The character and Rawle's portrayal has been well-received by viewers, critics and his co-stars alike, with Silas being considered as one of the soap’s most popular and infamous villains.

Silas sees Lynsey giving Cheryl Brady (Bronagh Waugh) weight loss drugs and secretly swaps them with his heart medication.

Silas holds a heavily pregnant Mercedes captive in the basement of The Dog in the Pond after she confesses to having an affair with Riley's father, Carl Costello (Paul Opacic).

Silas returns to Hollyoaks again in February, this time for an appointment with Tegan Lomax (Jessica Ellis), a nurse at Dee Valley Hospital.

During the appointment, Silas tells Tegan he believes that the killer is one of the nurses or doctors who work at the hospital as medical equipment mysteriously disappeared during the time of the murders.

After she confides in him about her feelings on her sister Kim Butterfield's (Daisy Wood-Davis) arrest for the murders, he leaves with the chilling parting words that he is a keen admirer of her good work and to keep it up, implying that he knows she is the real killer.

He expresses a deep admiration for her work so far and offers her the chance to go into hiding with him as he feels that with the right tuition from him, the pair would make an unstoppable force.

Lindsey later calls Silas in desperate need of his help after she attempts to convince Kim to steal her son, JJ from her ex-fiancé, Joe Roscoe (Ayden Callaghan).

He then flees the scene before the police arrive, having decided not to pursue Mercedes, but he secretly stays in contact with Bobby, playing chess with him under the username 'G'.

He forces Goldie McQueen (Chelsee Healey) and Theresa to choose who to die by trapping them in a carnival attraction that is rigged with a bomb.

[3] Hollyoaks worked closely with the University of Central Lancashire's Cyberspace Research Unit on the storyline, in a bid to raise awareness of internet safety.

[3] Speaking on behalf of the Research Unit, Dr Jo Bryce commented: "If the storyline can remind one young person to protect themselves when engaging in online activity, then that can only be a positive thing.

"[3] Hollyoaks series producer, Paul Marquess, added: "This is a terrifying murder that highlights the dangers of meeting strangers online.

"[3] Marquess said he was surprised that the show had not done a big storyline about "stranger danger" on the internet before, branding it "absolutely key Hollyoaks territory".

[11] Hollyoaks writer, Steve Hughes, explained that the storyline was inspired by a real-life incident, where a friend had her identity stolen on social networking service Facebook.

[17] Jenny is in desperate need of money and decides to use her skills as a con artist and starts talking to a "rich old man" online, wanting to arrange a meeting, drug him and steal his wallet and cards.

[23][24] Jamil Fadel (Sikander Malik) and Lee Hunter (Alex Carter) start their own radio show and recruit Lynsey to be their on-air agony aunt.

Hassan continued that it does not cross Lynsey's mind that Silas would want to hurt Cheryl, but opined that "the penny will eventually drop for her".

[40] In August 2011, a video was leaked containing footage of Silas supposedly preparing to attack Theresa McQueen (Jorgie Porter) at a night-time rave.

[43] Silas hates girls who are promiscuous and Porter opined that Theresa is "probably a prime suspect" as she enjoys receiving men's attention.

[44] When the episodes aired, Silas does not murder Theresa and in a dark storyline twist, Rae Wilson (Alice Barlow) becomes his next victim.

[45] Barlow said the fact that Rae's death aired in late night episodes of the serial made an opportunity to be creative with the content.

[33] He told This Morning "[...] We've been waiting a long time to see what's going to happen with Silas and over the next three months we've got some cracking storylines which end in an awful climax, which I can't say anything about.

[48] Silas decides to teach heavily pregnant Mercedes a lesson after she confesses to an affair with Riley's father, Carl Costello (Paul Opacic).

[51] He reminds Lynsey of his plan by sending her clues and presents, such as a chess queen and a pumpkin containing the message "Tick tock, time is running out".

The actress added that Lynsey cannot believe her luck as Doug show her kindness and friendship and she wonders why she did not confide in him months ago.

[63] Rawle explained that Silas has accepted he is to be in the secure psychiatric unit until he dies so he plans to manipulate the outside world from inside as a means of living out his murderous fantasies.

[67] Silas' return ties in with the show's long-running "Gloved Hand Killer" storyline, where doctor Lindsey Roscoe (Sophie Austin) has killed multiple characters.

[70] Silas appears at Dee Valley Hospital to seek more information about the murders, where he speaks to nurse Tegan Lomax (Jessica Ellis).

A promotional clip of the meeting was released on the show's social media featuring the pair playing chess to decide on whether she lives or dies.