Flynn Saunders

Last updated

Flynn Saunders
Home and Away character
FlynnSaunders.jpg
Joel McIlroy as Flynn Saunders
Portrayed by Martin Dingle-Wall (2001–02)
Joel McIlroy (2003–06)
Duration2001–06
First appearance13 July 2001
Last appearance13 February 2006
Classification Former; regular
Introduced byJohn Holmes
In-universe information
Occupation
  • Doctor
  • Counsellor
  • Caravan Park owner
  • Foster parent
Father John Saunders
MotherRachel Saunders
Sisters Ashley Saunders
Wife Sally Fletcher (2003–06)
Daughters Pippa Saunders

Flynn Saunders is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away , played by Martin Dingle-Wall from 2001 until 2002 and by Joel McIlroy from 2003 to 2006 . He first appeared in the episode broadcast on 13 July 2001 and died on 13 February 2006.

Contents

Development

Flynn was a doctor and social worker, who arrived in Summer Bay after leaving the city in search of his missing sister Ashley Saunders (Zoe Ella). [1] When Flynn learns there is a job available at the local drop-in centre, he decided to take it and wait for his sister to pass through the town. [1] Dingle-Wall told an Inside Soap writer, "Finding Ashley is number one on Flynn's agenda. She has a drug problem, and could have gone anywhere. But Flynn thinks she may have been heading for the Bay, and he's hoping to be there if, and when, she arrives." [1] Shelley Sutherland (Paula Forrest), who ran the centre, was pleased to have him working there. He got off to a bad start with Shauna Bradley (Kylie Watson) and Brodie Hanson (Susie Rugg), whom he chased down the beach after mistaking her for Ashley. [1]

Storylines

Flynn first arrives in the Bay to help Shelly Sutherland out at the Sarah McKay drop-in centre as a counsellor. It is soon revealed a few weeks after that he is also a trained doctor. Flynn soon falls for Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie) and on their first date, they share a picnic together. Shauna Bradley makes a pass at Flynn but he rebuffs her. Jude Lawson (Ben Steel), Shauna's boyfriend is upset and rides off on his motorcycle and crashes. When Jude is brought into hospital, Flynn works with fellow doctor Charlotte Adams (Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen) to save his life in surgery and they are successful.

Flynn later searches for his younger sister, Ashley, when their father, John (Bill Charlton), tells him she has gone missing. She is found living rough on the streets and after initial reluctance, returns home. Following a holiday, Flynn and Sally make engagement plans and marry in an outdoor ceremony conducted by Donald Fisher (Norman Coburn). In 2004, The couple swap houses with Beth Hunter (Clarissa House) and move back into Summer Bay House, Sally's childhood home and take over the running of the caravan park. They then welcome the arrival of their first child, Pippa (Tameka and Bojana Main) via friend and surrogate Leah Patterson (Ada Nicodemou). Flynn and Sally take in homeless teenagers Ric Dalby (Mark Furze) and Cassie Turner (Sharni Vinson) and they form a close bond with them.

In late 2005, Flynn is diagnosed with terminal skin cancer which has spread to other areas of his body and is told he only has three months to live. After deciding against chemotherapy, Flynn faces a tough moment when he tells Sally that he wants to take his own life, in order to save himself the pain and humiliation of dying a slow death but Flynn realises how precious his final weeks are and decides to die naturally. When Flynn encounters runaway Belle Taylor (Jessica Tovey), she knocks him over while fleeing, exacerbating his weakened state. Flynn spends his final hours reminiscing with Sally, Ric, Cassie and Alf Stewart (Ray Meagher) over photos and memories. Flynn shares one last dance with Sally before dying in her arms.

Reception

For his portrayal of Flynn, Dingle-Wall received a nomination for the Logie Award for Most Popular New Male Talent and the Inside Soap Award for Best Newcomer in 2002. [2] [3] While McIlroy earned a nomination for Most Popular Actor at the Logie Awards of 2006 for his portrayal of the character. [4] McIlroy also received three nominations at the 2006 Inside Soap Awards for Best Actor, Best Couple (shared with Ritchie), and Best Storyline for Flynn's death. [5] The episode featuring Flynn's death won writer, Sam Meikle, the Australian Writers' Guild Award for Best Episode in a Television Serial in 2006. [6] Flynn's death was also voted the second most gripping storyline in a TV Week reader's poll in December 2006. [7]

An Inside Soap columnist branded the character "handsome" and "dashing". [1] Of the recast, Matt Bramford of What's on TV stated "It's quite obvious to everyone that Home and Away didn't even TRY to find someone who looked like Martin Dingle-Wall when he left Summer Bay in 2002. Instead they cast Joel McIlroy..." [8] Debi Enker of The Age thought Sally and Flynn's wedding "could well be the soap wedding of the year." [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Fletcher</span> Soap opera character

Sally Louise Fletcher is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Kate Ritchie. She made her first screen appearance during the serial's pilot episode, which was broadcast on 17 January 1988. Sally became the longest running original female cast member. She departed on 3 April 2008. Ritchie earned various awards and nominations for her portrayal of Sally. In February 2013, it was announced that Ritchie would be reprising her role. Sally returned during the episode broadcast on 15 July 2013 with her daughter. They departed on 5 September 2013.

