I love a soap villain – I’d walk on hot coals for the likes of Emmerdale camp queens Kim Tate and Meena Jutla.

Long have I suspected in my bones that John Sugden, played by Coronation Street murder victim Oliver Farnworth, was a wrong ‘un and this week my theories have been proven true.

When Metro exclusively revealed that Nate Robinson’s (Jurell Carter) body would be found at the bottom of a frozen lake, it didn’t take my mind long to wander John’s way.

My intrigue was already well piqued when he expertly disposed – or seemingly disposed – of Anthony Fox’s body after he was dispatched by his daughter and abuse victim Ruby (Beth Cordingly).

He took to this task like a fish to water. Or a Nate to lake.

When you bring someone with the surname Sugden into the show, they need to be given something meaty to do.

The OG Emmerdale dynasty was waning into almost extinction, with only Victoria and Sarah left.

Thus, it was welcome news to see John cast in what seemed like an attempt to bolster the Sugden ranks.

But we were blindsided! There’s more to John than just adding a Sugden. In fact, given we now know he disposes of corpses, he will have a shelf life.

Like all of my favourite characters, he can’t stay around forever given his array of crimes, so let’s enjoy him while we can.

That’s exactly what I have been doing across the slow burn of a storyline. The first real alarm bell that signalled something may not be right was John’s secrecy and unease around his apparently late army comrade Aiden Moore.

It was interesting to clock the first layers of his troubled back story, outbursts of temper, and attempts to control situations to an excessive degree have added concerning but beautifully mystifying facets to the character.

Emmerdale has managed to keep me guessing for some time, and that’s how I like it. Even though I had long worked out we have a villain in the making, the exact type of baddie as well as the actual acts and motivations have been drip fed, up until a pivotal, flashback-laden episode this week.

While previous killer Meena was dispatching folk left, right and centre almost for the pure thrill of it, John (so far!) is more of an accidental type of grim reaper.

He truly did regret what happened to Nate when he was trying to help him out. When Nate died, he then crossed the line and concealed the very well wrapped up body into the lake.

Yep, the proof that besides Anthony, he has done this before at least once. And, this is Emmerdale, so he probably will again.

Oliver has played him well. He switches from a man who dotes on Aaron (Danny Miller) and wants to prove himself, to a man who hates being out of the driving seat and explodes to the point of smashing up cars.

As much as he can blunder, he is very calculated. His interesting hero complex shows that he is a killer who actually likes to save lives, which is a new territory for a soap character like this.

He spiked Chas and triggered an allergic reaction in Jacob just so he could wade in and save the day. With his rush to save Nate ending in tragedy, it was at least confirmed that he didn’t kill him in cold blood.

And that’s what I find most appealing. The motivations of this soap killer are fresh and unique, making him all that more unpredictable.

As a long standing fan of a camp soap villain, I am enjoying his lurking round corners style behaviour but, rather than being overly panto, he is grounded in humanity, too.

It gives Aaron, his groom-to-be, more to do in the limelight as well and John is also right in the middle of the group of characters covering up Anthony’s death.

The newest mystery is the discovery that Anthony’s supposed grave looks untouched – so just what has John done, or not done, this time?

Killing Nate, framing Ella, spiking Chas and Jacob, triggering a dead Anthony mystery and engaged to one of the central characters, John is at the heart of the village who sees him as the saviour that he craves to be.

But he is far from it and I can’t wait to see what he does next. The options are wild and far-reaching and I have an excited feeling that this is only just the beginning…