Richard Hillman Richard Hillman Richard Hillman is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, "Coronation Street", played by Brian Capron. Richard first appeared on 20 June 2001 following the death of his cousin Alma Baldwin (Amanda Barrie). He later went on to develop a love interest in Alma's close friend Gail Platt (Helen Worth) and marry her. He also leaves his colleague Duggie Ferguson (John Bowe) to die, kills his ex-wife Patricia (Annabelle Apsion), sets his mother-in-law Audrey Roberts' (Sue Nicholls) house on fire and then convinces her that she has Alzheimer's disease and attempts to kill Emily Bishop (Eileen
Coronation Street new sponsor. In November 2011 a Nationwide Building Society ATM in Dev and Sunita Alahan's shop became the first use of paid-for product placement in a UK primetime show. Hyundai are the current sponsor since January 2015 in the Republic of Ireland, aired on TV3 HD. "Coronation Street" is the second most award-winning British soap opera in the UK, behind rival soap "EastEnders". The first producer was Stuart Latham, from December 1960 to July 1961. In the 1960s and 1970s, most producers did stints of about one year. Longer-running producers included Eric Prytherch (May 1972 – April 1974); Bill Podmore