Gilly Roach
Gilly Roach is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Anthony Quinlan. The character first appeared on-screen during the episode broadcast on 6 October 2005. Gilly was created in 2005 by executive producer David Hanson. Gilly has often been portrayed as a push-over and has a double act partnership with fellow character Rhys Ashworth. His main character traits have been his "nice attitude", with Quinlan branding Gilly in his first five years as a "push-over". He has been labelled a loser and unlucky in love after failed relationships with Jessica Harris, Beth Clement, Cheryl Brady and Jem Costello. In 2009, executive producer Lucy Alan made changes to the character and reached a mutual agreement with Quinlan to shave off his hair, which has characterised Gilly during his early years.
In 2010, he was paired with Steph Cunningham, who was later killed off after Stenson left her role. This resulted in a long-running storyline for Gilly in which he was seen taking a "dark journey" unable to cope with grief. Another big storyline for the character occurs in 2011 when Jacqui McQueen accuses him of rape; the storyline subsequently received media attention. A fictional jury consisting of viewers is to decide if he is guilty or innocent. Other storylines have involved the effects of binge drinking, which was portrayed during an online spin-off drama. Gilly has sometimes proved unpopular with television critics, with one branding him a "dampy drizzle of a character". Quinlan has also been nominated for minor awards for his portrayal. In 2011, it was announced that Quinlan would be leaving the serial to pursue other projects and would leave at the end of the rape storyline.
Character development
Relationship with Beth Clement
described Gilly on its official website, staying, "His most endearing quality is his honesty and despite his countless flaws, what you see is what you get. He's hardly a ladykiller but what he lacks in appearance he makes up for with charisma." E4 publicity describe Gilly as fun-loving and always trying to woo females but hardly manages to impress them and has also been described as unlucky-in-love after his failed relationships. Initially he failed to impress females and didn't have much in common with them. Gilly has been portrayed as a strong supporter of Manchester City F.C., it was this single thing that drew him and Beth Clement together. Gilly was later made a fool by Beth and his best friend Rhys Ashworth after they continued an affair despite the fact they were siblings, they split, Beth subsequently died and due to Gilly's forgiving personality he later forgave Rhys. Holy Soap opined that this was a stand out moment of the character's duration. Another storyline showing his timid personality was when he was mugged by a group of teenagers and was left fearing for his safety and even let them pick on him on the streets. In a further twist Gilly was left feeling so ashamed of the attack he pretended it was adult attackers fearing what people would think of him.Binge drinking
In a spin-off series titled Hollyoaks: The Morning After The Night Before, Gilly and Josh Ashworth go to Manchester. The series explored the dangers of bringe drinking and was funded by the Home Office. This was the start of changes implemented to the character that would continue into the main series. During the spin-off he was portrayed having negative experiences with excessive alcohol consumption, of this Quinlan said, "Gilly and Josh had a little fight over Ruby, so the character did change due to all the drink consumed. His mood changed further when he attempted to run after Josh after the scuffle, and fell down a set of stairs in the nightclub, losing some of his teeth. After the incident he couldn't wait to get back home to the village." He then said that he wanted viewers to learn from his character's scenario and be responsible while drinking, saying, "It will make people think twice about binge drinking and make people aware of the consequences if you do."When the character lost his teeth it made the character's low confidence worsen. Quinlan comment on this saying, "Gilly's confidence was always low really - self-confidence, self-belief. But having no teeth isn't good to look at - not a good look. It's going to draw attention to him and not do him any favours." To enable continuity the character was scripted a slight speech impediment and behind the scenes Quinlan had a special palette fitted. It was a real one fitted by dentists and paid for by the show which blacked the character's front teeth and left a chipped one at the side. Quinlan said that it was quite difficult to speak when wearing it, but praised it as being realistic to have some form of speech impediment having teeth knocked out. Talking of his character's changes and lessons learnt during the special episodes Quinlan said, "I think Gilly's learnt to chill out a little, not to follow the crowd and be a sheep. Everyone was drinking loads, he got caught up in it and he came out on the wrong side of it. So, I think there is a lesson learned there - Gilly will do his own thing and not drink as much."
