Hamish Roche (Sean Taylor)

[Pantherboy]

Digital Spy's 'whodunit' article:


Who killed Neighbours' Hamish Roche? 7 sinister suspects who could have committed the crime.

Who is the secret Ramsay Street murderer?

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When horrible Neighbours villain Hamish Roche started upsetting just about everybody on Ramsay Street, it didn't take a genius to figure out that a huge new whodunit storyline could be on the cards. Sure enough, the sly schemer has now been found dead in the Canning family's spa, leaving us to wonder who could be responsible.

Does one of Ramsay Street's much-loved residents have an unexpected murderous streak, or will one of the show's guest characters be unmasked as the culprit? Here, we weigh up the evidence and motives with our very own suspects list.

1. Louise McLeod

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Previous experience of Neighbours whodunit storylines tells us that it's often a guest character who ends up being the cunning culprit – not least because it avoids having to write out a popular show regular! For this reason, many fans are already convinced that Louise fits the bill as someone brought in purely as cannon fodder, just to be unmasked as the eventual guilty party in this storyline.

Louise was once Hamish's partner-in-crime, but she ended up in a coma when her attempts to stand up to him badly backfired. Once she regained consciousness, did she decide to take revenge against Hamish? Is this why she was so keen to flee on the Brennans' boat?

2. Fay Brennan

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Fay is another guest character, so ranks high on our list. We reckon she'd be slightly less of a cop-out as the culprit, as making her the killer would at least mean that the culprit was a member of the Brennan family.

Fay was once Hamish's secret lover and fell pregnant with Tyler during their affair, but when she returned to Ramsay Street again recently, she seemed pretty alarmed to find out about all the trouble her former flame had been causing. Did Fay blame herself for bringing Hamish into the Brennans' lives, and so decide to take matters into her own hands? Mumma Brennan the Murderer has a certain ring to it...

3. Tyler Brennan

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Out of all the suspects in the frame for Hamish's murder, Tyler undoubtedly has the biggest motive. Hamish played him like a fool for months and some would argue that it's surely no coincidence that he was killed on the very same day Tyler discovered the truth.

During their short-lived time together, Hamish split up Tyler from his soulmate Piper, alienated him from his brothers and even shamelessly used his history of abuse to his advantage. Did Tyler retaliate by resorting to murder? We know he has a temper, so it certainly wouldn't be the first time he's let his emotions get the better of him in the heat of the moment – just ask T-Bone!

4. Gary Canning

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Gary didn't really have much to do with Hamish, but he's still one of the main characters being signposted as a suspect in the wake of the villain's grisly demise. As an ex-con, it's not a huge stretch to suggest that Gary could turn to the dark side – especially if he was protecting his mum Sheila, who'd been cruelly strung along by Hamish for weeks.

It's also obvious that Gary is hiding something as the police investigation continues, forcing him to turn to his nemesis Paul Robinson for a false alibi. Could Neighbours have decided to ship Gary back off to prison – this time as a killer?

5. Mark Brennan

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Police detective Mark has been known to bend the rules at times when it comes to dealing with Erinsborough's criminals, but would he really go as far as committing murder to get a wrong'un off the streets? Neighbours bosses certainly want us to think so, with this week's episodes shining a light on Mark as one of the main suspects.

Mark came off particularly badly during Hamish's weeks of lying and scheming, being unfairly painted as a violent man and also having his professional competence called into question. He definitely has the motives, but with Mark's popularity and Scott McGregor keen to stick around in the role, would Neighbours really taint this character as a killer? We have our doubts.

6. Amy Williams

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Would someone really commit murder over a wellness centre donation? It'd certainly be an, erm, interesting soap first, so perhaps we shouldn't count out Amy as Hamish's killer. In the build-up to the schemer's death, she was furious to discover that he never intended to donate any money to her charitable project, despite basking in the glory when he'd initially offered to stump up the cash.

Hamish turned pretty nasty when Amy confronted him over his antics, giving her even more of a motive to want him gone. Plus, Amy has often seemed to be slightly lacking on the "big storyline" front – could Neighbours have decided to explore a darker side to Paul Robinson's daughter to give her more to do?

7. Sheila Canning

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We're used to seeing comedy queen Sheila taking care of her gnomes and pulling pints rather than committing murders, but anything's possible in Erinsborough. Sheila was heartbroken to discover that Hamish had been two-timing her just before his death and the humiliation of yet another failed relationship could well have pushed her to the edge.

Plus, we also can't forget that Colette Mann famously starred in Prisoner: Cell Block H. Could a bright spark in the Neighbours story department have decided to send her back to the slammer to generate some headlines and good old-fashioned nostalgia? We wouldn't put it past them.

