Lucas Holden

Lucas Holden
Home and Away character
Portrayed by	Rhys Wakefield
Duration	2005–08
First appearance	5 August 2005
Last appearance	14 February 2008
Introduced by	Julie McGauran
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Occupation	Student at Summer Bay High (2005–07) University student (2008) Writer
Home	United States
Family Father Tony Holden Mother Kate Holden Stepmother Rachel Armstrong Brothers Jack Holden Half brothers Harry Holden Aunts Gina Austin First cousins Hugo Austin Xavier Austin Brendan Austin

Lucas Anthony Holden is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Rhys Wakefield.^[1] He made his first appearance on 5 August 2005. Lucas was the youngest member of the Holden family. He left the Bay in 2008.

Storylines

Lucas arrives in Summer Bay with his father Tony (Jon Sivewright) and brother Jack (Paul O'Brien). He quickly makes friends with Ric Dalby (Mark Furze), Cassie Turner (Sharni Vinson) and Matilda Hunter (Indiana Evans). When Colleen Smart (Lyn Collingwood) puts on a production of "Rex and Summer" at the Surf Club, Lucas and Matilda star opposite each other in the leads and fall for each other. Their every attempt to kiss is interrupted but they finally manage to kiss during the play. Lucas and Matilda's relationship is stable until Lucas goes off the rails, trashing Jack's car in a game of Dare and then paintballing Amanda Vale (Holly Brisley). After receiving an offer on their houses from Josh West's (Daniel Collopy) Project 56 scheme, Tony and Matilda's mother Beth (Clarissa House) decide to move in together, meaning that Matilda and Lucas will be living under the same roof. Lucas finds it difficult to adjust to Beth being around as a sort of mother figure as his own mother, Kate, had died when he was a baby. Lucas and Matilda split.

When Matilda begins seeing Dean Silverman (Gary Brun), a guy she met at a retreat for Bullimia. Lucas warns her that Dean is not what seems and tries to convince her further after he sees him embracing another man but Matilda writes it off a jealousy. Dean eventually confesses and Matilda and Lucas grow closer again and share a kiss but both admit their feelings have gone and agree to be friends. Lucas then begins seeing Belle Taylor (Jessica Tovey), who has recently split from her boyfriend Drew Curtis (Bobby Morley) and loses his virginity to her. However, It does not last and Drew and Belle's reunion is exposed by Drew's ex, Lisa Duffy (Jessica McNamee), breaking Lucas' heart. Lucas refuses to forgive either of them at first but he later heads off on a writer's course and eventually forgives them when returns following Beth's shocking death.

Lucas is happy when Naomi Preston (Tiffany Preece), a girl he met on the writer's course turns up but he is shocked when he learns she will be his teacher at Summer Bay High and she is equally stunned to find Lucas is not a University Student as he told her. Naomi quickly ends things with Lucas but he refuses to give up and confides in Ric and Tony. It is soon revealed in a letter that Naomi had slept with a grieving Tony and Lucas exposes the information to a devastated Matilda and her sister Kit (Amy Mizzi). Lucas then goes on a drink binge and is hospitalised. He recovers but refuses to forgive Tony who decides to move out. Ric helps him see sense and Lucas and Tony repair their relationship.

Geoff Campbell (Lincoln Lewis) makes an enemy of Lucas when he informs Tony that Lucas took out a boat and sank it. The hostilities escalate when Geoff finds favour with Tony by joining the football team. Lucas tries out in order to impress Tony but fails when he viciously tackles Geoff, leading to more arguments. Sally Fletcher (Kate Ritchie) asks Lucas to help Geoff's younger sister, Annie (Charlotte Best) with her studies as a tutor but when Annie disappears and is found asleep on Lucas' bed, her grandfather, Bruce (Chris Haywood) gets the wrong idea. When Bruce locks Annie in her room at the farm, Lucas rescues her and reluctantly agrees to help Geoff who has nowhere else to go.

When Lisa reappears, she apologises for humiliating over Drew and Belle's affair and she and Lucas begin seeing each other. However, Lisa's ex-boyfriend Denni Maitland (Josh Helman) refuses to let her go. Lucas rescues Lisa by stealing Ric's car keys and Denni follows in hot pursuit and tries to force them off the road, causing them to crash. Lisa dies as a result of her injuries leaving Lucas devastated. Lucas and Denni blame each other and Lucas tries to Smother Denni with a pillow but is restrained by Tony. After a quiet Summer, Lucas prepares to pack up and leave for University. When news of Jack's death reaches him, he is unable to attend the funeral as he is overseas.

Reception

For his portrayal of Lucas, Wakefield was nominated for Most Popular New Male Talent at the 2006 Logie Awards.^[2] Of the character, a reporter for the Evening Chronicle said "Lucas is one of those teenagers who, when he sulks, looks like he's been sucking lemons for a week.^[3] The reporter added that Lucas was a "stroppy lad" and that when Tony told him to shut up, it was "a beautiful moment".^[3] In October 2007, Home and Away and the Seven Network were rapped by the ACMA for broadcasting "raunchy scenes" in G-rated episodes, following complaints from viewers.^[4] One such episode was 4358, which aired on 21 February 2007, and featured Belle and Lucas's decision to have sex. Some scenes shown saw the couple in bed together as they discussed what had happened between them.^[4] The regulator said "ACMA found that verbal references to sex and visual depictions of sexual behaviour contained in the episode were not brief or infrequent. It also considered that the programme's treatment of the theme of teenage sexuality was not very mild in impact. ACMA therefore determined that Seven incorrectly classified the programme G, and that it breached the code in relation to this broadcast."^[4]

References