Rob Hawthorne (Hollyoaks)

Last updated
Rob Hawthorne
Hollyoaks character
Rob Hawthorne.jpg
Portrayed byWarren Derosa
Duration1996–1999
First appearance12 February 1996
Last appearance28 December 1999
Classification Former; regular
Created byPhil Redmond
Introduced by Phil Redmond
Spin-off
appearances
Hollyoaks: Off on One (1998)
In-universe information
OccupationCollege student

Robert "Rob" Hawthorne is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks , played by Warren Derosa. Derosa first appeared in the role in January 1996 before the character departed, making his final appearance on 28 December 1999. The character is known for his status as a villain, with Derosa describing him as a "theatrical villain".

Contents

Casting

Derosa initially auditioned for the role of Tony Hutchinson, however it was Nick Pickard who was eventually cast. [1] Two weeks later, Derosa received a call from the producers and was offered the role of Rob. The actor auditioned two days later and he began filming his first scenes shortly afterwards. [1] Derosa departed the role in 1999, making his last appearance as Rob on 28 December of that year. [2]

Development

Derosa left Hollyoaks after his character was stranded at sea in the video spin-off Hollyoaks: Off on One . [1] He told Wendy Granditer of All About Soap that he thought that was it and he did not want to return to the show. [1] However, the producers called him and asked if he would return for a four-night special. Derosa said he read the scripts and knew he had to return. [1] He added "Since then the storylines have stayed strong and the producers have allowed me to turn Rob into a real theatrical villain, which I love." [1]

In another storyline, Rob kidnaps and attempts to drown Lucy Benson (Kerrie Taylor) in a tank of water at an abandoned nautical test centre. [2] Ruth Osborne (Terri Dwyer), Lewis Richardson (Ben Hull), Carol Groves (Natalie Casey) and Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) also feature in the story and water scenes. [3] The show's executive producer Jo Hallows told Wendy Granditer from Inside Soap that the story was logistically difficult to film because the cast had to be suspended in a twenty-foot deep water tank and film under water. Hallows added "they were all great - they didn't complain once." [3] Hallows described Rob as being the show's "campest villain but he worked brilliantly." [3]

Storylines

Rob never saw eye-to-eye with Kurt Benson; despite this, he dated Kurt's sister Lucy. Rob’s best friend was Dermot Ashton, and they both got into trouble. It started when Rob and Dermot caused a stir in Hollyoaks by putting a tablet in Natasha Anderson’s drink during Lucy’s 18th birthday bash. This then led to Natasha’s death. Kurt and Bazz pointed the finger at Rob and Dermot; however, neither of them had any real proof. Rob felt guilty over Natasha’s death and broke off his relationship with Lucy.

Despite that, Rob still wanted to be with Lucy and Lucy gave him one last chance. Dermot told Rob that he had money problems and Rob planned to rob a drug dealer's lock up. Rob had taken Lucy and Carol Groves as alibis and the robbery was going according to plan, but the dealer caught them. Rob, Dermot, Carol, and Lucy all managed to escape, but they were chased by the dealer. Despite Lucy and Carol's protests to stop the car, Rob continued and lost control. The car ended up in the River Dee, but they survived, apart from Dermot. Lucy then confessed all to the police, but the police had little to arrest Rob on. Rob's problems went from bad to worse when Kurt, Jambo Bolton, Lucy, and Carol followed Rob on a night's 'work' in the hope that he might incriminate himself. When they finally caught up with him, they personally delivered Rob to the drug dealers from whom Rob had stolen money. The dealers ended up throwing Rob off the roof of a car park, injuring one of Rob’s legs. Rob blamed Kurt for this and vowed to get revenge. Rob became homeless, but Susi Harrison felt sorry for him and allowed him to stay at her house.

Meanwhile, Lucy felt isolated from her family and turned to Rob for support. He gave her tranquillisers. Rob then found out that his father died and took the news badly. He turned to heroin to get himself through. Despite Rob feeding Lucy's drug addiction, he began to put pressure on her by giving her an ultimatum—to choose him or the heroin. Rob was told he may have further problems with his leg and could end up losing it. To get back at Kurt, Rob managed to inject heroin into an already drugged-up Lucy. He took her to the roof of the car park where he was thrown off, and announced it was "payback time", leaving Lucy in a coma. Luckily, Kurt found her in just enough time and Lucy was taken to hospital. Kurt then followed Rob to France in a video special Hollyoaks: Off on one, where a scene between Rob and Kurt climaxes in Rob stealing a speedboat, and Kurt managing to climb on board just before he sped off. A fight ensued and Rob charged at Kurt who quickly stepped to one side, causing Rob to plunge into the water. Refusing to listen to Rob’s pleas, Kurt drove off, leaving Rob floating in the middle of the Atlantic.

