Dawn Cunningham
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Dawn Cunningham is a fictional character from the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
soap opera ''
Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...
'', played by Lisa Williamson. Williamson was cast as one of the original characters on ''Hollyoaks'' in 1995, and was the first member of the Cunningham family to arrive in the village, before the introduction of her family. However, she left in 1997 when the character died following a battle with
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
.


Casting

''Hollyoaks'' initially focused on the lives and loves of seven teenagers living in a fictional suburb of Chester. Dawn was one of the original characters created by
Phil Redmond Sir Philip Redmond (born 10 June 1949) is an English television producer and screenwriter. He is known for creating the television series ''Grange Hill'', ''Brookside'' and ''Hollyoaks''. Early life and education Redmond was born in Huyton, Eng ...
, and she was introduced in the show's first episode, which aired on 23 October 1995. Williamson secured the role of Dawn without any formal training in acting. She heard about the audition for ''Hollyoaks'' while she was in a theatre group. Williamson was surprised to be cast after auditioning, saying "I was incredibly lucky. Loads were up for the part."


Development

The character was the first member of the Cunningham family to be introduced to the serial. Dawn is described as "spirited, independent and friendly to everyone ... her friends could always rely on Dawn for a shoulder to cry on". The ''
Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...
'' described her as an "easy-going interior designer. She was someone who had time for everyone and a shoulder to cry on." ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' described her as the "equally stunning" friend of Natasha and questioned how she could balance "wild weekends and the emotional demands of a divorced mother with a toyboy?" before asking "Will anyone care?" The character's home life is troubled, she frequently clashes with her mother's "troublesome" new boyfriend Terry Williams (
Ian Puleston-Davies Ian Puleston-Davies (born 6 September 1958) is a Welsh actor. He is best known for his role as builder Owen Armstrong in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2010 to 2015. In November 2014, ITV announced that Puleston-Davies was leav ...
), and has to cope with her younger siblings
Max Cunningham Max Cunningham is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Ben Sheriff from 1995 to 1997, and Matt Littler from 1997 to 2008. He first appeared on 13 November 1995, and Littler took over the role in Sep ...
(Ben Sheriff) and
Cindy Cunningham Cindy Cunningham (also Savage, Longford and Hutchinson) is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Stephanie Waring. She made her first on-screen appearance on 13 November 1995, originally played by Laura Crossl ...
(Hayley Fairclough) wanting to live with their father. Dawn was the focus of the show's first teen pregnancy storyline. While exploring the character's fictional backstory, it emerges that she had a relationship with Jack Osborne (
Jimmy McKenna James Stephen McKenna is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Jack Osborne in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' and Don Brady in ''A Touch of Frost''. Personal life McKenna lives in Sheffield, England with his wife and four ...
) when she was 16. She became pregnant and subsequently had the baby adopted out. The storyline was revisited following the death of
Natasha Andersen Natasha Andersen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Shebah Ronay. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 23 October 1995. She was created by Phil Redmond as one of the serial's ori ...
(Shebah Ronay), as a "distressed" Dawn tells
Jambo Bolton James "Jambo" Bolton is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Will Mellor. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 23 October 1995. Jambo was one of the show's original character ...
(
Will Mellor William Mellor (born 3 April 1976) is an English actor and singer. He is known for his roles as Jambo Bolton in ''Hollyoaks'', Gaz Wilkinson in '' Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps'', Warren Stamp in EastEnders, DC Spike Tanner in ' ...
) that she has a
daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show r ...
. Dawn is "horrified" when Jambo then decides to find her child for her. Williamson stated "I think Dawn secretly wants to know how her child is doing, but she also feels Jambo has betrayed her trust." Jack learns the truth when Dawn tells him their daughter has kidney failure and needs a transplant. The illegitimate baby plot also led to Jambo eventually becoming Dawn's love interest. As the serial's output increased to two episodes a week in late 1996, with producers promising further "hard-hitting" stories, the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
s Fiona Parker questioned whether Dawn and Jambo would finally get together as part of the new series. Williamson told Parker that the pair are "really good friends" and Jambo had helped Dawn out a lot, but she and Mellor did not know what was going to happen. Mellor said that Jambo wanted a romantic relationship with Dawn, but added "Dawn's got problems and she doesn't know what she wants." In 1997, the character was central to an issue-based storyline focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of leukaemia. At the time, more than 5,000 people in the UK were diagnosed with the disease every year. Williamson called the storyline "very strong" and admitted that there were times where she was emotionally drained from filming, however, she welcomed the challenge the storyline provided her. She commented: "A big storyline like this gives you something to really get your teeth into acting-wise." The actress worked with The Leukaemia Care Society to accurately portray how her character would be feeling. She found that the worst thing about the disease was having to tell loved ones and seeing their emotions. She explained that for Dawn, there are feelings of "this overwhelming, looming sense of guilt about what she is putting her boyfriend Jambo and her family through." As the story progresses, treatment options for Dawn are explored, including a bone marrow transplant. Her sister Jude is found to be a match, but Dawn must undergo chemotherapy first. Williamson said the chemo is "awful" and means Dawn could be in and out of hospital for years. She branded her character "a real fighter" and said she was determined to beat the disease. The storyline eventually led to the character's departure from the show on 22 December 1997, as Dawn dies in Jambo's arms. The show's creator Phil Redmond said it was "a normal death" and handled sensitively following medical research from the scriptwriters. The show's executive producer Jo Hallows later assessed that Dawn's departure from ''Hollyoaks'' was memorable. She told Wendy Granditer from ''
Inside Soap ''Inside Soap'' is a weekly soap opera and television listings magazine published in the United Kingdom. The magazine is currently released every Tuesday. It covers storylines featured in British and Australian soap operas that are broadcast in t ...
'' that Dawn and Jambo's relationship was filled with "lovely stuff". She believed it was "a relationship that viewers really cared about." She believed that Dawn's leukaemia diagnosis, the build-up to her death and viewer's adoration of their romance "made it all the more devastating".


