Ricky Campbell

Last updated

Ricky Campbell
Hollyoaks character
Ricky Campbell.jpg
Portrayed by Ashley Margolis
Duration2009–2012
First appearance16 June 2009
Last appearance6 August 2012
Classification Past; regular
Introduced by Lucy Allan
Spin-off
appearances		 Hollyoaks Later (2011)
In-universe information
Occupation Student (2009–2012)
Florist assistant (2012)
Father Martin Campbell

Ricky Campbell is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks , played by Ashley Margolis. He made his first on-screen appearance on 16 June 2009. Ricky was created by executive producer Lucy Allan. Margolis took a period of leave in 2010 to complete his real life studies. His main storylines have focused on his friendship with Duncan Button (Dean Aspen) and caring for his father who has multiple sclerosis. Sam Attwater portrayed Ricky's online alter-ego for a few episodes. Ricky was due to be written out of the series in 2011; but Margolis was convinced to stay. However, in 2012 the actor announced his departure once more. He made his final appearance on 6 August 2012.

Contents

Casting

In April 2009 a new character called Ricky was announced and fifteen-year-old actor Ashley Margolis would portray him in his first television role. [1] Actor Sam Attwater played a virtual Ricky, whom he was posing as for online dating purposes. [2] In July 2010 Ricky was put on the departed list on the Hollyoaks official website. This led fans to believe Margolis had left and his character written out. [3] The next day the serial confirmed that Margolis had gone on temporary leave for a number of months to complete his GCSE exams and would return to screen in October that year. [4]

In May 2011 it was announced that Margolis had decided to leave the serial after Dean Aspen, who plays on-screen comedy partner Duncan Button, also quit. [5] Discussing his departure, Margolis said: "I'm not sure if I'm crazy or brave but yes, I think it's time for me as an actor to move on. I could very happily stay forever in my comfort zone – Hollyoaks is a great place to work. But with Dean moving on it just feels like the right time." [5] In August 2011 Margolis confirmed he had decided to stay on at Hollyoaks after he had been offered a new storyline. [6] In May 2012, Margolis revealed via his Twitter account that was leaving again, but this time his exit storyline had already been written. He will film his final scenes as Ricky in June 2012. [7]

Character development

E4 publicity describe Ricky as being permanently attached to his skateboard, they also brand him "an abundance of energy". [8] They describe his appearance as typical "boyish good looks" and as having a "cheeky sense of humour". [8]

Ricky's first main storyline was being the sole carer to his father Martin Campbell (Grant Masters), who is suffering from multiple sclerosis. [9] Margolis said he was grateful for the storyline and revealed he put extensive research into the storyline. Speaking of the storyline during an interview with the Press Association, Margolis stated: "I was so grateful I was given the opportunity to do it. Having done research on it, about what young carers have to go through every day, [you realise] it's a hard life. It's brilliant what they do and hopefully this storyline will get people to realise, 'That's what I'm going through'." [9] Margolis also revealed he found it hard to lift Masters in scenes he was caring for him adding that it tired him out and sympathised with those who go through it in real life. [9] It was later revealed that charity Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain had been helping with the storyline, they released a statement reading: "The MS Society understands this is likely to be a dramatic portrayal of MS and its symptoms. While we have advised script writers on how best to progress the storyline the ultimate character interpretation is in the hands of the soaps' producers." [10]

Storylines

Backstory

Ricky, an only child, was born to Martin, who later develops multiple sclerosis. He had to become the full-time carer of his father after his grandmother could no longer help out, often finding it hard to adapt his social life whilst trying to cope with the daily household jobs.

2009–12

He first arrived to meet Anita for a date, however because she was using Theresa McQueen's (Jorgie Porter) picture, he appeared looking for a blonde girl. He is 14 although was using a picture of someone else and claimed to be 20. He arrived with flowers for Anita but seen Theresa, who he thought was Anita, kissing Newt (Nico Mirallegro). He confronted Theresa, who assumed he was crazy as she had never seen him before. Meanwhile, a stood up Anita with Lauren passed Ricky outside Il Gnosh, they glanced at each other for a second but neither of them knew that the other was in fact the person they were meeting for the date. He recorded Theresa and Newt acting more than friends on his phone and showed it to Anita. She went to kiss him until Ash kicked Ricky out.