Rob then made a return to Hollyoaks. This time he kidnapped Lucy and took her to a disused watertank. Ruth, Lewis and Tony came to rescue her. Despite Rob’s attempts to drown Lucy, Tony stepped in to rescue her and all four of them got out safely. Rob briefly started dating Beth Morgan, but that came to an end when Beth overheard Lucy arguing with Rob about how he had ruined Lucy’s and her family’s life. During millennium eve, Rob tried setting a bus on fire, but he ended up dying in the blast.

Reception

Rob was nominated for "Best Bad Guy" at the 1999 Inside Soap Awards. [4] In October 1999, Merle Brown of the Daily Record branded Rob evil and said "Just when will he get his comeuppance and stop terrorising poor Lucy (Kerrie Taylor)?" [5] What's on TV included Rob in their list of the 50 most evil soap villains of all time. [6] They said "One of Hollyoaks' earliest villains, Rob Hawthorne (Warren De Rosa) got Lucy Benson hooked on drugs and tried to kill her. But he didn't bank on brother Kurt getting in his way..." [6] During a feature on Hollyoaks psychos, E4 remembered Rob and said "Holding Lucy and gang hostage in a disused naval base - you can certainly credit Rob Hawthorne at being original! Not sure the harpoon was quite as effective as Toby's spanner though!" [7] Rachel Tarley of the Metro placed Rob fifth in her list of the top five soap villains. Tarley said "A heroin addict and all-round bad guy, Rob was perhaps not the most original of soap villains, but he certainly knew how to strike fear into the heart of any young female in the Hollyoaks vicinity." [8] In 2020, Tarley's colleague, Caroline Westbrook, called Rob "one of the more villainous characters of the early years" of Hollyoaks and believed that he definitely caused "a fair bit of trouble". [2] Tina Baker, writing for Soaplife , said "rotten-to-the-core Rob" was gorgeous and looked like an angel, but he behaved like "a demented devil." [9]

The episode where Rob tries to down Anna was reshown in 2020 as part of Hollyoaks@25 , a spinoff series "showcasing some of the most talked-about storylines" of Hollyoaks. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natasha Andersen</span> UK soap opera character, created 1995

Natasha Andersen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Shebah Ronay. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 23 October 1995. She was created by Phil Redmond as one of the serial's original characters.

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

Kurt Benson is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jeremy Edwards. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 23 October 1995. He was created by Phil Redmond as one of the serial's original characters. Despite the character's supposed death in 1999, Kurt returned in 2020 as part of the celebrations for the 25th anniversary, with the explanation being that he faked his death.

Sara Warrington is a fictional character from the British soap opera Family Affairs, played by Beth Cordingly. She debuted on-screen during 2000 and left the show the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toby Mills</span> Fictional character from the soap opera, Hollyoaks

Toby Mills is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Henry Luxemburg. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 25 October 2001. Toby is introduced into the series as a university student and a pub barman. He was originally characterised as a risk-taker and a loyal friend. Producers decided to transform Toby into the show's first serial killer. His murder spree plays largely into his characterisation as writers displayed his anger issues and relationship issues.

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

Lucy Benson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kerrie Taylor. Taylor appeared from the first episode on 23 October 1995. Taylor later quit the role with the character leaving in January 2000 when she went travelling. The character's storylines included a heroin addiction. The character has been described as a "good daughter" type who changed becoming a "hopeless addict".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jambo Bolton</span> Soap opera character

James "Jambo" Bolton is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Will Mellor. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 23 October 1995. Jambo was one of the show's original characters. Mellor left the cast in 1998. In 2004, Mellor reprised his role briefly for a Christmas special episode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dawn Cunningham</span> Soap opera character

Dawn Cunningham is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lisa Williamson. Williamson was cast as one of the original characters on Hollyoaks in 1995, and was the first member of the Cunningham family to arrive in the village, before the introduction of her family. However, she left in 1997 when the character died following a battle with leukemia.

