Rob Hollins (Doctors)

Rob Hollins is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''Doctors'', portrayed by Chris Walker. Rob was introduced as a police sergeant at Letherbridge police station and made his first appearance during the episode broadcast 24 July 2009. Rob is the husband of Karen Hollins (Jan Pearson), a receptionist at the fictional Mill Health Centre, as well as the father of Imogen ( Charlie Clemmow) and Jack Hollins (Nicolas Woodman). Rob is depicted as a dependable family man and it has been noted that whenever another character needs advice, Rob would always be there to help. Rob's storyline in the programme have included disagreeing with Karen on aborting their baby, accidentally causing his wife's amnesia, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), becoming a foster parent, being accused of police brutality and the breakdown and reconciliation of his marriage. Rob's PTSD was explored over the duration of a year with the climax coinciding with Mental Health Awareness Week in 2018, with the storyline being revisited in 2021.

Walker enjoys working with Pearson to portray Rob and Karen's marriage on ''Doctors'' and they have stated that despite their numerous breakdowns and reconciliations, the pair will always be strong as a couple. Walker himself devised a storyline for Karen's memory loss which was played out for a year-long story arc; the story involved the couple having a break from each other which they enjoyed since it was something different for them to film. Walker and Pearson won the 2010 British Soap Award for Best On-Screen Partnership, as well as being nominated again in 2022. For his portrayal of Rob, Walker has been nominated for Best Actor, Best Leading Performer and Best Male Dramatic Performance at the British Soap Awards, as well as receiving nominations in the Serial Drama Performance category at the National Television Awards, Acting Performance of the Year at the RTS Midlands Awards and Best Daytime Star at the ''Inside Soap'' Awards.

Characterisation

On his BBC character profile, Rob is described as a "stable and reliable" family man, as well as an alpha male. The profile noted that at work, Rob is highly respected due to his experience as a "seasoned copper". It also explained that he is not the type of person to be intimidated by people in charge and that "if he smells injustice", he will ignore orders to do the right thing, even if it does not work in his favour. On his relationship with Karen (Jan Pearson), the profile noted that they have a "teasing banter" and that Rob can always find a way to make Karen laugh out of one of her dramas. In 2021, Walker talked about Rob's clothing on the soap. He explained that after 12 years on ''Doctors'', he still enjoys wearing the police uniform, but that if he could, he would "definitely tell Rob to buy better clothes". He said that his character needs to chill out and that Rob acts "so middle-aged", joking that he would not "chew the fat with him in the corner of a pub". He added that Rob is "a dependable character", and that when somebody needs advice or support, there is no doubt that Rob would be the ideal person to ask.

Storylines

Karen is approached by Gerry Cutler (Steffan Rhodri), the father of Lewis (Alexander Vlahos), Jack's (Nicolas Woodman) friend from university. He asks if Lewis can stay at their house over the Easter holidays, to which she accepts. Unknown to the Hollins family, Lewis has mental health issues. As the week continues, his problems become clear, but Lewis covers his tracks. After Karen sees a knife mark in her kitchen table, she knows it was done by Lewis. Imogen ( Charlie Clemmow) then realises that her art project has been tampered with by Lewis. Jack is called to a fake interview at the university, which is later revealed to be Lewis holding people hostage with a gun. Rob runs inside despite being warned not to and helps Karen to defeat Lewis. When Karen becomes pregnant, she does not want to have the baby, whereas Rob wants a child. She informs him that she wants to have an abortion, which he disagrees with. She has the termination, and as a result, their relationship is strained. She goes to live with her father but eventually tells Rob her plans to reconcile their marriage, and after saving her from a burning building, they recommence their relationship.

