Carol Groves
Carol Groves is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, played by Natalie Casey. Carol first appeared in the serial on 9 January 1996. In August 2000 it was announced that Casey had quit the role and would film her final scenes at the end of the month. Carol remained with the serial until 23 October 2000 when she left the village to never return.
| Carol Groves | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Hollyoaks character | |
| Portrayed by | Natalie Casey |
| Duration | 1996–2000 |
| First appearance | 9 January 1996 |
| Last appearance | 23 October 2000 |
| Classification | Former; regular |
| Profile | |
| Occupation | Singer |
Departure
In August 2000, Casey announced that she had quit and was filming her final scenes with the series at the end of the month. She departed on 23 October 2000.[1]
Characterisation
The Liverpool Echo described Carol as "Weird and wacky" before describing her time on the show saying: "Carol enjoyed dalliances with characters Kurt, Tony and Finn. Singing at The Loft, she was spotted and offered a cruise ship job".[2]
Storylines
Carol first appeared on in Hollyoaks when she was on a double date with her friend Lucy Benson. She was a keen musician, who started The Crazy Bazz Studs with Lucy and Bazil "Bazz FM" McCourtey, she had a life changing moment when she was involved the crash that resulted in Dermot Ashton's death. Carol's near death experience initiated her belief that she was psychic. Almost instantly, Carol allegedly had a gift for reading people's auras and an all seeing eye, which helped her predict what was to come and alert her when there was trouble in the air. Undoubtedly Carol's spookiest moment was when she returned from Ireland and had a sinister premonition that something unwelcome was coming into their midst. Within moments, Lucy got a call telling her that Kurt had died.
Carol's kookiness continued throughout the rest of her time on the show and, whilst she had a brief attachment to Kurt, Carol seemed destined never to find a guy she genuinely liked, despite the odd dalliance with the likes of Tony Hutchinson in Newquay. That was until she met Rory "Finn" Finnigan and almost instantly fell head over heels in love. Of course, the path of true love never ran smoothly, and this tempestuous and often passionate relationship saw its fair share of ups and downs. Carol was also a loyal and trusted friend to Lucy, helping her get through the worst of her drug addiction. Her friendship with Lucy caused her to put her own life in jeopardy with Rob Hawthorne, but ultimately served to demonstrate just how dependable Carol was to those she loved.
After Lucy left, while she continued to get into scrapes with Tony and Finn, Carol missed having her best friend around. She soon turned her attentions to herself and became preoccupied with having a breast enlargement. Just before her operation, she read her tarot cards and discovered that she was destined to meet a man in a white suit. Assuming this was a doctor, she was dismayed to find him dressed in green and made a quick getaway! Still feeling disillusioned, Carol agreed to help Finn and Lewis Richardson by singing at the opening of The Loft. During her performance, she was spotted by a talent scout, who offered her a job singing on a cruise ship. After much soul searching, Carol agreed to take the job. She arrived at the boat and was greeted by a uniformed officer, her man in white. Carol returned briefly to Hollyoaks to appear in the Barcelona special, Hollyoaks: Boys Do Barca and heartstrings were pulled yet again as she and Tony realised that they had feelings for each other. Carol returned to her boat, but promised Tony that she would come back to him. Carol later phoned Finn, telling him to break the news to Tony that she has met someone else and would no longer return.
Reception
Lorna Cooper of MSN TV listed Carol of one of Soap Opera's "forgotten characters".[3]
References
- Granditer, Wendy (22 July – 4 August 2000). "We quit!". Inside Soap. Attic Futura (UK) Ltd (158): 6.
- Collinson, Dawn (17 April 2003). "Even sexy soap gets all soggy". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
- Cooper, Lorna (20 September 2010). "Hollyoaks' Carol Groves – Soap's forgotten characters". MSN. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2011.