He appeared a few weeks later when Anita and her friends went camping in a nearby field. However things did not turn out like Ricky had expected as Anita discovered his camper bag was full of condoms. Despite this, he apologised for his behaviour. During his paper round at Drive 'n' Buy, Gilly Roach (Anthony Quinlan) and Rhys Ashworth (Andrew Moss) found marijuana in Ricky's bag. They confronted him, with Anita. Anita was shocked and when he was asked to pick between his job and not getting to keep the marijuana or keeping the marijuana and losing his job, Ricky ran out with the bag. Anita followed him refusing to believe he would take drugs. Ricky continued seeing Anita, and in September 2009, went to a cottage with Anita, Newt and Lauren Valentine (Dominique Jackson), although their break was ruined when Gaz Bennett (Joel Goonan) arrived and started causing trouble. Gaz punched Ricky after he tried to stand up for Anita, and tried to convince the others to run away. Gaz was hit over the head by one of the gang, eventually revealed to be Anita, although Lauren believed the culprit was Ricky. Ricky continued to support Anita as she went through difficulties with her family after discovering she was adopted, and also stood by her despite knowing what she did to Gaz.

Ricky struck a friendship with Duncan, who pressured him into having sex with Anita. Ricky, however, decided to wait, and was jealous when Anita decided that she wanted to lose her virginity to Dave Colburn (Elliot James Langridge). Ricky began disappearing for long periods of time and it turned out Ricky was caring for his father Martin Campbell (Grant Masters) who is suffering with multiple sclerosis and that Ricky often had to get cannabis for Martin to relieve his pain.

On different occasions Martin tells Ricky to go out and enjoy himself, often injuring himself whilst Ricky is not present and calling him to come back home for help. This begins to affect Ricky's school work. Whilst Ricky is offered support, Kris Fisher (Gerard McCarthy) accidentally assaults him. Ricky tells Martin he does not want to go to hospital in case his arm is broken meaning he can no longer look after him. Soon though, after going to Ricky's home, Kris finds out about Martin's MS, and when Martin suddenly takes ill, Kris has to phone a hospital, where Ricky is terrified of being find out, however eventually he gets to take his father home. Things took a sinister tone though when Ricky told Kris that if he were to tell social services about his father's problems and condition, he would tell the school about what happened to his arm, Kris reluctantly agreed to keep the secret. Kris began to help Ricky and Martin and would often stay the night and help with the daily routine. When Kris rang the paramedics, Ricky was angry and worried that he would be put into care however the Ashworths agreed to let him stay and Ricky realised Martin was in the best place whilst in hospital. Ricky was last seen living with the Ashworths however he did not appear when they left.

Ricky is later seen again in December, when he becomes part of Lee Hunter's Boy Band Guy Candy, also becomes friends with Duncan's sister Ruby Button (Anna Shaffer) when she arrives in January. Ricky left Hollyoaks in August 2012 on results day after messing up his exams.

Reception

When Ricky dumped Ruby via text message a Sunday Mail critic said that it was "not a smart move on his part" because he risked the wrath of three best friends. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kris Fisher</span> UK soap opera character, created 2006

Kris Fisher is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Gerard McCarthy. The character first appeared on-screen in September 2006 and left in August 2010 after McCarthy quit the show. He is noted for his storylines involving the PEP treatment, a bisexual love triangle, his outlandish personality and being the only permanent cross dressing character in a British soap opera. Following his departure, it was announced that McCarthy would return in November 2010 for a short stint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvin Valentine</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

Calvin Valentine is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ricky Whittle. He arrived in July 2006 as a police officer with his mother Diane Valentine, his brother Sonny Valentine and his sister Sasha Valentine and made his final appearance on 21 May 2010 after he was murdered by Theresa McQueen. Whittle was credited for a flashback episode on 1 December 2010. Calvin appeared again as a ghost to tell his wife and Theresa's Cousin Carmel McQueen that his and Theresa's daughter, Kathleen-Angel McQueen, was fine with Theresa in February 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Valentine</span> UK soap opera character, created 2007

Lauren Valentine is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Dominique Jackson. First appearing in 2007, Lauren was written out of the show in 2010 along with the rest of the Valentine family as part of series producer Paul Marquess' overhaul of the series.