After Rob accidentally hits Karen with his car, she develops amnesia. She forgets who Rob and her children are and believes that she is 18. After she has recovered her memories and their children move out to attend higher education, Rob and Karen decide to become foster parents. Bren Lee (Andrea Gordon), the mother of Karen's colleague Ayesha (Laura Rollins), is brought into custody at the police station. Rob's colleague Emma Reid (Dido Miles) is shocked to find that Bren has died in police custody. Rob, the sergeant on shift at the time, had a blackout when he was due to be checking over Bren, and he confides in Emma that he feels responsible. Emma lies to the investigating officer, stating that Rob performed all of the checks diligently. Rob later confesses and Emma is almost suspended. Ayesha struggles to forgive both Rob and Emma, due to feeling that the pair are trying to cover up a case of police brutality. Feeling responsible for Bren's death, Rob stops going to work and has heightened anger levels. He later approaches Ayesha, where he apologises. Due to feeling incapable to be a foster parent, Rob meets with social worker Jane Fairweather (Patricia Potter) and lies to her by saying that Karen is unable to foster due to her history of amnesia. Jane informs Karen of this, who is angry with Rob due to feeling responsible for his state. When the pair foster Jayden Hunt (Ciaran Stow), a 14-year-old with epilepsy, they look into getting him medical aid for his seizures. They discover that Jayden has been using Karen's money to buy marijuana, since it eases his condition. Rob warns him not to do it again due to his police career being put at stake, but Karen disagrees. She meets with Iris Nicholson (Jenny Stokes), a local drug dealer, to buy Jayden marijuana. She is stopped by Rob's colleague, Pat Dyson (Dawn Butler), who states that she will not tell Rob. However, Karen later confesses what she has done to Rob, who is angry with her decision to go behind his back.

Due to unexpectedly experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from a brutal accident he witnessed years prior, he pushes Karen away and forms a close bond with colleague Harriet Shelton (Carley Stenson). When Harriet and Rob are chasing criminals Aaron Jeffries (Zak Douglas) and Lenny Calhoun (Nicholas Chambers), Harriet finds Rob standing over the body of Aaron, who is laying lifeless at the bottom of a staircase. She questions a clueless Rob on what happened and rushes to help Aaron, but Rob cannot remember due to suffering from a blackout at the time. Despite being responsible for pushing Aaron down the stairs, Harriet allows Rob to be framed for the attack leading to him being forced into a break from work, which worsens his mental state and his marriage. He eventually learns that Harriet framed him and cuts all contact with her, vowing to improve himself and his marriage to Karen.

Development

Marriage to Karen Hollins

Walker and Pearson spoke to Digital Spy about their onscreen chemistry. Talking about their first scenes together, Walker said: "First day on set, in fact first scene it was, 'Hi I'm Chris', 'Hi I'm Jan', right get into bed. So that broke the ice." When asked why they work so well together on the soap, he explained: "I think that we're not precious with our own stuff and we always want to give and help each other and that's nice, and we do row very well." In 2021, Walker spoke again about their relationship to ''Inside Soap'' after the pair had become experienced foster parents. While dealing with a difficult case involving a child with anger management issues, Karen hides details from Rob about the incidents. Walker stated that the situation would "cause friction" in their relationship, and compared the "different skills and different ways" that the pair deal with problems. However, Walker explained that despite the situation, they are still "so strong as a couple" and that with Rob and Karen, "you always get the feeling that they'll get through it somehow", meaning they can deal with the issues that come with fostering difficult children.

After Rob's wife Karen becomes involved in a memory loss storyline, Pearson revealed that Walker devised the storyline. Speaking to Digital Spy at the launch of Pentahotel Birmingham, Pearson explained: "The story has been hugely long and it's still going on. I've been filming it for a year now. It was very exciting because it was Chris's idea. I think his original idea was that Karen would be run over by some ex of Rob's. The producers didn't run with that, but they did run with the accident and the memory loss. I was utterly delighted that Chris was responsible for running me over! We now have a very playful banter over who's to blame for the situation!" Pearson added: "We always knew that Karen and Rob were going to get back together in the end, but the break-up made a nice change from what we normally do. Because it was Chris's storyline and his idea, I really wanted to give it my best shot. What Chris came up with was very detailed - it was extraordinary. If the acting career doesn't work out for him, I think he's got a really good shot as a storyliner".

