Blake Dean (Home and Away): Difference between revisions
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==Casting== |
==Casting== |
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Hill was cast as Blake while he was in his his mid-teens. The character was Hill's first television role.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dean Gallagher|url=http://www.universalchannel.co.uk/content/dean-gallagher|work=[[Universal Channel (UK)|Universal Channel]]|publisher=([[NBCUniversal]])|accessdate=20 February 2012}}</ref> In 1992, Hill had become one of the serial's "biggest stars". While interviewed by a reporter from ''[[TV Week]]'', Hill criticised ''Home and Away'' and then announced that he had quit.<ref name=meg>{{cite journal|title=Twenty years of Home and Away Part one 1988–1997|journal=[[TV Week]]|date=12–18 January 2008|pages=2–11|accessdate=20 February 2012|publisher=[[ACP Magazines]]}}</ref> In 2002, Hill returned to filming as part of a special fourteenth anniversary storyline.<ref>{{cite web|last=Doherty|first=Ben|title=ChannelSurf|url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=les+hill&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=NCH020515ADVQN120HIE|work=[[The Newcastle Herald]]|publisher=([[Fairfax Media]])|accessdate=20 February 2012|date=15 May 2002}}</ref> |
Hill was cast as Blake while he was in his his mid-teens. The character was Hill's first television role.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dean Gallagher|url=http://www.universalchannel.co.uk/content/dean-gallagher|work=[[Universal Channel (UK)|Universal Channel]]|publisher=([[NBCUniversal]])|accessdate=20 February 2012}}</ref> In 1992, Hill had become one of the serial's "biggest stars". While interviewed by a reporter from ''[[TV Week]]'', Hill criticised ''Home and Away'' and then announced that he had quit.<ref name=meg>{{cite journal|title=Twenty years of Home and Away Part one 1988–1997|journal=[[TV Week]]|date=12–18 January 2008|pages=2–11|accessdate=20 February 2012|publisher=[[ACP Magazines]]}}</ref> In 2002, Hill returned to filming as part of a special fourteenth anniversary storyline.<ref>{{cite web|last=Doherty|first=Ben|title=ChannelSurf|url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=les+hill&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=NCH020515ADVQN120HIE|work=[[The Newcastle Herald]]|publisher=([[Fairfax Media]])|accessdate=20 February 2012|date=15 May 2002}}</ref> Hill returned once again in 2005, this time as part of the serial's 4000th episode.<ref>{{cite web|last=Adie|first=Kilmeny|title=Home once more for birthday celebrations|url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=les+hill&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=ILL0507079Q5EI4CHA3F|work=[[Illawarra Mercury]]|publisher=([[Fairfax Media]])|accessdate=20 February 2012|date=7 July 2005}}</ref> |
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==Character development== |
==Character development== |
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Revision as of 20:33, 20 February 2012
| Blake Dean | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home and Away character | |||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Les Hill | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1990–93, 2002, 2003, 2005 | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 26 July 1990 | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 8 July 2005 | ||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Des Monaghan (1990) Julie McGuaran (2002–05) | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Blake J. Dean is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Les Hill. Blake debuted on screen during the episode broadcast on 26 July 1990.
Casting
Hill was cast as Blake while he was in his his mid-teens. The character was Hill's first television role.[1] In 1992, Hill had become one of the serial's "biggest stars". While interviewed by a reporter from TV Week, Hill criticised Home and Away and then announced that he had quit.[2] In 2002, Hill returned to filming as part of a special fourteenth anniversary storyline.[3] Hill returned once again in 2005, this time as part of the serial's 4000th episode.[4]
Character development
Series producer Andrew Howie told TV Week that Blake would enter a relationship with a new character, Meg Bowman (Cathy Godbold), who would have a "major problem". Howie added that "this will be the strongest and most relevant story we have done".[5] Meg arrives alongside her "protective mother" Julia Bowman (Debra Byrne) for a ten week guest stint. Meg and Blake start a relationship, however she is suffering from leukemia and attempts to keep it a secret. Meg spends the last weeks of her life Blake and after her death, Blake cannot let go and imagines that Meg is still with him.[2]
Storylines
Blake arrives in Summer Bay with his younger sister Karen (Belinda Jarrett), looking for Ailsa Stewart (Judy Nunn), who had been in prison with their mother, Margot who has recently died. They hope Ailsa will take them in after living with their uncle Alex proves to be unpleasant. Ailsa's husband Alf (Ray Meagher) is less than enthusiastic but she eventually talked him round. While playing a game of street cricket with Karen, Sophie Simpson (Rebekah Elmaloglou) and Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie), he damages principal Donald Fisher's (Norman Coburn) car with a stray ball and is annoyed when Alf and Donald insist he pay for the repairs even though it is an accident. Blake changes his mind Alf agrees to pay half the costs. Blake, Karen and Sophie try to earn the money by doing some gardening for Donald but accidentally leave a sprinkler running by an open window, resulting in the front room being soaked. Early into his time at Summer Bay High, Blake clashes with another of his teachers, Grant Mitchell (Craig McLachlan), but changes his mind when Grant offered to train him for an upcoming iron man competition after he is the victim of a practical joke from Adam Cameron (Mat Stevenson) and Matt Wilson (Greg Benson) who encourage him to train harder than he needs to.
