Forget best leading actor, the most hotly contended category at the British Soap Awards has got to be Villain Of The Year.
All year these terrible creatures have been terrorising their respective soap lands with their dastardly deeds, and for one night only, they come up against each other in the ultimate battle of the baddies.
This year’s villains are all male, which is a slight shame, as there are plenty of soap super b***hes out there who deserve a piece of the pie, but these bad boys still make for pretty exciting viewing.
So here’s a look at who is in the running to take home the ghastly gong at the end of the night.
Coronation Street’s Callum Logan
Callum, played by Sean Ward, only arrived on the cobbles in October last year as Kylie Platt’s drug dealing ex-boyfriend, but he has still managed to make plenty of mayhem in that short time.
First he got Kylie (Paula Lane) back on drugs and then exiled her from the street in shame. Then, as part of his vendetta against Kylie’s husband David (Jack P Shepherd) he has fought for custody of son Max, despite not being interested in even knowing him for most of his life.
And Callum has even seduced David’s sister Sarah-Lou, even though he’s just using her as part of his evil schemes.
If the Sexiest Male category hadn’t been axed, Sean would probably have been nominated for that as well – everyone loves a bad boy.
So even though he’s pretty new on the soap scene, Sean is packing plenty of punch in the competition.
Hollyoaks’ Patrick Blake
Jeremy Sheffield has been ruling over Hollyoaks’ school with an iron fist as headmaster Patrick Blake since 2012.
Patrick always had some evil plans up his sleeve, but last year the character took a sinister turn even further to the dark side when he began abusing girlfriend Maxine Minniver (Nikki Sanderson).
Over the course of their relationship he began mentally bullying her until she lost all her confidence and allowed her life to be run by him. When he turned violent Maxine tried to escape, but Patrick blackmailed her into marrying him.
This year Patrick was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, which attacks the brain and spinal chord, limiting movement, and it was announced that Jeremy is leaving the soap this year as Patrick will die.
But the power-hungry teacher has kept his condition a secret as he battles Maxine for custody of their daughter. We are sure Patrick is going to go out with a bang – but will he get rewarded for all his evil behaviour as well?
Emmerdale’s Robert Sugden
Ryan Hawley took over the role of Robert Sugden when he returned to the village last year.
Robert was always a nasty piece of work, previously having an affair with his foster brother Andy’s wife Katie (Sammy Winward). But since his return Robert has become a whole new level of lousy.
After beginning a secret affair with Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller), Robert refused to come out about his sexuality because he wanted to go ahead and marry wealthy Chrissie White (Louise Marwood) and live the high life with her.
When Katie discovered the affair she told Robert to come clean – and as they rowed, he pushed her to her death.
Robert then managed to make Aaron blame himself for Katie’s death – and who knows if he will kill again.
He is certainly a very dangerous villain still looming in the Dales.
EastEnders’ Nick Cotton
Nick Cotton, played by John Altman, has been lurking in the dark and dirty corners of Albert Square for 30 years.
Crooked Nick was first seen in the debut episode of EastEnders in 1985 and viewers have seen him repeatedly pile misery on his poor mother Dot with his crimes and his drug addiction. At one stage he was on the verge of trying to poison her, but then had a change of heart.
Earlier this year, Nick faked his own death after stealing money from a gang of even more dangerous criminals, and poor Dot grieved at his funeral.
Then Nick turned up alive, and Dot finally had enough of his evil deeds when he cut the brakes of Ronnie’s car, causing an accident which killed DC Emma Summerhayes. Dot bought Nick some heroin and he died in her arms.
He has risen from the dead before – but this looks like it really is the end of Nick for good.
As the most notorious soap villain to date, surely nasty Nick is favourite to take home the gong? Would you want to be the one who beats him to it?
The British Soap Awards take place on Saturday May 16, and will be televised on ITV on Thursday, May 21.
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