Gordon Cunningham
Encyclopedia
Gordon Hilton Cunningham (commonly referred to as Mr. C) is a fictional character
from the long-running Channel 4
soap opera
Hollyoaks
, played by Bernard Latham. He first appeared as one of the original characters on the show when it started, he left in 2004 when the character died of a heart attack which he had after being involved in a car crash. He briefly returned in 2008 in a dream sequence.
, Dawn
, Cindy
and Jude. In 1999, Gordon married Helen Richardson
, who then gave birth to Tom
.
when she struggles to fend off the advances of her mother's new boyfriend, Terry. Gordon tries to help his ex-wife, Angela overcome her crippling debts and tries to inject some discipline into the lives of their wayward children. Gordon soon builds up a witty repartee with Tony Hutchinson
, when he becomes landlord of Got it Taped, and finds himself in various scrapes in his desperate attempts to keep Max and Cindy on the straight and narrow. However, things get bad for Gordon as he loses Dawn to leukaemia, and also is saddened when Jude runs off the next year after getting herself in trouble with the police.
Gordon opens his own mini supermarket called Drive 'n' Buy. He rediscovers the joys of romance later in life, falling for the recently divorced Helen Richardson
. When he discovers that Helen is pregnant with his child, he does the honourable thing and asks her to marry him. With Helen come her children, Mandy
and Lewis Richardson, promoting the merging of the Cunningham and Richardson families. Soon, Gordon becomes "Councillor of Chester", after he beats tough competition from Tony Hutchinson and Matt Musgrove. With the Richardson family comes considerable angst, culminating in Lewis's suicide, yet Gordon proves himself as the rock to his wife and together they have a son called Tom. Gordon began to become self-conscious. After he turns fifty, he begins a 'new look' to make himself look younger with the help of student, Nick O'Connor
.
Gordon's world ruptures when Max tells him that Helen is having an affair with Tony. Gordon is shattered even more when Helen decides to leave him for Tony, but Gordon is convinced that Helen will come back to him. Struggling to cope without Helen, Gordon receives comfort from David "Bombhead" Burke. Gordon becomes a father figure to Bombhead. Eventually, Helen returns to Gordon and with some match fixing from Mandy and Max, the pair are reunited. However, tragedy strikes for Gordon when he is distracted by Tom and ends up crashing the car. Gordon takes a heart attack immediately and dies in hospital. Helen also dies a few days later and Tom is left as an orphan. In Helen and Gordon's wills, Tom is supposed to live with Mandy but instead he goes to live with Max.
Max dies on June 27, 2008. Two days later, when the show is replayed on the omnibus edition, the show is followed by a dream sequence on T4
, which shows Max being reunited with Gordon in heaven. Whilst father and son are overcome with emotion at being reunited, Max tells his father that he has sold Drive 'n' Buy. Gordon's joy of the reunion vanishes, as he smacks Max around the head and calls him a "berk".
In a 2009 non-canon special entitled Hollyoaks: The Good, the Bad and the Gorgeous, Latham returns to reprise the role of Gordon once again from beyond the grave, where he runs a cinema showing previous Hollyoaks clips.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the long-running Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
, played by Bernard Latham. He first appeared as one of the original characters on the show when it started, he left in 2004 when the character died of a heart attack which he had after being involved in a car crash. He briefly returned in 2008 in a dream sequence.
Personality and identity
Gordon was an irascible though kind-hearted man who often displayed an amazing tendency to infuriate those that loved him the most. Gordon often had to deal with family problems including daughter Dawn's leukaemia, Cindy's teenage pregnancy and his ill-fated marriage to Helen. Gordon had four children to first wife Angela, they are MaxMax Cunningham
Max Cunningham is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Matt Littler. From 1995 to 1996, Max was portrayed by Ben Sheriff before Littler took over. In 2008, Max, along with Tony Hutchinson , was the longest running character in Hollyoaks...
, Dawn
Dawn Cunningham
Dawn Cunningham is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lisa Williamson. Williamson was cast as one of the original characters on Hollyoaks in 1995, however she left in 1997 when the character died....
, Cindy
Cindy Cunningham
Cindy Longford is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Stephanie Waring...
and Jude. In 1999, Gordon married Helen Richardson
Helen Cunningham
Helen Cunningham is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, played by Kathryn George. George first appeared in the role in 1997 before the character was written out in 2004 when she was killed in a car accident...
