role as charming but deadly Hillman a role he played for just two years but made a huge impact on soap fans. His deadly charm won over Gail Platt who he kidnapped and tried to murder, along with other characters Sarah-Lou, Bethany and David, by driving into the Weatherfield canal.
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