Gays of our Lives (November 24, 2008)

Warning: This section contains SPOILERS about Hollyoaks Later. If you don’t want to know any of the plot points, skip to "Getting to Know … River City" on page two.

Hollyoaks Later, a five-part spin-off of the original debuting November 24^th, centers on the return of Niall Rafferty who supposedly died several weeks ago in the church explosion that claimed the life of his half-sister. But as any soap opera fan knows, if you don’t find a body, then there is a better than 50/50 chance the person isn’t really dead. (Though sometimes even if you do have a body and do have an autopsy, they still might not be dead — depending on how those contract negotiations go. But I digress.)

Barry Sloane as Niall Rafferty

This time around Niall has set his sights on Stephanie, a woman he is obsessed with and whose husband he accidentally killed earlier this year. But trying to recover from the terror Niall wreaked on her psyche, Stephanie has been taken on vacation to Scotland by her brother Craig Dean. And with Craig taking center stage, might his better half John Paul McQueen not be far behind? Sadly, we won’t be seeing John Paul in this series.

No nookie…. Or anything else for Craig and John Paul
in the Hollyoaks Later mini-series.

In fact, rumor has it the miniseries was originally meant to spotlight John Paul and Craig, but when James Sutton, who played John Paul, declined to appear, the show instead “revived” Niall Rafferty, who actually was supposed to have died in the church explosion.

So with JP not around to keep Craig warm at night, is it possible that Craig might be tempted by another fella? It appears so, when during a walk through the woods, Craig comes across a naturalist (read: naked man) named Pete who makes his interest in Craig quite evident. But before Craig can say either “nay” or “yay,” he realizes Niall is stalking him and Stephanie. Indeed, Niall eventually kidnaps Stephanie’s stepson Tom in an effort to lure her to him, ending in a climactic battle between Craig and Niall. Fortunately, no churches explode this time around.

There are other stories of queer interest being told in Hollyoaks Later: Kris Fisher and his brother Malachy return home for their father’s funeral where they plan to tell their mother their respective secrets, including the fact Kris is bisexual and Malachy is HIV-positive. But neither of them are prepared for their mother’s own revelations, not to mention the surprising event that will cause Kris to take the stage to perform.

Gerard McCarthy (third from left) as Kris

Meanwhile, in an ironic (or Sapphic?) twist, Craig’s ex-girlfriend Sarah, whose heart was broken when Craig and JP’s affair was revealed, embarks on her own gay affair when she has a steamy romp with her father’s girlfriend Zoe, a relationship that will continue and intensify on the original Hollyoaks.