Relationship with Steph Cunningham
Gilly was later seen using his new look in attempt to get the affections of Steph Cunningham. After failing he acted out of character and struck up a scam date with Cheryl Brady to make Steph jealous but it back-fired when his false tooth came loose in Cheryl's mouth. He later has relationships with Cheryl and Jem Costello. Another change implemented during this period was a dramatic change to the character's appearance after new series producer Lucy Allan and Quinlan came to a mutual decision to transform his hairstyle by shaving it all off, a stark contrast as during his early years he was constantly seen with long hair.After Gilly eventually starts a relationship with Steph, she is diagnosed with cervical cancer and initially keeps the news a secret from him. Stenson said of Steph's reasoning, "With Gilly, she's embarrassed and doesn't want him to look after her." Speaking of the storyline Quinlan said during an interview with Inside Soap, "I think Gilly's really gutted that he didn't get together with Steph sooner - he wasted so much time with Cheryl and Jem, when really he was in love with her." At one point, Steph cancels her wedding to Gilly because he cannot accept she is dying. Of this Quinlan said, "His denial is not helping her. She's tying to take this in her stride and wants to spend quality time with the people she loves before she goes. She tells him he has to accept she's going to die or the wedding is off. and she hands back her engagement ring." Quinlan has also said that he was eager for the pair to marry because of the "tear jerking" scenes it would create. Steph was killed off during a special week of episodes dubbed "fire week". The cast filmed many stunts themselves, and Quinlan filmed scenes in front of a burning set, and said that he "was very manly about it" whilst filming a ladder rescue scene. Gilly's immediate grief resulted in the characters name trending on Twitter, about which Quinlan said, "So glad that the ep had the impact that was desired! Buzzing Gilly is trended again!" Gilly's grief is made worse because of Steph deciding to die prematurely. Quinlan said, "He's grieving - he just can't understand why she took her life like that." He added that Gilly's grief turns to anger because he cannot get the answers to his questions. Quinlan wanted Gilly to take a different route, saying, "I'd like to see Gilly go down a bit of a different route because he’s been a bit of a push-over in the past. I'd like to see his character progress a bit more and I'd like to see a side of him that we haven't seen before." Gilly's grief continued to worsen with Quinlan adding, "The poor guy's heading off on a very dark journey that I'm sure he'll live to regret." As Gilly is still so angry, at Steph's funeral, the director of the episode asked Quinlan not to cry at all during the ceremony. Quinlan added, "It was all so heartfelt, though, that I broke down for real a few times - and I think that's going to come across in the final episode."
Sexual assault
Gilly later finds himself attracted to Lynsey Nolan. He initially fears he is moving on to soon. While interviewed by Inside Soap, Quinlan described the scenes in which they share their first kiss saying, "Gilly gets a new job at Look Sharpe as a personal trainer, and invites Lynsey for a free session, Lynsey's looking pretty good when she turns up, so Gilly gets a bit sweaty and hot under the collar - and she ends up hopping into the tub and dragging Gilly in fully clothed!" They later meet up and feel awkward because of Gilly's grief for Steph. Of this, Quinlan said, "They're getting on well, but as soon as the word date is mentioned, it goes a bit wrong, nerves get the better of them and they have a huge row." Off-screen, Quinlan was not happy with the fact Gilly was trying to move on quickly, saying, "I thought it was a bit harsh, it feels like it's a little too soon, doesn't it? We'll just have to wait and see what the future holds for Gilly and Lynsey - but there's no comparison to Steph..."In December 2010, Channel 4 released a press statement that Jacqui McQueen would cheat on Rhys with Gilly and that the night's events would "change their lives forever". It was later announced that the storyline would see Jacqui accusing Gilly of raping her. The storyline received much coverage in various tabloid newspapers who also branded it as a "shock plot" for the serial. None of the cast members involved in the storyline knew if Jacqui had actually been raped. Cooper said, "They're telling the same story but are looking at it from different angles. Just who to believe is a very grey area. It will split the village and the viewers. We don't know what happened that night. We've just been told that our characters each think they're telling the truth. and I have talked about it a lot. I even read his scripts to try to work it out. The outcome will be a surprise for both of us."
The storyline began to play out on-screen in February 2011. Describing how it starts to develop and the effects it has on Gilly, a spokesperson for the serial told Inside Soap, "She runs into Gilly who's also got relationship problems. The drink starts to flow, and one thing leads to another... Gilly consumed with guilt over sleeping with his best friend's girlfriend, it doesn't help that Jacqui leaves Gilly's place while he's asleep - and runs into Rhys. But after Gilly wakes up, he knows he has to tell his mate what he's done. When Gilly confesses, Rhys is both furious and hurt, and lashes out violently. Once he's confronted Gilly, he demands an explanation from Jacqui - and is stunned when she tells him she was actually raped, it's absolutely devastating." The storyline later takes another turn when Gilly confronts Jacqui in the village with everyone watching, leading everyone to doubt if he did commit the act or not.
It was later revealed that the details were left unclear because Lime Pictures had decided to leave the outcome of the rape trial to viewers. Viewers were given the chance to apply to be the fictional jury, consisting of a cross section of society, including non-Hollyoaks viewers. They were shown evidence from the case and then decided whether Gilly was guilty or not guilty. The chief executive of Lime Pictures, Carolyn Reynolds said, "We wanted to open up the thorny issue of how hard it is to be a juror and whether the court room is the best place to resolve some of these questions about rape." The storyline was developed with the St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre and other charities. Detective Chief Inspector Ben Snuggs, leader of Don't Cross the Line campaign, explained, "This storyline represents an issue that we see all too often, involving whether consent is clear on the part of both parties involved in sexual activity, and particularly when alcohol and drugs are involved."
In late 2011, Quinlan announced his departure from Hollyoaks. The serial decided to write a conclusion to the rape storyline, broadcast in a special three-handed episode centred on Gilly, Jacqui and Rhys, which had Gilly confessing to the rape as he had known Jacqui was not consenting.