Newt (<i>Hollyoaks</i>) UK soap opera character, created 2007

Barry "Newt" Newton is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nico Mirallegro. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 22 October 2007. He was introduced as the serial's first emo character and as the foster son of Jack and Frankie Osborne. During the character's duration he was involved in notable storylines including schizophrenia, a suicide pact and living in foster care. In 2010, Mirallegro quit the serial to pursue other projects. Newt left the village on 25 June 2010.

Ravi Roy is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Stephen Uppal. He first appeared in an episode airing on 20 May 2008, introduced by series producer Bryan Kirkwood. Since then he has been central to a bisexuality storyline and living with an aneurysm. Uppal announced in 2010 that he had decided to leave the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theresa McQueen</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

Theresa McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jorgie Porter. She made her first appearance on 24 November 2008. The character was introduced as an extension of already established McQueen family and quickly became a fan favourite for her cute, bubbly personality and dark storylines. During her first five years on the show, Porter was featured in numerous high-profile storylines, including: underage sex; the murder of Calvin Valentine ; teenage pregnancy; being the target of serial killer Silas Blissett ; falling down a lift shaft; discovering her boyfriend, Ethan Scott was dating two other women and forming a friendship with the girls; finding her long-lost father; relationships with Dodger Savage, Will Savage and Joel Dexter ; and her arrest for Calvin's murder. Porter announced her departure from the soap in October 2013 so she could focus on Dancing on Ice. Her exit scenes aired on 9 January 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Roy</span> UK soap opera character, created 2008

Anita Roy is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Saira Choudhry. Choudhry was cast in 2008 as part of the new Roy family and arrived in November and stayed in the serial for 2 years before she left Hollyoaks on 20 January 2011. Her more notable storylines include being racially bullied, which was nominated for an award at the Inside Soap Awards and which led to her self-harming storyline. In her time on the show she also discovered that she is adopted and began an on-line relationship. Anita also suffered an identity crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaz Bennett</span> UK soap opera character, created 2008

Gaz Bennett is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Joel Goonan. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 25 November 2008. Goonan took a break from filming during 2010, and returned on-screen on 19 January 2011. Goonan announced his permanent departure from Hollyoaks in October 2011. He made his final appearance on 11 November 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen McQueen</span> UK soap opera character, created 2009

Kathleen McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Alison Burrows. She first appeared during late-night spin-off Hollyoaks Later in September 2009 as the sister of Myra McQueen and mother of Theresa McQueen. Burrows reprised her role as Kathleen in August 2014, but left again in September.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spencer Gray</span> UK soap opera character, created 2008

Spencer Gray is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Darren John Langford. The character first appeared on screen in December 2008. He initially appeared as the foster brother of Warren Fox, turning up after the death of his mother. He is noted for his learning disability and his having a condition which gave him a mental age of a human in preadolescence. The character was axed by Paul Marquess.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rae Wilson</span> UK soap opera character, created 2009

Rae Wilson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Alice Barlow. She appeared in the series from 5 October 2009 until 13 September 2011. Actress Helen Russell-Clark – who went on to play Jem Costello – originally auditioned for the role, but the part was awarded to Barlow. Producer Lucy Allan said Barlow was her favourite addition to the cast during 2009. She made her final appearance on 13 September 2011. Rae was murded by Silas Blissett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Strong</span> UK soap opera character, created 2010

Eva Strong is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Sheree Murphy. She made her first on-screen appearance on 23 April 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heidi Costello</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