[Aussieguy]

Fay would be my number one suspect - to protect Tyler and for killing Russell. Though it may have been an accident,perhaps she lashed out in self defence? If an accident then one of the regulars is also possible as they would likely get off.

Hamish was a most diabolical character - Paul is an angel by comparison!

[Rowdydog12]

It was definitely baby Gabriel , who is now 18 and turns out is Paul's son after his affair with Paige minutes before the Rev had his time..

[Pantherboy]

Radiotimes .com article on the list of suspects:


Neighbours EXCLUSIVE: who killed Hamish Roche? The suspects line up.

We take a look at the potential killers - including the garden gnome!

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-...pects-line-up/


...and Radiotimes.com also has this article:


Neighbours EXCLUSIVE: Travis Burns on who killed Hamish – “It’s not who you think it is!”

We quiz the actor at the heart of the Ramsay Street whodunnit

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Ramsay Street has been rocked by the murder of Hamish Roche, plunging Neighbours into a thrilling whodunnit as the investigation into how the duplicitous baddie came to be found drowned in the Cannings’ hot tub puts the locals under suspicion.

Despite only being in the show for a short time, the character of Hamish made a raft of enemies in Erinsborough as he lied and schemed his way around the sleepy suburb. Introduced as the long-lost father of Tyler Brennan, who learnt from guilt-ridden mum Fay that his late dad Russell was not his biological parent and that he’d been the product of an affair, suave Hamish swept into town wanting to make amends with his estranged son.

It soon became clear he had a sinister secret agenda as he manipulated Tyler and executed a plan to get his hands on a boat so he could sail off and escape prosecution for fraud. Tyler was one of the last people to see Hamish alive, and having discovered his web of deceit there was a violent showdown between father and son… Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, actor Travis Burns reveals that Tyler is now firmly in the frame as the murder mystery develops.

“Tyler and Hamish had a massive argument the night before he died,” says the actor, who joined Neighbours in 2015. “He admits to his brothers Mark and Aaron that he hit Hamish across the back of the head with a garden gnome in the Cannings’ backyard! Tyler feels guilty that he had something do with Hamish’s death, but he was conscious when he left him. Mark thinks*Louise McLeod, Hamish’s partner in crime who he betrayed and put in a coma, must’ve come back and finished the job…”

That’s still conjecture at this stage, so does Burns believe his sweet-natured character is capable of cold-blooded murder? “Knowing Tyler he would not have done it on purpose. He’s the kind of guy who’s always in the wrong place at the wrong time, which has happened a lot in his three years on the show. But that’s the only way something bad like this would happen.”

Big brother Mark is so sure of his sibling’s innocence he leaps into action to destroy the evidence, stealing the gnome and wiping it clean of Tyler’s prints to eliminate him from the investigation. Although his intentions are good, Burns reckons this just makes things worse…

“Mark’s not only wiping Tyler’s prints off the gnome, he’s wiping any prints – Gary and Sheila Canning have also touched it so he’s rubbed off any fingerprints meaning it now can’t be used in evidence at all. But it’s typical Mark, swooping in trying to fix his family’s problems. Whenever he does stuff like that Tyler feels like a little kid. Mark doesn’t even tell Tyler what he’s done, and it ends up causing friction among the brothers at a time when they need to stick together.”

Hamish’s presence threatened the tight-knit Brennan clan as he opened old wounds and jeopardised their future. Does Burns think Tyler regrets even meeting Mr Roche now?

“There are mixed feelings. He’s glad to have found out who his biological father is and to have got to know him, but the fact he turns out to be so duplicitous and bad reflects back to Tyler and his own childhood. He was abused by Russell, and at first he thought Hamish was everything he wanted in a father – then it turned out to be the complete opposite.

“He feels Hamish deserved comeuppance for his lies, but did he really deserve to pay for what he did with his life?”

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Tyler is just one of seven suspects (read our rundown of their motives here) but does Burns want his character to be eventually unveiled as the murderer? “Yes and no – yes because Hamish had it coming, but no because Tyler would end up in prison for years!

“This is going to be a very long investigation, I can tell you that. The various suspects will go in and out of the spotlight, there’s a lot of back and forth and tricking the audience. And it’s not who you think it is!

“It’s a fantastic plot, I take my hat off to the writers. The amount of planning for a sophisticated, complex storyline like this is amazing. There’s been times when it’s been confusing for the actors, until we get the next script and then it all starts fitting into place. We get six episodes at a time each week, so it’s been a case of waiting for the next batch of scripts to find out what happens!”

Neighbours continues weekdays on Channel 5 at 1.45pm and 5.30pm