Hollyoaks star Dominic Power has spoken out after a major twist confirmed that Dave Williams, his on-screen alter-ego, is none other than crazed gangster Blue.
The mysterious Blue, as fans know, has terrorised Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas) for the past month, vowing to destroy him in every way imaginable.
Warren has amassed no shortage of enemies over the years but Blue’s campaign of torment proved so overwhelming that the hard-man was truly at a loss over who’s to blame, so much so that he jumped to the most baffling of conclusions.
Freddie Roscoe (Charlie Clapham), for example, who is way too young given that tales of Blue’s infamy date back decades.
But while Warren will remain in the dark for a little while longer, viewers finally got their answers on Friday (August 9), with Blue removing his signature helmet, confirming himself to be Dave.
The twist is certainly unexpected, given that the Dave we’ve come to know over the past three years is hardly criminal mastermind material.
According to star Dominic Power, however, that was actually the intention.
‘I’ve seen some people have said online that Dave is a bit too soppy to be Blue and that’s perfect because that’s exactly what we were going for,’ he said.
Dominic, however, did admit that – like the fans – he was ‘surprised’ when he made the discovery.
Hard relate.
Even with a number of previous hints to a dark side, Dave’s hapless nature and proven streak of bad decision making don’t particularly align with the meticulousness nature of calculated Blue’s plot.
What’s more, history has taught that, despite his mistakes, Dave actually cares for people and possesses something of a heart, which is a far cry from what we’ve come to expect from the dastardly Blue.
Dominic was quick to address potential plot inconsistencies in that vein, claiming that Blue is actually like an alter-ego for Dave. An alternate persona which he has to tap into, and therefore his criminal capers never bleed into his life when he’s just plain old Dave – and vice versa.
‘I think the secret of playing a part like that is understanding the mentality of someone that would lead a double life,’ he said, adding that he took inspiration from Breaking Bad and film Nobody to fully understand his character.
‘That mentality is, while Dave is himself around Dave’s people, he’s just Dave and Blue doesn’t exist.
‘But when he’s Blue and around Blue people, Dave doesn’t exist. It’s about believing your own lies that make it convincing and that art of deception can suddenly become all encompassing, so at any one moment he is or he isn’t.’
If you’re like me then one of your biggest issues with this newly retconned timeline is where exactly Ethan (Matthew James Bailey) fits in, given that he and Dave have been inseparable for years.
Ethan’s introductory story saw him dabble with a dark side but, as you might recall, Dave wasn’t best pleased about it – and even tried to get his little brother to stay on the straight and narrow.
‘Ethan doesn’t know about [Dave being Blue],’ confirmed Dominic, helping to dispel any doubts fans might have.
‘But right from the beginning from when the Chen-Williams joined the show and we learned that Ethan had a bit of a gangster side to him, we would discuss the possibility of somewhere down the line Dave having that same streak.
‘Dave reared Ethan as a father figure and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree does it?
‘The show has been lovely enough to give me license to play background so for example back in 2022 when Lizzie’s boyfriend Sid put her life in danger, Dave wrote him a cheque to leave the village and stay away from his daughter.
‘This was done with the same kind of menace as Blue. So Blue has always been there for over three years but always very much under the radar.’
Speaking of Lizzie Chen-Williams (Lily Best), Dominic confirmed speculation that it was her tragic death – which was Warren’s fault – that led to Dave bringing Blue out of retirement.
However, it wasn’t the only reason.
‘It was a slow gradual over the year sort of breaking down of the family – literally,’ he claimed. ‘Beginning with Honour and Serena leaving, and then the boys. Suddenly there was nothing left and the one thing that was keeping him to live this sort of family man life was having that family. At the point of which Dave’s family were no longer there, all bets were off.
Ethan and Cindy are shaking reading this.
And speaking of Cindy, Dominic was adamant that Dave is absolutely ‘truly in love’ with her, though added that she very much could get ‘caught in the crossfire’ of his villainous plot.
Oh dear.
Cindy, as fans know, is set to exit after star Stephanie Waring confirmed that her character was controversially axed amid the cast cuts, which were made to facilitate the Channel 4 soap’s move to three episodes a week next month.
Before the changes come into effect, however, Blue will enact his plan to destroy Warren, with Dominic confirming that nothing is off the table in terms of how ruthless his character becomes.
He teased: ‘Dave and Warren do share some upcoming scenes together and obviously it’s inevitable that at some point they’re going to go toe to toe but working with Jamie [Lomas] and Jen [Metcalfe, who plays Mercedes] over this period has been amazing and a real honour working with them.
‘I think you can expect a little rumble in the jungle, or the woods.’
And its’ not just Warren who Blue will cross paths with, as Dave will soon discover that he’s got a nemesis in Donny Clark (Louis Emerick), a former detective who is on a mission to take down the crazed killer once and for all.
Donny, however, has no idea that Dave is Blue. Instead, he reckons that it must be Ethan. Donny mate, Ethan – much like Freddie – is way too young. The former policeman’s theory, however, likely explains the reason for the contentious Vicky (Anya Lawrence) and Ethan story.
Donny will no doubt grow concerned about his beloved daughter’s interest in loveable rogue Ethan, thus bringing him into Dave’s orbit.
Dominic confirmed that Donny is ‘chomping at the bit’ and ‘not letting up’ when it comes to finding Blue, so a showdown between the two enemies is likely on the cards.
How exactly the storyline pans out remains to be seen but Dominic said that it’s a ‘lot of fun’ to flip the switch between Dave and Blue.
‘I’ve played about four different Dave’s since being here,’ he enthused. ‘I’ve played addicted Dave, I’ve played family man Dave, I’ve played comedy Dave and now I’m playing killer Dave. They’ve all been fun.’
Hollyoaks streams weeknights at 7:30pm on Channel 4’s streaming platform, or catch episodes on TV at 7pm on E4.
