Rory Finnigan
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| Rory Finnigan | |||||||||||
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| Hollyoaks character | |||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | James Redmond | ||||||||||
| Duration | 1998–2002, 2013, 2015, 2017–2018 | ||||||||||
| First appearance | June 1998 | ||||||||||
| Last appearance | 5 March 2018 | ||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||
| Introduced by | Phil Redmond (1998) Brian Kirkwood (2013, 2015, 2017) | ||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances | Hollyoaks: Movin' On (2001) Hollyoaks Later (2013) | ||||||||||
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Rory "Finn" Finnigan is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by James Redmond. He first appeared in June 1998 before leaving in January 2002.[1] He left to return to his previous life before his time in Hollyoaks village. Finn returned for the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later.[2] Hollyoaks celebrated twenty years on air in October 2015, with Redmond reprising his role for the celebrations. In October 2017, Hollyoaks confirmed that Finn was returning at Christmas. Finn returned on 14 December 2017 before departing on 5 March 2018.
Casting
In 2009 the Daily Star reported current Hollyoaks producer Lucy Allan was planning to lure Redmond back into his role.[3] On 12 June 2013, it was announced that Redmond had reprised his role for the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later.[2] On 6 October 2015 it was announced that Redmond will be reprising the role for its 20th Anniversary. In October 2017 it was confirmed that Redmond will return on 14 December 2017 but departed again in March 2018.
Characterisation
Rory has been described as a "cheeky chancer" and a " heart-throb".[4]
Storylines
Rory Finnigan, better known as Finn, was lovable and cheeky. Finn arrived in Hollyoaks when Tony Hutchinson discovered a supposed vagrant sleeping in Jambo's old shed. Little did Tony realise that this philosophical, free-spirited charmer would become one of his closest friends. Immediately, Tony went on a mission to have Finn evicted from the shed, beginning a comical rivalry that would continue throughout Finn's time in the village. Finn's father was in prison and his mother was dead, so he tended to drift from place to place. He had no idea how long he would remain in Hollyoaks, yet he planned to stick around and see what opportunities came his way. Whilst persevering in his war with Tony, Finn soon hooked up with Lewis Richardson and together they ran a market in the Yard, with Finn specialising in selling antiques. Along the way, Finn embarked on quite a few money-making ventures, the most infamous being the time he decided to use his double-decker bus as a tour bus around Chester, procuring the services of Carol Groves as the unsuspecting tour guide.
Finn's enigmatic status attracted considerable interest from women in Hollyoaks including Jude Cunningham, Kate Patrick, Carol Groves and Geri Hudson, even more so when he revealed that he was, in fact, Lord Kildiggin and heir to a castle in Ireland. True to his nature, Finn declined the inheritance of his castle and although he retained his title, he preferred the life of an anonymous drifter. Carol and Finn embarked on a passionate and sometimes tumultuous relationship, climaxing in a marathon 48-hour session on Finn's bus, yet Chis free-spirited nature and roving eye brought the relationship to a premature close. Finn and Lewis found another money-making idea when they began to organise Nineties revival nights at a local club, giving them the idea of building their own night-club. After using Finn's title to secure a bank loan, the pair finally got the go ahead to build The Loft. Problems in Finn's relationship with Tony resurfaced when an unsuspecting Finn embarked on an affair with a woman called Victoria (Fiona Mollison). Even Finn was shocked to discover that she was Tony's mother. Unsurprisingly, Tony was actively against the union, but the two carried on regardless. Soon, Victoria became Victoria Finnigan and along with the marriage came Finn's new role as Tony's stepfather. Finn and Victoria's marriage lasted for six months, collapsing after Victoria discovered that Finn had been unfaithful. The end of the marriage marked the beginning of Finn's life crisis when he began to question what it was he wanted from life.
Whilst business at The Loft continued to thrive, Finn became increasingly bored with life and, after learning that Lewis had got himself in debt and had to put the future of the club in jeopardy, he persuaded Tony to buy out Lewis. Finn returned the favour by buying into Tony's new restaurant 'Il Gnosh' and they both became embroiled in a new set of adventures in Hollyoaks: Movin' On. Finn's life crisis continued, however, and Lewis's shocking death only underscored his belief that life was indeed too short. Whilst Finn returned to Hollyoaks, it was not long before he moved on. He left the running of The Loft to Tony, saying that he wanted to return to the life he used to have, the life of uncertainty. And so Finn boarded a barge with a mystery woman (cameo appearance by TV presenter Cat Deeley) and sailed off into the sunset.
Finn returned in 2013 for series six of Hollyoaks: Later in which he, Tony, Harry Thompson (Parry Glasspool) and Dom Reilly (John Pickard) go to Spain to attend Dom's wedding and embark on crazy adventures and run foul of a gangster known as The White Man (Danny Dyer). Kurt Benson (Jeremy Edwards) also appeared as visions in Tony's mind
In October 2015, Finn returns to Hollyoaks for the wedding of Tony and Diane O'Connor.
In December 2017, Finn returns to help Diane who is worried about Tony's mental health, later, he takes a drunken Cindy Cunningham home. In February 2018,Finn returns and tries to buy the restaurant with Tony but is shocked to find out that Tony has brought the restaurant with other villagers and never asked Finn. Finn catches up with Luke Morgan and gives Tony a present of an old newspaper of the restaurant years ago. Finn decides to enter business with Cindy instead but they don't have the money. Cindy robs 10,000 Off Tom and puts it on a dog but it fails to win.Milo tracks the ip address for Tom and blames Finn for taking the money. Milo wants to get rid of Finn as Finn doesn't like him. Cindy admits to Finn that she took the money but Finn still takes the blame. He promises to pay Tom back and after saying goodbye to Tony,Finn leaves for Margate.
Reception
MSN described him as having "a face like a seal".[5]
References
- ^ Evans, Matthew (2002). Hollyoaks: The Official Companion. London: Channel 4 Books. p. 152. ISBN 0-7522-2000-4.
- ^ a b Kilkelly, Daniel (12 June 2013). "'Hollyoaks Later' returning for sixth series". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- ^ Hill, Susan (25 January 2009). "Gem's chest-er great!". Daily Star. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ "The Diary: Finn is new Ant 'n' Dec". Sunday Mirror. 2 September 2001. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ Cooper, Lorna. "Hollyoaks: where are they now? James Redmond". MSN. MSN. Archived from the original on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2011.