6 huge TV deaths we knew would never stick

From Digital Spy

When an iconic telly character dies, it can be pretty traumatic. So much so, it almost makes you want to stop watching your favourite show.

Half the time, though, it's all a big fake-out... and a popular hero or villain we love to hate is resurrected before the dirt has even settled on their grave.

Here's some of our favourite characters who will probably live forever (mainly because they'll never be allowed to die).

1. Buffy – Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Believe it or not, but Buffy's sacrifice at the end of season 5 was intended to stick.

Buffy was in the middle of a complex contract negotiation process that saw the show shift networks, so the episode 'The Gift' had to work as a possible permanent finale, just in case a deal wasn't done.

Of course, season 6 did get the greenlight – just as well, as a shot of Buffy's grave would have been a bit of a bummer of a final image.

When Buffy did come back, she was changed by her death experience – a subversion in itself, when you take into account the fact that most resurrected telly characters seem to shrug off their death like it was a bout of the flu.

2. Spike – Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel

And again...

Spike was killed off in Buffy's finale saving the world, but brought back for Angel's final season premiere just five months later – first as a ghost for seven episodes, then as his usual corporeal vampire punk self, it did feel a bit like an anticlimax.

But with Joss Whedon and his team facing cancellation on Angel, it feels like they basically threw up their hands and said "eff it" when it came to the logic of bringing Spike back from his perfect death – hoping that shoving a fan favourite into the series as a regular would save their show's life too.

Sadly, it didn't work – and the show was killed off shortly after.

3. The Master – Doctor Who

The Master has 'died' dozens of times, but then Doctor Who has been going for approximately a million years, so it makes sense that his main nemesis would keep coming back for more.

But, with the most recent incarnation Missy (Michelle Gomez) being vaporised on screen by the previous male version of herself (look, Doctor Who is complicated, okay?), and with new showrunner Chris Chibnall stating that the new series would feature all-new villains, we wouldn't expect her to return for a while.

Not till, ooh, series 12, at least.

4. Jerome – Gotham

We're not sure if this one was pre-planned, or if the Gotham writers realised their mistake and scrambled to course-correct, because Jerome's death seemed pretty permanent when it first happened at the end of season 2.

With fans assuming that Jerome was the Joker, it would have been a pretty cool twist to kill him off for good to subvert expectations. (Smallville did a similar thing frequently, like when it offed the man we all assumed to be Superman's best pal Jimmy Olsen.)

But the backlash to Jerome's death was swift and fairly fierce.

Whatever the reason, Jerome was resurrected by his cult of followers (not his Twitter fans, the ones on the show) in the middle of season 3, using the work of Hugo Strange to bring him back to life.

(Side note: thinking the process had failed, one of Jerome's acolytes cut off his master's face and briefly wore it as a mask.)

The whole mad saga eventually ended in Jerome dying again (though not before Gotham introduced his secret twin, Jeremiah). So far, this more recent death has stuck... *fade in manic laughter*

5. Brian – Family Guy

Despite the fact they knew they were going to bring him back – his death lasted a mere two episodes before being reversed – the Family Guy team really did kill Brian, which led to an instant and significant backlash.

To be fair, it was a pretty shocking episode – with Stewie destroying his time machine shortly before Brian was run over by a random car.

Social media campaigns were launched, boycotts were announced, and everyone was made to feel pretty silly when it was revealed that of course Brian wasn't dead, that time travel meant that there's always a time machine out there somewhere, and brought back onto the show with minimal fuss.

"You didn't really think we'd kill off Brian, did you?" series mastermind Seth MacFarlane tweeted. "Jesus, we'd have to be f**king high."

6. Madison – American Horror Story: Coven

This one didn't even last the whole season, but the moment Madison hit the deck, we knew that Coven would have some supernatural trickery up its black sleeve to bring her back – there's no way a character that brilliant would go out like that.

And it didn't take long after a jealous Fiona slashed Madison's throat for the Supreme contender to get resurrected to deliver the now iconic line: "Surprise, bitch. I bet you saw the last of me."

It was one of the best moments of the series – almost as though the writers knew the show would feel empty without her. The really good news is that she'll be back again for the next season, Apocalypse.

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