Spencer Gray
This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (April 2021) |
Spencer Gray | |||||||||
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Hollyoaks character | |||||||||
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Created by | Bryan Kirkwood | ||||||||
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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.[1] 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.
Character creation
Background
The introduction of Spencer, a new on-screen relative of established character Warren Fox, was first announced in October 2008. The character was revealed to be Warren's former foster brother from his childhood [2]and was introduced to explore Warren's past in more depth. It was made clear that Spencer would have learning disabilities and a mental age of a 10-year-old.[1][2]
When the character made his first appearance on-screen, Warren and Spencer spoke of their troubled pasts and Spencer pleaded with Warren to look after him. Later on, Spencer was cared for by Warren's girlfriend, Sasha Valentine, and her family. Eventually, Spencer left the village with them when they departed.
Casting
Auditions were held for the part of Spencer with actor Darren John Langford going on to secure the role.[2] The part was Langford's first major television role after appearing in television commercials and theatre roles prior to the casting.[1] Langford also credited his early chemistry, with Jamie Lomas, during the audition process, as helping him settle into the role.[3]
In early 2010, it was announced that
Development
Personality and identity
In the soap opera, Spencer's personality is unique as, at times, it fits with his learning disabilities. He is portrayed as acting like a child, since he is mentally around ten years old.[1] Fellow cast members have commented that he is shown to act in a manner that corresponds to those in their twenties, yet in a 'less adult way'.[9]
Warren's "death"
During the soap opera, when his only relative in the series was killed off after Jamie Lomas quit the series, it was confirmed that Spencer would not be leaving. A transition in the character saw him being more independent as a character with his new-found responsibilities such as owning two businesses and a home. At the time of character Warren's funeral, Spencer was seen refusing to believe his death had taken place. This clearly showed Spencer's unwillingness to accept his death because he was easily manipulated by
Storylines
2008–2010
The character Warren Fox found it hard to cope with him, but Spencer begged Warren not to hand him over to
In episodes after Warren's solicitor informed Spencer that Warren had left The Loft, Evissa and his flat to him in his will. Spencer was fooled into selling The Loft to
In late 2009, after a brief hiatus, Spencer became friends with students India Longford and Dave Colburn. Dave used Spencer by getting free drinks from him when Calvin caught him out they argued about how Calvin too uses Spencer for his business, which resulted in Calvin punching Dave. Meanwhile, Spencer developed a crush on India but when she turned him down Spencer picked up a live firework which burnt his hand.
In March 2010 Spencer was revealed to be the person who was looking after
When Calvin is interviewed about his involvement in Warren's death, he lets slip about Spencer's involvement in Holly's disappearance. This then leads to Spencer being interrogated by the police at the station, where his inability to defend himself worsens however all charges are dropped.
Spencer makes a close friendship with Lauren Valentine and Gaz Bennett however they are using him for his money. Lauren gets Spencer drunk and then makes him believe they slept together. However, she lies to him that she's pregnant with his child and that he has to give her £2000 to have a termination, while she's actually trying to con him out of his inheritance with Gaz so that she can run away with him. Spencer panics and tells Sasha about the situation and she believes Gaz is the father, meaning that Spencer didn't explain the whole story about him and Lauren. Although everyone believes that Gaz got Lauren pregnant, they are not aware she is not pregnant at all, however, Gaz and Lauren have no choice but to continue with their plan.
Spencer breaks up his friendship and falls out with Calvin after he discovers that Calvin left Warren to die in the fire and didn't help him.
A few weeks later, Calvin is shot dead by Theresa McQueen, which devastated Spencer as he had always looked to Calvin as a big brother. Three months later, the Valentines decided to make a fresh start out of Hollyoaks and so decided to take Spencer with them. They left on 13 August 2010.
In October 2010 Warren returned to Hollyoaks after being dead for the last year and it has been told that Spencer has been told but has not returned to see him. Nine years later, it was revealed that Warren had been staying with him along with his twins Sophie and Sebastian, so that the twins' mother Sienna would not find them.
Reception
Kris Green of media reporting website Digital Spy spoke of his admiration for the character when he praised actor Langford for his portrayal and his chemistry with Jamie Lomas (Warren), saying: "Spencer is a fascinating character - a character whom you can't take your eyes off when he's on screen. Langford has the part down to a tee and they certainly have the chemistry between them just right."[12] He also praised episodes the character appeared in as "unmissable".[12] Fellow cast member Nathalie Emmanuel, who plays Sasha Valentine in the series, has spoken about how Langford captured the character of Spencer amazingly in the way that he's not made out to be 'childlike', stating: "Even though Spencer has the mental age of a child, he still comes across like a 24-year-old guy."[9]
In 2009 Ruth Deller of entertainment website Lowculture who runs a monthly feature of the most popular and unpopular soap opera characters, profiled Spencer, calling him an irritating character, also stating: "So good he doesn’t have a surname, with some sort of learning difficulty that’s also as-yet unnamed, Spencer’s only purpose seems to be to make Warren sympathetic. [...] Hollyoaks has questionable morality at the best of times, and we’d maybe forgive them the addition of Spencer if he was a well-acted likeable character with a specific difficulty that was portrayed accurately. But instead, it’s just a case of epic fail all round."[13]
References
- ^ a b c d "Spencer Gray » Boys » Cast » Hollyoaks » Channel 4". Channel 4. January 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ a b c Green, Kris (13 October 2008). "Soaps - News - Foster brother for 'Hollyoaks' Warren". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ "Ask The Cast » Hollyoaks » Channel 4". Channel 4. 3 February 2009. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ Green, Kris (15 January 2010). "'Hollyoaks' producer Allan quits soap". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
- ^ Green, Kris (11 February 2010). "New 'Hollyoaks' boss shakes up production". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
- ^ Green, Kris (9 February 2010). "New 'Hollyoaks' producer axes three". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
- ^ "'Oaks cast "unsettled" by new producer". Digital Spy. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
- ^ Green, Kris (8 March 2010). "'Hollyoaks' producer axes 11 more". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
- ^ a b Green, Kris (3 March 2009). "Hollyoaks - Soap Scoop - Hollyoaks' Sasha on Spencer, drugs and Fletch". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ "'Hollyoaks's Spencer Loses Control". Female First. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ Green, Kris (3 July 2009). "POTD: Warren's funeral in 'Hollyoaks'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ a b Green, Kris (14 December 2008). "Soap Scoop - Janine's wedding, Corrie Xmas and an E'dale exit". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ Deller, Ruth (28 February 2009). "Soapstar Superstars: February". Lowculture. Archived from the original on 9 September 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
External links
- Spencer Gray on the E4 website