The Feud on Channel 5: Ending explained - including the killer's real identity - and news on series 2
By Helen Fear |The Feud on Channel 5 has come to a rather surprising ending after six explosive episodes full of twists and turns - so who killed Alan, and why?
In the final episode of the Jill Halfpenny thriller, viewers finally discovered which of the Shelbury Drive neighbours was a murderer. Honestly, it could have been any of them... They were all morally bankrupt, and every single one had a motive.
So who was the killer, what happened to Beth, and was Marcus really buried under the garden tree? Here's everything you need to know in The Feud ending explained, and news on a possible series 2.
***Warning: spoilers from The Feud ending ahead***
The Feud ending explained: Who killed Alan?
In the penultimate episode of The Feud, viewers finally discovered the identity of the dead body in Emma and John's kitchen extension. It was Alan (Ray Fearon). The neighbour was found lying on the floor in a pool of blood having been stabbed to death.
At first, all the evidence pointed to John. He had motive, and his prints were all over the murder weapon (well, it was his kitchen knife!). Police arrested him for the crime. However, thanks to Emma's dogged pursuit for the truth, we soon learnt that "oddball" neighbour Nick was the murderer.
The Shelbury Drive resident killed Alan as revenge for killing birds. Thanks to his CCTV cameras, Nick had witnessed Alan with the dead magpies he'd been using to intimidate Emma. A self-confessed bird lover, Nick killed Alan because the magpies couldn't fight back...
What happened to Nick at the end? Was he caught?
At the end of the Channel 5 series, security guard Nick was immobilised (ouchie) and subsequently detained.
Desperate to make sense of what had happened, and why, Emma - ever the defence barrister - asked to see Nick's CCTV footage of their house one last time. She knew something didn't add up.
Eventually, Emma realised that it was in fact Nick who had covered up his own CCTV camera on the evening of Alan's murder. Nick hadn't banked on Emma using her initiative - she saw Nick's face in the reflection of a car.
She quickly realised that it was Nick who had followed Alan into her house. He knew that John had a motive to kill Alan, so he seized his chance to get his own revenge against the magpie killer - and set John up in the process. When John came downstairs, Alan was already dead.
Emma confronted Nick with the truth, and he quickly turned nasty. Nick grabbed Emma by the throat and pinned her against the wall as if to strangle her. Luckily Sonia arrived just in time to stop it. She attacked Nick with a power tool. He survived and was subsequently taken to hospital, and later - we assume - arrested.
Did Alan know Lee?
During the final episode of The Feud, our suspicions about Alan and Lee were confirmed. They DID know each other. Although we weren't told how, or even why Lee would do Alan's bidding (apart from money obviously).
Having already known about his wife's affair with their neighbour John, Alan was upset when the couple decided to have an extension and not move house as previously planned.
So, he called up his dodgy builder mate to take a look at the house. Lee subsequently sabotaged the kitchen extension by reversing the planning permission. This was all Alan's attempt to intimidate Emma into changing her mind about the building work, and hopefully moving away - with her adulterous husband in tow.
Ultimately, Alan loved his wife and wanted John as far away from her as possible. Double so when he discovered she was pregnant with John's baby.
The Feud ending explained: Did John get away with killing Derek?
At the end of The Feud episode 4, a confrontation between Derek and Emma turned bloody when John arrived to intervene. Convinced Derek was behind the menacing dead magpies being left for her, Emma barged into his house to have a heated 'chat'.
Things took a sinister turn when Derek threatened Emma, prompting John to step in. He pushed Derek, causing him to fall back and hit his head on the corner of the kitchen table... Emma and John fled the scene, leaving poor Barbara to discover her husband's lifeless body on the kitchen floor.
After a few days in hospital, in and out of consciousness, Derek eventually succumbed to his injuries and died. No one was crying, though. After all, we knew he was a violent man who physically abused his downtrodden wife.
During The Feud ending, Barbara chose to keep quiet about Emma and John's involvement in her husband's death. Having suspected they played a part in his demise, she chose to turn a blind eye. After all, "the autopsy made it clear that Derek fell". Barbara got her happy ending of sorts, knowing that she was free of her abuser. She told Emma: "I should probably be thanking you."
Did Emma and John stay together? Did Sonia keep the baby?
In the finale of The Feud, Emma seemed to end her marriage to John as a result of his affair. In fact, that was the last we saw of poor John, who wasn't even present when his daughter Beth was finally found after days of being missing.
Whether Sonia and John skipped into the sunset together with their unborn baby remained to be seen. Perhaps something a series 2 could explore (see below)?
All we knew by the end of the series was that Emma decided to stay in the house of horrors with her daughter Beth, while Sonia and Barbara both had their houses up for sale.
Did Andi let Beth go? Did she get her comeuppance?
In the most preposterous side-plot yet, Andi continued to keep Beth hostage in her kitchen for no good reason whatsoever apart from to teach Emma a lesson. Those of you wondering how on earth the policewoman would get away with it soon had their answer.
While she deserved to lose her job over her actions, Andi actually got away with it. After several days, Andi returned Beth in a police car. She told Emma her daughter had been "sleeping rough".
Traumatised by the whole ordeal, Beth begged her mum not to press charges against Andi. But we have NO idea why. Andi's deranged, psychotic behaviour should have got her banged up!
Was Marcus buried under the tree?
In The Feud ending, we finally discovered what had happened to Derek and Barbara's son Marcus. No, he wasn't buried under the tree. The reason Barbara cried while watering the plant was because her son had planted it years before, and she simply missed him.
However, with abusive dad and husband Derek now deceased, Marcus was free to return to Shelbury Drive. In fact, he agreed to buy Sonia and Alan's old house! Marcus was, in fact, the prospective house buyer in the very first episode.
Marcus and Barbara had a heartwarming reunion in the closing moments of the Channel 5 series.
What else happened in The Feud ending?
- Emma's extension remained woefully unfinished.
- Defence barrister Emma may have lost her job after lying in court, but she gained a dad. The pair reconciled in the closing minutes of the series.
- Builder Lee Hatby was never seen again. Although actor Chris Gascoyne will soon be appearing in the dark comedy film Go Away! He'll star alongside Showtrial's Michael Socha, Ludwig's Ella Bruccoleri, and Hugh Bonneville.
Is there a series 2 of The Feud?
Channel 5 has not yet confirmed if there'll be series 2 of The Feud, but we think there's plenty of mileage for another run.
Although the series works fine as a stand-alone thriller, there are enough loose ends to warrant another series - not least, unhinged Andi on the loose, and John pretty much getting away with manslaughter. Also, we think viewers will agree, builder Lee deserves his own spin-off show.
Watch this space for more details when we get them.
