A ruined soap character is basically when a character starts off great, becomes really popular with the audience, but then is slowly destroyed terrible storylines and/or writing, to the point where they are beyond repair.

Which soap character is the most ruined in your opinion?

I hate to say it but Gail Platt has rapidly hit the skids for me, and until she's rid of that phoney ass Michael, she's beyond repair

Kat Slater

Alfie Moon!

But I still love him!

Sharon Watts

Sharon Mitchell. Only when Denny's involved.

Dean Wicks

I really disagree with this, I think Dean has been better than he has ever been. I mean, he is pretty disgusting but at least he is good to watch now, he was just boring before. Villainous territory suits him more than anything else he has done.

I think the most ruined characters at the minute are Kat & Alfie. It's a shame since I like both the actors but they keep going round in circles and now they are getting back together again presumably. It's not really any one producer that ruined them either, BK, LN and DTC have all made a mess of them.

Sam Mitchell. This is purely because of those brief yet needless 2009/10 returns, bringing back Danniella Westbrook. Jack Branning getting another Mitchell woman up the duff and that low level feud with Bianca over Ricky carried over from the 90s massacred such a good character who had progressed when Kim Medcalf took over the role. It was a slap in the face of her and Tracy Ann Oberman who made EE one of the must-watch soaps in 2005. Sam's feud with Chrissie, her desperate fight to clear her name, and that memorable episode where she was drunk and dug out Den's body...all of it was undermined by Santer's (then Kirkwood's) ill thought out plan to bring Westbrook back for those short, painful stints.

She is the one Mitchell for whom there is no interest in. Such is the extent to which they hurt the character, just for some mawkish nostalgia. Medcalf could've credibly returned under DTC this year or last if Sam wasn't brought back in 2009. That way she'd have been out of the country for years and wouldn't have been involved with Jack.

Absolutely second Sam Mitchell, one of the best characters in EE was butchered by the reappearance of Westbrook with the same personality as the teenage version, they must have assumed we were all morons and would just accept Sam's mental regression. Also a woman who married Andy Hunter would not be fighting Bianca for gormless Ricky. Kim's Sam had gone way beyond the chav-ness of the Butcher/Jacksons.

Another EE character I couldn't look at the same was Darren after he was Heathers baby daddy, it was bizarre and seemed like a writer just threw a dart at names on a dartboard and Darren "won" the part of George's father.

He's not good to watch at all in my opinion! The character is a rapist, which is something I don't enjoy watching in real life or on-screen!

He needs to go.

Alfie Moon

Todd Grimshaw

I have to agree with this...also I disliked him as Deano and he's been even worse as Dean the rapist! He simply can't act...end of!

The corrie chickens

Definitely.....though the actor plays the villain very well...I would love to see the old Todd back............

Dean wicks - while I'm sto interested by his character making him a rapist has made him unpopular and time is ticking now. He has to be the first one

Mick Carter - he's had a personality transplant since Christmas and I can't stand him now. How he was become so selfish and making everything all about him make me dearest him more every episode he appears. I want him
To be killed off now tbh with no chance of a return.

Alfie moon - since Ronnie return in 2013 he went downhill but it became really bad during the fire storyline. He tries to cut people out of his women's life's (Ronnie and Stacey respectively) and blames everything he did on everyone else. He is improving but I'll never like him fully again.

Jane Beale - the Beth storyline made me go off her. He basically emotionally blackmailed cindy to stay.

Charlie cotton - right now he's turned into a selfish stubborn b****d. Because he can't have Roxy he decides Roxy needs to get Out of ronnies life - disgusting.

Phil Mitchell -
The more of a bully he becomes and how many times he survives a near death ruins him further. If he became more sensitive like he was when he comforted Ian or how he was when he first arrived in the 90s id like him but no he's turned into a bully and owns everyone and is repetitive and now a pantomime character.

Agree with Sam Mitchell. Stupid to 're recast her and the stuff she returned for was woeful.

Sharon/Kat are damaged but show signs of life now and then.

Charlie Cotton is rapidly going down the pan.

I think Sharon has improved a lot since 2012.

Kat is still salvageable. Ditto Alfie.

They went down the completely wrong path with Dean, but he wasn't ruined as he was never a great character to begin with, when he first arrived as Deano. There was potential to explore his loneliness and lack of family ties which made him clingy to Mick and Linda. Should've done that instead of the rape plot.

But with Sam, I feel like the damage was done by getting knocked up by Jack and completely airbrushing her 2002-2005 tenure out of existence. Yeah she was on the run from the law, but her regression into a loudmouth chav was just depressing. Possibly Diedrick Santer's worst decision, despite his otherwise strong tenure as executive producer.

Megan Macey

Tina McIntyre was ruined by the Corrie writers when they had her romping with Peter.

Yolande Truman with her laughable, unrealistic exit.

Excellent example.

Ever since just before Robbie's death she has been a ghost of her former self.

Can't believe no one has said Pauline Fowler or Den Watts, Pauline turned into the nastiest bitch on the planet who lied about being ill, and Den turned into a pervert.

Kat and Alfie are two characters that instantly come to my mind. Characters who were my utmost favourites during their first tenure who have been ruined so much that now when they do good things it's more about repairing the damage done to their characters than anything else. It's a real shame.