Lewis Richardson (<i>Hollyoaks</i>) UK soap opera character, created 1995

Lewis Richardson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ben Hull. Lewis was introduced by Phil Redmond as part of the Richardson family. Lewis made his first on-screen appearance on 30 October 1995 before departing on 15 October 2001. Lewis was initially a "good bloke" but changed, becoming like his abusive father Dennis Richardson. Lewis's exit from the serial was devised by series producer Jo Hallows who decided to kill Lewis on screen as part of a suicide storyline. The storyline was devised to show the "full horror" of suicide.

Anna Green (<i>Hollyoaks</i>) UK soap opera character, created 1999

Anna Green is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lisa M. Kay. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 15 September 1999. Anna is introduced into the series as one of five new students arriving to study at the Hollyoaks Community College. Anna is characterised as "dowdy", "prim and proper" and unlucky in love. She is often seen wearing her trademark glasses, which Kay believed did not suit the character. Anna received a style transformation as writers evolved her character into a more confident personality. Writers developed a friendship between Geri Hudson which helped make Anna more empowered. Geri also helped Anna overcome her failed first romance with Sam Smallwood. One of the character's first prominent stories was being run over in a hit and run incident. The perpetrators, Cindy Cunningham and Ben Davies evade justice and allow Tony Hutchinson to be accused of the crime. Anna later discovers Ben's involvement and forms an unlikely friendship with him. Writers paired Anna with fellow student character, Alex Bell and the relationship went onto define the character's later stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geri Hudson</span> Soap opera character

Geri Hudson is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Joanna Taylor. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 13 September 1999. Taylor made her final appearance as Geri during the episode broadcast on 19 December 2001.

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

Luke Morgan is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Gary Lucy. He was introduced by the show's creator Phil Redmond as part of the Morgan family, and made his first appearance on 25 March 1999. The character was involved in a male rape storyline, which was branded "groundbreaking" and met with controversy. Lucy opted to leave the role in 2001 after two years, although he returned for two episodes in August 2002. The character's reintroduction was announced on 21 May 2017 and he returned on 24 July. Lucy took a break from the series in 2018 to appear in a play. The character made a few brief appearances throughout 2019 before he returned permanently in August. Luke was killed off in 2022, with his final scenes airing on 9 June 2022. He returned briefly in 2023 as a vision to his former fiancée Cindy Cunningham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Osborne</span> UK soap opera character, created 1996

Ruth Osborne is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Terri Dwyer. She first appeared in January 1996 as the cousin of Natasha Andersen, and departed in 2001. She made guest appearances between 2003 and 2004, and another in 2008. Dwyer expressed interest in returning full-time in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristian Hargreaves</span> Soap opera character

Kristian Hargreaves is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Max Brown. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 22 October 2002. Brown made his finale appearance as Kristian during the episode broadcast on 30 July 2004.

Laura Burns is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lesley Johnston between November 2000 and 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Groves</span> UK soap opera character, created 1996

Carol Groves is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Natalie Casey. Carol first appeared in the serial on 22 January 1996. In August 2000 it was announced that Casey had quit the role and would film her final scenes at the end of the month. Carol remained with the serial until 11 December 2000 when she left the village to never return.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Granditer, Wendy (December 1999). "Delightfully devilish". All About Soap (3). Attic Futura (UK) Ltd: 37.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Westbrook, Caroline (28 July 2020). "What happened to Rob Hawthorne in Hollyoaks?". Metro . DMG Media . Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Granditer, Wendy (12–25 April 2003). "Jo's magic moments". Inside Soap . No. 229. p. 21.
  4. "Vote in the 1999 Inside Soap Awards". Inside Soap (134). Attic Futura (UK) Ltd: 34–5. 21 August – 3 September 1999.
  5. Brown, Merle (9 October 1999). "Paddy and Mandy take the plunge". Daily Record . Trinity Mirror . Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  6. 1 2 "The 50 most evil soap villains of all time". What's on TV . IPC Media. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  7. "Psychos". E4 . Channel 4 . Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  8. Tarley, Rachel (27 May 2011). "Top 5 Soap Villains - who's the baddest of them all?". Metro . Associated Newspapers . Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  9. Baker, Tina (February 2000). "Another one bites the dust". Soaplife . No. 7. IPC Media. p. 49.