When Alan Stone (Philip Hinton) takes over as deputy principal, Blake clashes with him. When Blake and Karen point out one of Stone's mistakes, he begins a campaign against them. Stone exceeds his authority and canes Blake across his hands in front of his peers. The class are shocked but caning is legal. Blake then exacts revenge by taking the wheels of Stone's car and raising it on bricks, which causes his car to be damaged as well as Donald's. The final straw comes when Stone grabs Karen in class and Blake steps in to defend his sister and pushes Stone away from her, causing him to fall. Stone complains to Donald but is transferred. Blake begins beating himself up emotionally and his mood swings worry Alf, Ailsa and Grant and he confesses that he blames himself for his mother's death of cancer and feels the stress of his time in juvenile detention for car theft caused the cancer. Ailsa assures Blake that he is not to blame for his moether's death. Patricia Coleman (Pam Western), Blake's new teacher and a former nun counsels him.
Blake begins dating Sophie, but their first date is ruined when Sally tags along on their cinema trip. They leave her at the cinema with a friend but when Sally is ejected from the cinema due to misbehaviour, her adoptive mother Pippa finds her outside the cinema on her own and reprimands Blake and Sophie for not looking after her. Blake and Karen then raise some money to pay for a school trip by selling lamingtons which Ailsa helps them make. Blake and Sophie sneak off for a kiss one night on the trip and are caught by Grant, who Donald admonishes after he keeps it secret. When Year 10 begin a production of Romeo and Juliet, Blake is excluded as he has to serve weekend detention and Sophie lands the role of Juliet opposite the newly-arrived Haydn Ross' (Andrew Hill) Romeo. Blake, already having taken a dislike to Haydn, is furious when the relationship spills over into reality and after catching them kissing, He punches Haydn and Sophie dumps Blake. Sophie and Karen manage to get the two boys to bond over a bike race and they soon clash with school janitor Kenny Gibson when he sells them a useless car.
Blake tries to move on from to bounce back from Sophie by dating classmate Rachel Webb (Beth Champion). However, during a party at her place he finds her older brother Josh (Eric Mitsak) dealing drugs. Blake and Adam report Josh to the police and he is jailed. Rachel and Blake later split after she and her mother leave the Bay. Some months later, Josh returns, apparently having reformed while in prison and invites Blake and Adam on a camping trip. They discover he is planning to kill him and they quickly outwit him and Josh is imprisoned once again.
When Haydn leaves, Bake finds his social shrinking. When Karen begins dating local troublemaker Maurice "Revhead" Gibson (Gavin Harrison), Blake covers for her and is shocked when he learns they have robbed Alf's store. Karen and Revhead attempt to flee the bay but kill Donald's nephew David Croft (Guy Pearce) in a car accident while doing so. Karen is then arrested and imprisoned. Blake learns Sophie is pregnant with David's baby and offers to be a father to the child but she turns him down. Blake makes a new friend in Simon Fitzgerald (Richard Norton), who soon talks him into holding a party while Alf and Ailsa are out only for their guests, Sharyn and Annette, to set them up by leaving lingerie down the back of the sofa. Soon after Simon's father Bill (Terry Bader) is exposed as a con artist, Simon moves with Blake and the Stewarts.
Meg Bowman arrives in the bay and Blake is instantly smitten but her mother Julia tries to warn him. It emerges Meg is dying of leukaemia and Blake continues to see her. Meg tells Blake she has three wishes to fulfill before she dies, to swim with Dolphins, to ride and old-fashioned ship and to make love. Meg is not strong enough for her final wish, so Alf arranges for Blake and Meg to spend a weekend together at a hotel in the city. Several days later as Meg dies in Blake's arms on the beach as they watch the sun rise. Blake is depressed for a while and Alf arranges for him to go on an exchange trip. When he returns, Blake learns that Simon has gone back to live with Bill. Blake then begins spending time with Finlay Roberts (Tina Thomsen) and they share a kiss but he does not want a relationship with her and tries to let her down gently. Adam arranges a situation where Finlay catches Blake kissing another girl. Finlay takes revenge by sabotaging Blake's alarm clock, making him late for a HSC exam.
