Who Killed Graham Foster?

"'All our times have come...'"The murder of Graham Foster and the mystery surrounding it was a major storyline that occurred in January 2020.

The storyline was the departure of fan-favourite character Graham Foster. It was also the surprise reintroduction of Pierce Harris after a three year absence from the show.

Build-up
Months before January 2020, Graham Foster made numerous enemies in the village. These included Al, Kim, Jai, Charity, Jamie, Andrea and Marlon. By the end of 2019, he was disliked by the above people so much that they all wanted him either dead or out of the village.

It's 20th January 2020. Graham drives to Hawksford Outdoor Pursuits, listening to the Blue Oyster Cult song "Don't Fear the Reaper". He stops the car and gets out of it, then looks in his car's window mirror to straighten his tie before heading into Hawksford. Graham then walks with Priya Kotecha and tells her that he likes living dangerously.

Kim and Al's perspective
Graham meets up with Kim and Al. Later on, Kim reveals that she still loves Graham despite everything that's happened. However, Kim eventually discovers that someone has been transferring money from her account, and finds out that Graham is responsible. Furious, she tells Al to kill Graham. Al initially refuses to kill him, but later changed his mind and told Kim he would do it. Kim later contemplates texting Al to not do it, but changes her mind. Al then discovers Graham's body in the woods.

Jai's perspective
While Jai is driving back to Laurel's to pick up Dotty, he sees Graham's car approaching and has to swerve out of the way to avoid collision. This leads to conflict between the two men, and Graham eventually finds Jai's drugs and refuses to give them back to him. Later on, Graham gives the drugs to Laurel, and later on she decides to break things off with Jai. Without the drugs, Jai is shown not being able to cope at Hawksford, and is shown hallucinating. He is later stopped by Rishi from taking more drugs. Jai then sees Graham again, and they have a brief fight. Graham's body is then discovered by Jay.

Charity's perspective
Charity planned to get married to Vanessa Woodfield, and wanted Sarah, Noah and Ryan to watch them get married. Ryan agreed but said he had do something in Hawksford, and that he wouldn't be long. At Hawsford, Graham tells Ryan to complete the transfer. Despite Ryan saying he wouldn't, Graham pressured him into doing it, with the agreement that he and Noah will receive some money. However, Ryan eventually finds out that he actually won't be getting any of the money, and is then locked in a shed by Graham to avoid him from saying anything to Kim.

Meanwhile, Charity is being increasingly nervous by Ryan not turning up, so she decides to call off the wedding. After getting a taxi to Hawksford, Charity meets up with Priya, and asks if she has seen Ryan. The two walk in the forest to try and find him, and eventually Charity discovers Ryan's phone. She then screams his name a few times, and Ryan hears the screams and tells her that he's in the shed. Charity then unlocks the shed, realising her son from the shed. After finding out Graham was the one who locked him in, she comforts Ryan and takes him back home.

Charity asks Ryan how he ended up in the shed and why Graham locked him in. Ryan explains the story and how he was bribed into doing the transfer from Kim's account, believing the promise of money for him and Noah to be true. Ryan then says that he should've been able to open the lock and calls himself an idiot for not being able to do so, and then cries and says he hates Graham. After helping Ryan feel better, a furious Charity leaves the house and attacks Graham, claiming it to be justice for Ryan, Noah, and Debbie. Graham then says some more spiteful things to Charity and calls her a prostitute, enraging her. Later on, Graham's body is shown at the bottom of a bridge which Charity and Ryan are standing on. Charity says that they have "no regrets".

Jamie and Andrea's perspective
Jamie and Andrea, who already disliked Graham to begin with, further hated him as their marriage problems got worse. Eventually Jamie gets in a fight with Graham which Andrea has to stop, and Jamie is latter shown in his car seemingly killing Graham by running him over.

Marlon's perspective
Marlon and Victoria are in Hawksford, when all of a sudden they find out April has gone missing. They search the area for her, and later discover April got in a car with Graham. A furious Marlon believes Graham to have taken her, but April reveals that she wasn't taken and she wanted to go with him. Marlon later has a breakdown at Hawksford, but Victoria manages to calm him down.

Later on, Marlon confronts Rhona and discovers her plan to leave with Graham to France is back on. Marlon expresses his hatred for Graham and angrily insists that she does not go, to no avail. Graham later asks to meet Marlon in the woods to sort things out. Marlon follows him in the woods, only to witness Graham being seemingly killed by Rhona's rapist ex-husband, Pierce Harris.

Graham's perspective
As Pierce dragged Graham's body through the woods after being hit over the head, Graham regained consciousness and the two got to talking. It was revealed that Graham had visited Pierce at his apartment after he got released from prison on 13th January 2020, and had proceeded to warn him to stay away from Rhona before beating him up. Pierce had then returned to the village and spied on Rhona. After realising she was planning to move away to France with Graham, he decided to take him out before they had a chance to.

Graham attacked Pierce and a fight ensued where Graham got the upper hand. however, he refrained himself from killing him in an act of mercy which he later came to regret when Pierce came after him again. Pierce hit Graham with his car, causing him to fall off a cliff. Graham was surprisingly still alive and another deadly fight brought out ending when Pierce struck him with a final fatal blow to the head.

Suspects

 * Kim Tate - Kim had a long and complicated history with Graham, dating back to her initial time in the village in the 1990s. However, it eventually turned toxic after Graham and Rhona began dating in November 2019. Graham revealed he never really loved Kim and claimed she was impossible to love, reducing her to tears. She would later order Al Chapman to kill Graham after she discovered Graham had been transferring money from her account.
 * Al Chapman - Al disliked Graham and was ordered to kill him by Kim.
 * Jai Sharma - Jai hated Graham after he indirectly causes his relationship with Laurel Thomas to end.
 * Charity Dingle - Charity was initially neutral towards Graham while Joe Tate was in the village. However, she began to hate Graham after he told her she was a bad mother. When Graham locked Ryan Stocks in a shed to prevent him from saying anything to Kim, thus also preventing the wedding to Vanessa Woodfield, it enraged Charity.
 * Jamie Tate - Jamie hated Graham for causing tensions between him and Andrea, to the point where he contemplated moving to a cottage with Millie to get away from the hostility.
 * Andrea Tate - Andrea has a long history with Graham, having a relationship before either of them were in the village. However, she began to hate Graham after he drops the bombshell that he might be Millie's biological father, causing tension between the Tate family and also causes Jamie and Andrea to become hostile towards each-other.
 * Marlon Dingle - Marlon hated Graham as he planned to leave with Rhona to France, and take his son Leo with him. Marlon further hated Graham after April gets in a car with Graham, and Marlon falsely believes Graham to have taken her away from him out of spite. All of this would later Marlon to have a violent outburst, which Victoria Sugden witnessed and managed to calm him down.