, who then gave birth to Tom
Tom Cunningham
Thomas "Tom" Cunningham is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ellis Hollins. Hollins has portrayed the character since his birth in 1999.-Storylines:...
.
1995–2004
Gordon begins to comfort his daughter DawnDawn Cunningham
Dawn Cunningham is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lisa Williamson. Williamson was cast as one of the original characters on Hollyoaks in 1995, however she left in 1997 when the character died....
when she struggles to fend off the advances of her mother's new boyfriend, Terry. Gordon tries to help his ex-wife, Angela overcome her crippling debts and tries to inject some discipline into the lives of their wayward children. Gordon soon builds up a witty repartee with Tony Hutchinson
Tony Hutchinson
Anthony "Tony" Hutchinson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nick Pickard. Tony first appeared on-screen on 23 October 1995, the first episode of the series, and is the only original character still on the show to the present day...
, when he becomes landlord of Got it Taped, and finds himself in various scrapes in his desperate attempts to keep Max and Cindy on the straight and narrow. However, things get bad for Gordon as he loses Dawn to leukaemia, and also is saddened when Jude runs off the next year after getting herself in trouble with the police.
Gordon opens his own mini supermarket called Drive 'n' Buy. He rediscovers the joys of romance later in life, falling for the recently divorced Helen Richardson
Helen Cunningham
Helen Cunningham is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, played by Kathryn George. George first appeared in the role in 1997 before the character was written out in 2004 when she was killed in a car accident...
. When he discovers that Helen is pregnant with his child, he does the honourable thing and asks her to marry him. With Helen come her children, Mandy
Mandy Richardson
Mandy Richardson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Sarah Jayne Dunn...
and Lewis Richardson, promoting the merging of the Cunningham and Richardson families. Soon, Gordon becomes "Councillor of Chester", after he beats tough competition from Tony Hutchinson and Matt Musgrove. With the Richardson family comes considerable angst, culminating in Lewis's suicide, yet Gordon proves himself as the rock to his wife and together they have a son called Tom. Gordon began to become self-conscious. After he turns fifty, he begins a 'new look' to make himself look younger with the help of student, Nick O'Connor
Nick O'Connor
Nicholas "Nick" O'Connor is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Darren Bransford. He made his first appearance in 2001 before being written out in 2004.-Storylines:...
.
Gordon's world ruptures when Max tells him that Helen is having an affair with Tony. Gordon is shattered even more when Helen decides to leave him for Tony, but Gordon is convinced that Helen will come back to him. Struggling to cope without Helen, Gordon receives comfort from David "Bombhead" Burke. Gordon becomes a father figure to Bombhead. Eventually, Helen returns to Gordon and with some match fixing from Mandy and Max, the pair are reunited. However, tragedy strikes for Gordon when he is distracted by Tom and ends up crashing the car. Gordon takes a heart attack immediately and dies in hospital. Helen also dies a few days later and Tom is left as an orphan. In Helen and Gordon's wills, Tom is supposed to live with Mandy but instead he goes to live with Max.
2008–2009
Bombhead takes the news of Gordon's death badly. When his mum dies, he starts to see Gordon's ghost (reprised by Bernard Latham) who tries to convince him to tell his friends about his mum's death and that he needs help. After he gets help, his visions of Gordon's ghost stop.Max dies on June 27, 2008. Two days later, when the show is replayed on the omnibus edition, the show is followed by a dream sequence on T4
T4 (Channel 4)
T4 is a scheduling slot on Channel 4 from about 09:00 until 14:00 on Saturdays and 17:00 on Sundays. It also airs on weekdays in the school holidays. The slot has a separate station identification on screen graphic from Channel 4 and E4. The logo of T4 is noticeably the top right segment of the...
, which shows Max being reunited with Gordon in heaven. Whilst father and son are overcome with emotion at being reunited, Max tells his father that he has sold Drive 'n' Buy. Gordon's joy of the reunion vanishes, as he smacks Max around the head and calls him a "berk".
In a 2009 non-canon special entitled Hollyoaks: The Good, the Bad and the Gorgeous, Latham returns to reprise the role of Gordon once again from beyond the grave, where he runs a cinema showing previous Hollyoaks clips.