Les Bagley (John Orksik), Blake's estranged father re-enters his life. The Stewarts want him to stay away but Blake wants to get to know his dad and agrees to visit him. This drives a wedge between Blake and Alf and Blake leaves to live with Les. Blake later discovers he has a half-sister, Roxanne Miller (Lisa Lackey). Les is not interesting in knowing his daughter but Blake insists on tracking her down. Blake suggests Roxy take a job at Les' restaraunt but Les sees through this and hits Roxy. Blake turns his back on his father and returns to the Bay, taking Roxy with him. After an icy reunion, Blake and Alf reconcile. Blake takes up Scuba diving and spends more time with Finlay. When she is trapped during a dive, Blake raises the alarm and she is rescued. After Finlay is hospitalized, Blake shares a kiss with her and they become a couple. Karen returns to town after she is paroled. Blake learns she is still out of control and she starts a fight in a nightclub, which results in Blake being punched. When Karen flees the Bay after stealing money from Ailsa, Blake tracks her down in the city where she is staying with a criminal friend and tries to convince her to return. She refuses and Blake decides to join her in the city to keep an eye on her, which effectively ends his and Fin's romance.
Blake returns in 2002 to attends the town's 150th anniversary celebrations. When the cruise ship the Mirgini is wrecked in a storm, he, Sally and Sophie are stranded in the bush. They are eventually rescued and Blake's old feelings for Sophie come to the surface and they leave together. Blake disagrees with Sophie's plan to be a surrogate for Sally and her boyfriend Flynn Saunders (Martin Dingle-Wall; Joel McIlroy) but when Sophie discoves she was carrying two babies, one Sally and Flynn's and the other hers and Blake's, her daughter Tamara (Sophie Luck) summons Blake to the Bay. Sophie miscarried Sally's baby, but hers and Blake's child survives. They name the baby, David, after Tamara's father. Blake and Sophie leave town together again to raise their child as a family. However, when Sophie and Tamara return to town a few months later for Sally and Flynn's wedding, they reveal that Blake had proposed but did not turned up at the registry office and they have not seen him since. Blake returns two years later for Alf's 60th birthday and meets Sophie again. He apologises for his behavior and tells her that she and David are the most important people to him and she agrees to take him back.
Reception
Jess McGuire of Defamer said that she found Sophie and Blake being intimate, more disturbing to watch than two of the serial's sapphic characters kissing.[6] Darren Devlyn of News.com.au said that Hill "burst onto the acting scene" through Home and Away, but did not truely arrive as an actor while on the series.[7] Michael Idato writing for The Age said that Blake was a "rebellious teen" and noted that soap operas "rarely cast against type" so he was not surprised that Hill was rebellious too.[8] A columnist for Stuff.co.nz said that Blake was a "hunky teenager".[9] Jenna Price of The Sydney Morning Herald said that Hill was one of the serial's teenage actors that had a "pleasant awkwardness" about their portrayal. They added that Hill became Home and Away's new poster boy and "obliterated the memory of Craig McLachlan".[10]
References
- ^ "Dean Gallagher". Universal Channel. (NBCUniversal). Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Twenty years of Home and Away Part one 1988–1997". TV Week. ACP Magazines: 2–11. 12–18 January 2008.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Doherty, Ben (15 May 2002). "ChannelSurf". The Newcastle Herald. (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ Adie, Kilmeny (7 July 2005). "Home once more for birthday celebrations". Illawarra Mercury. (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "Murder, marriage and mayhem!". TV Week. Southdown Press: 9. 14–20 December 1991.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help)CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ McGuire, Jess (11 March 2009). "Home & Away Takes A Turn For The Sapphic". Defamer Australia. (Gawker Media). Retrieved 12 February 2012.
- ^ Devlyn, Darren (1 June 2011). "Big Ask with Aussie actor Les Hill". News.com.au. (News Limited). Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ Idato, Michael (6 August 2009). "Underbelly, the gift that keeps giving". The Age. (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "Les Hill". Stuff.co.nz. (Fairfax New Zealand). 30 March 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ Price, Jenna (24 February 1992). "Knocking off Neighbours". The Sydney Morning Herald. (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 20 February 2012.