Joel McIlroy is an Australian actor, known for being the second actor to take on the role of Flynn Saunders, a character of the popular soap opera Home and Away. McIlroy took over the role of Flynn in 2003 after Martin Dingle-Wall left the role in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Thomas</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Ashley Thomas is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by John Middleton. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 5 December 1996. It was announced on 22 October 2015 that Middleton would be departing as Ashley at the end of his contract after the character was diagnosed with vascular dementia in the episode aired on that day. The contract was later extended in order for the storyline to be extended. It was revealed that Ashley would be killed off at the end of the storyline. Middleton filmed his final scenes in March 2017 after his contract ended, and Ashley died on-screen on 7 April 2017, ending his 21 years on Emmerdale. Ashley appeared in further episodes in home movie scenes, making his final appearance on 13 February 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassie Turner</span> Fictional character from Home and Away

Cassandra "Cassie" Turner is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Sharni Vinson. She debuted on-screen during an episode that aired on 18 March 2005. Vinson originally auditioned for the role of Martha MacKenzie, but later secured the role of Cassie. She admitted it was a challenge to portray a character six years her junior who was still attending school. Cassie's backstory reveals that she was abused as a child by her uncle. However, her characterisation is out of conjunction with the usual victims of such crimes. She is portrayed as "fiercely independent and headstrong" female who has a knack for "winning friends and influencing people". Cassie is popular with the serial's male characters, while her allure also broadened off-screen to male viewers. Cassie is given a foster family when Sally Fletcher and Flynn Saunders take her into their home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurel Thomas</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Laurel Thomas is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Charlotte Bellamy. She debuted on screen during the episode airing on 3 September 2002. Laurel has been off-screen at various times while Bellamy has taken maternity leave. Laurel is shown to have a thoughtful and caring attitude towards other characters, however, this changed dramatically in 2015 when she developed an addiction to alcohol which often caused her to become violent and aggressive.

Jude Lawson is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away played by actor Ben Steel. He first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 30 October 2000 and departed on 12 September 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belle Taylor</span> Soap opera character

Belle Taylor is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Jessica Tovey. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 3 February 2006. Belle's storylines included finding her birth mother, a drug addiction, her relationship with Aden Jefferies and being diagnosed with cancer. In 2009, it was announced that Tovey had quit the show and the writers decided to kill off the character. Belle made her last appearance on 11 August 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Simpson</span> Fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away

Sophie Dean is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Rebekah Elmaloglou. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 23 January 1990 and appeared as a regular until 1993. Elmaloglou returned to filming when Sophie made subsequent guest appearances in 2002, 2003 and 2005.

Charlotte Adams (<i>Home and Away</i>) Soap opera character

Charlotte Adams is a fictional character from the Australian Seven Network soap opera Home and Away, portrayed by actress Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen. She first appeared during the episode that aired on 10 September 2001 and departed following her on-screen death on 3 September 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pippa Ross</span> Soap opera character

Philippa "Pippa" Ross is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Home and Away. Actress Vanessa Downing originated the role and made her debut during the pilot episode broadcast on 17 January 1988. Downing quit the role in 1990, and Debra Lawrance was then cast. Pippa departed on 18 March 1998, but Lawrance has reprised the role for numerous returns between 2000 and 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pippa Saunders</span> Soap opera character

Pippa Saunders is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away. She made her screen debut in the episode broadcast on 4 June 2004. The character was played by twelve young actors, including Chloe Marshall who took over the role in 2007. Pippa made her last regular appearance on 2 April 2008, with the character departing town off screen in the following day's episode, but returned on 15 July 2013 with Piper Morrissey now playing the role. Pippa is Flynn Saunders and Sally Fletcher's daughter.

Harry Reynolds (<i>Home and Away</i>) Soap opera character

Harry Reynolds (alsoKeller) is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Justin Melvey. He made his first on-screen appearance on 13 September 1999 and departed on 26 January 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ric Dalby</span> Soap opera character

Eric "Ric" Dalby is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Mark Furze. He appeared in the series from 15 September 2004 until 24 July 2008. Furze was cast into the role after an audition and a screen test impressed producers. Furze said he was attracted to the role because of Ric's characterisation. Ric was initially portrayed as a bully of vulnerable people and held no respect for authority. Through his storylines, Ric transforms into one of the serial's "good guys" but his violent temper remained. Both Furze and interested media noted that Ric getting involved in fights became a dominant feature throughout his tenure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shauna Bradley</span> Fictional character from Home and Away

Shauna Bradley is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Home and Away, played by Kylie Watson. The actress received an audition for Home And Away in February 1999, but decided not to attend it as she did not think she would be successful. However, her agent persuaded her to go and she won the role of Shauna. As the part was her first acting job, Watson's agent booked her onto some acting classes and she began filming her first scenes in June. Watson made her first appearance as Shauna during the episode broadcast on 16 August 1999, Watson decided to leave Home and Away in 2001 and filmed her final scenes in June 2001, Shauna's final scenes aired on 5 October 2001. Watson returned for a brief stint in early 2002 and made her final appearance on 18 July 2002.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "In like Flynn". Inside Soap (208): 15. 22 June – 5 July 2002.
  2. ↑ Ede, Charisse (3 April 2002). "TV's longest night is back". Illawarra Mercury . Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  3. ↑ "Vote in the Inside Soap Awards 2002". Inside Soap (212): 42. 17–30 August 2002.
  4. ↑ "Last hurrah for moonface?". The Age . 4 April 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Vote in the 2006 Inside Soap awards". Inside Soap (27): 50–52. 8–14 July 2006.
  6. ↑ "Winners 1968-2006" (PDF). Australian Writers Guild. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  7. ↑ "Bindi Irwin Tops Reader Poll". news.com.au . Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  8. ↑ Bramford, Matt (19 September 2014). "18 Best Soap Recastings!". What's on TV . Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Enker, Debi (19 June 2003). "Previews". The Age . Retrieved 12 November 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.