Heidi Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kim Tiddy. She made her first on-screen appearance on 20 July 2010 and made her final appearance in the series on 1 November 2011, after Heidi was accidentally murdered by her father, Silas Blissett, in which he mistakes her for Lynsey Nolan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seth Costello</span> Character from Hollyoaks, created 2010

Seth Costello is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Miles Higson. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 July 2010. His first major storyline was in 2011 when he was the centre of a steroids storyline. He also became involved in the storyline where his father Carl Costello began an affair with Mercedes McQueen. 2020 saw the return of Seth, when he blackmailed the McQueen family with grandfather Silas Blissett. He departed again on 2 February 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncan Button</span> Soap opera character

Duncan Button is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Dean Aspen. He debuted on-screen in the episode airing on 2 November 2009. Duncan was originally credited as Duncan Smith until he was credited as Button. In May 2011, it was announced that Aspen had quit his role and Duncan departed the series on 11 November 2011. Aspen reprised his role as Duncan for the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later in October 2013.

Hollyoaks began airing on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 23 October 1995. The target audience was that of teenagers and it initially dramatised the lives of seven of that age group who lived in Hollyoaks, a fictional suburb in the city of Chester in Cheshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Savage</span> Fictional character from Hollyoaks

Liberty Savage is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by actress and singer-songwriter Abi Phillips from 2010 to 2013, and Jessamy Stoddart from 2018. She made her first on-screen appearance on 10 December 2010. Phillips was approached by Hollyoaks producers after she submitted one of her songs to be played on the show. Following a strong response to the song, producers invited her to audition for the role of Liberty, in which she was successful. Liberty was introduced to Hollyoaks along with her fiancé, Ethan Scott. After an absence of four months during 2013, it was announced that Liberty would be written out of the serial, and she departed on 24 July 2013. On 22 May 2018, it was announced that Liberty would return, but this time with Stoddart in the role, and she returned on 5 June 2018. Stoddart went on maternity leave in December 2022, with the character of Liberty set to return in 2024.

<i>Hollyoaks Later</i> series 4 Season of television series

The fourth series of Hollyoaks Later is a British television series and late night spin-off of Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. The series aired in September 2011 at 10pm. The series revolved around Silas Blissett's search for another murder victim which culminated in the death of Rae Wilson, the stag do of Riley Costello, the hen party of Mercedes McQueen and Ricky Campbell and Duncan Button's trip to fat camp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maddie Morrison</span> UK soap opera character (created 2011)

Maddison "Maddie" Morrison is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Scarlett Bowman. Maddie is an old friend of Bart McQueen. Bowman's casting was announced in June 2011. Maddie was introduced to Hollyoaks along with her friends, Tilly Evans and Jono. Maddie made her first appearance in the episode broadcast on 21 June 2011 and departed on 15 November 2012 when the character was killed in the highly publicised Enjoy The Ride storyline.

References

  1. ↑ Dibbits, Kay (9 April 2009). "Theatre star set for small screen". The Bolton News . Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Sam Attwater". BBC Online. 2010. Archived from the original on 31 May 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  3. ↑ "Cast – Departed – Boys". E4 . (Channel 4 Television Corporation). 28 July 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  4. ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (29 July 2010). "Why has Ricky disappeared from 'Hollyoaks'?". Digital Spy . Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  5. 1 2 Kilkelly, Daniel (20 May 2011). "Hollyoaks confirms three cast departures". Digital Spy . Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  6. ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (31 August 2011). "'Hollyoaks' Ricky Campbell to stay on soap". Digital Spy . Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  7. ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (18 May 2012). "'Hollyoaks' exit for Ricky Campbell". Digital Spy . Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Ricky Campbell (played by Ashley Margolis)". E4 . (Channel 4 Television Corporation). 2010. Archived from the original on 31 May 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 Kilkelly, Daniel (16 February 2010). "'Oaks star "grateful" for carer storyline". Digital Spy . Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  10. ↑ "MS storyline in TV soap opera". Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain . 18 February 2010. Archived from the original on 31 May 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  11. ↑ "Kat v Alfie – grab a ringside seat". Sunday Mail . 27 March 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
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.