Post-traumatic stress disorder and fostering

In May 2017, producers began a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) storyline for Rob. They wanted the climax of his storyline to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2018. However, they did not want to have Rob experience a sudden battle with mental health within that week as they found that would be "counter-productive and unrealistic". Therefore, they "seeded in" his struggle over the duration of a year. Producers did not just want to focus on Rob, but also the people around him, and his career. The PTSD begins after Rob and Sid Vere (Ashley Rice) witness a decapitation at the scene of a car accident. The effects of what he saw impact on his plans to foster children with Karen. In the meeting with the fostering board, he talks about how despite his struggles, he has gotten "an insight that many people won't have". They are eventually allowed to foster. They become foster parents to Ella (Lily-Mae Evans) and Tom Robson (Max True) after their mother is murdered and their father is imprisoned. In an interview with ''Inside Soap'', Walker praised the performances of True and Evans. He praised them for coming to work everyday "with smiles on their faces" despite the challenging roles they are playing. He added that they are "super" in their portrayal of the children and that himself and Pearson get on with them "like a house on fire".

In 2021, producers decided to revisit Rob's PTSD. When Rob begins working with Harriet, he "doesn’t exactly give Harriet a warm welcome". Rob is unhappy about having to mentor Harriet, but they are thrown into working together when they are put on a case with each other. Since they do not initially get along, Harriet makes an effort to know Rob. She learns about Rob and Karen's foster work, and when they get along, Rob invites her to a quiz night. Whilst on a crime scene, Rob pauses and Harriet is forced to cover for him; she asks why he blanked and he claims that it was a moment of old age. Rob later opens up to Harret, explaining that he suffers from PTSD. Harriet lends her support to Rob, stating she will always be there for him. When Harriet and Rob are chasing criminals Aaron Jeffries (Zak Douglas) and Lenny Calhoun (Nicholas Chambers), Harriet finds Rob standing over the body of Aaron, who is laying lifeless at the bottom of a staircase. She questions a clueless Rob on what happened and rushes to help Aaron. Rob is signed off work due to the incident and he "fear for his future". His PTSD leads him to destroy his marriage with Karen, which he opens up to Sid about. After Marvin Bulis (Philip Martin Brown) reveals that he saw the events, he gives a witness statement stating that Harriet pushed Aaron down the flight of stairs. She is arrested and apologises to Rob, telling him that if not for framing him for the assault, she believes that the pair could have become romantic. Rob argues with Karen to the point where he packs his bags and "storms off". They eventually reconcile after their marriage troubles when Rob apologises to her and affirms that he will treat her better.

Reception

At the 2010 British Soap Awards, Walker and Pearson received the award for Best On-Screen Partnership. Later that year, Walker was nominated for Male Acting Performance at the RTS Midlands Awards. In 2013, he was longlisted for Best Actor at the British Soap Awards, as well as receiving another nomination at the RTS Midlands Awards. In 2014, Walker was nominated for Best Dramatic Performance at the British Soap Awards. In 2017, Walker was longlisted for Best Daytime Star at the ''Inside Soap'' Awards. The nomination did not progress to the viewer-voted shortlist. He was also shortlisted for Acting Performance of the Year at the RTS Midlands Awards later that year. A year later, he received a longlist nomination at the 23rd National Television Awards for Serial Drama Performance. In 2019, he was again nominated for Best Actor at the British Soap Awards. The revisit to Rob's PTSD saw Walker garner two more Best Daytime Star nominations at the ''Inside Soap'' Awards, in 2021 and 2022. It also saw him nominated for the Best Leading Performer award at the 2022 British Soap Awards, as well as Rob and Karen being nominated for Best On-Screen Partnership again.

See also

* List of ''Doctors'' characters (2009)

References

External links

Rob Hollins
at BBC Online

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollins, Rob
Doctors (2000 TV series) characters
Fictional British police officers
Fictional characters with psychiatric disorders
Fictional characters with post-traumatic stress disorder
Male characters in television
Television characters introduced in 2009