Storylines

Dawn is the eldest of
Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Gordon Heuck ...
(Bernard Latham) and Angela Cunningham's (Liz Stooke) children. At sixteen, Dawn has an affair with her best friend
Ruth Osborne Ruth Osborne (also Benson) is a fictional character from the Television in the United Kingdom, British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Terri Dwyer. She first appeared in January 1996 as the cousin of Natasha Andersen (Shebah Ronay) ...
's (
Terri Dwyer Teresa "Terri" Dwyer (born 31 July 1973) is a British television presenter and actress, best known for her role as Ruth Osborne in the British soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. She has also presented the ITV home makeover show 60 Minute Makeover. Car ...
) father Jack. She becomes pregnant and gives birth to a daughter, Bethany, who she puts up for adoption. Dawn befriends Natasha Andersen. She works at Maddie Parker's (
Yasmin Bannerman Yasmin Bannerman (born 1970) is an English actress. Bannerman was born and brought up in Gloucestershire and attended the Rose Bruford College in London until 1993. She has had roles in television series such as ''Hollyoaks'', ''Cold Feet'', ' ...
) mother's interior design shop and has continual problems with her mother's boyfriend, Terry Williams (
Ian Puleston-Davies Ian Puleston-Davies (born 6 September 1958) is a Welsh actor. He is best known for his role as builder Owen Armstrong in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2010 to 2015. In November 2014, ITV announced that Puleston-Davies was leav ...
), but refuses to let anything get her down. Natasha dies after Rob Hawthorne (Warren Derosa) spikes her drink with drugs at
Lucy Benson Lucy Benson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Kerrie Taylor. Taylor appeared from the first episode on 23 October 1995. Taylor later quit the role with the character leaving in January 2000 ...
's (
Kerrie Taylor Kerrie Taylor (born 1973) is a British actress from Romsey, Hampshire. Career Taylor is best known for the role of Beth Enright/Beresford on the ITV family drama '' Where the Heart Is'', a role she played for four years, leaving in 2005. Sh ...
) 18th birthday party. Dawn is so distressed that she tells Jambo Bolton about her daughter. Jambo gets in contact with Dawn's daughter and Dawn goes to see her. Dawn watches her from a distance while Jambo stands close by to provide her with a shoulder to cry on. Dawn discovers that her mother, Angela, has breast cancer; upset by the news of her mother's condition, Dawn turns to Jambo. The pair kiss, but Dawn insists that they should remain friends. Dawn learns that Terry has run off, leaving her mother in debts of over £55,000. Dawn's bad luck continues when she learns that her daughter Bethany has kidney failure and she is her last hope. However, Dawn finds out that she is not compatible, so Gordon offers her his kidney instead. However, Gordon is not a match, so Dawn contacts Jack Osborne. Jack is shocked as he had not known about the pregnancy, but he is a match and the operation is a success. Jambo and Dawn realise they love each other. Dawn soon feels unwell and visits her doctor, only to discover that she has leukaemia. When Ruth finds out about her illness, she forgives Dawn for her affair with Jack. On Christmas Day, Jambo and Dawn hire a rowing boat and Jambo asks Dawn to marry him. Dawn, however, dies in his arms, the same day her niece
Holly Cunningham Holly Cunningham (also Hutchinson, Longford and Roscoe) is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', most recently portrayed by Amanda Clapham. Holly's first on-screen appearance aired on 22 December 1997, ...
(Karis Sharkey) is born.


Reception

As part of ''Inside Soap'' magazine's Turn-ons & Turn-offs! feature, columnist Steven Murphy pleaded for Dawn and Jambo to "live happily ever after" amidst her leukaemia storyline, adding "they deserve to stay together." The '' Daily Record'' said of the show "Favourites have to be Jude's sickly-sweet sister Dawn, whose untimely death caused much distress." They also commented on the character's death saying "When there's a problem with a character in ''Hollyoaks'', they just kill them off."


References


External links


Dawn Cunningham
on the E4 website {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Dawn Hollyoaks characters Cunningham family Television characters introduced in 1995 Fictional characters with cancer Fictional shopkeepers British female characters in soap operas English female characters in television