Max Hoyland
Encyclopedia
Max Hoyland is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours
, played by Stephen Lovatt
. He made his first appearance on 22 August 2002 and departed on 16 February 2007.
describe Max stating: "Max always looked out for his little sister and cultivated a stern sense of responsibility." Describing how his likeness to his mother Rosie Hoyland (Maggie Millar
), they add: "Both headstrong and idealistic, they rub up against tradition and authority the wrong way and frequently find themselves taking opposite stances on big issues." Tom Adair writing for The Age
, has described his character as simply "decency personified".
, Summer
, and Charlie and the son of Bobby and Rosie. His first wife Claire died several years earlier of heart failure, later thought to be Long QT syndrome
because of Summer's later development of the condition. This left him to raise Summer and Boyd on his own, until he married Stephanie Scully
in 2004.
He used to co-own the pub "Lou's Place" (with Lou Carpenter), before it was burnt down
. He then went on to co-owns "Scarlet Bar" with his sister Izzy. His father Bobby returned to see Max and Izzy, and Max didn't want anything to do with him, but after he decided to accept him, Bobby ran away again.
He and Steph were going to adopt a baby girl from Kayla Thomas (Virginia Ryan
), a teenager that wanted to give up her unborn child , but Kayla eventually decided to raise the baby with her boyfriend (played by Adam Hunter
, who later played Robert and Cameron), the baby's biological father. Max was overjoyed to discover on his 40th birthday that his wife Steph was pregnant with their first child, Charlie Hoyland, who was born on 20 March 2006.
Max is responsible for the death of Cameron who he believed to be Robert when he knocked him over with his car. Paul
almost murdered Max out of grief for his innocent son. After this, Max began to come to terms with the fact he killed Paul's son but Cameron's sister Elle Robinson could not stand seeing him going so well so she devised several schemes to make Max think he was going crazy, a technique known as Gaslighting
. First she stole his football tickets, then she moved Charlie onto the road, then she kidnapped Charlie. She then forged Max's signature and made him buy unnecessary alcohol and stole his car. After this Max hired a private investigator
who caught her stealing the car but Elle paid the guy off. When the report came back negative, Max admitted himself into a hospital. Not long after, he lost grip on reality and heard voices from his family members and friends saying he was insane. Not long after this, he walked out of the hospital and left Ramsay Street, leaving a family picture which he had torn up.
Shortly after, Max was supposedly seen by Stingray Timmins (who may have been drunk at the time ) Max gave a passed out Stingray a piece of paper and written on it was Tell Steph I love her. Stingray later told the Hoylands but knowing about his recent troubles with alcohol they remained skeptical about his story. Max has recently made contact with his family via the Salvation Army
by stating that he has a new life now, and suggest the Hoylands move on.
Max gets spotted by Elle when she returns and she learns that he has settled in with a new family. Elle told Janae about Max and his new family. She in turn went and confronted him about it. After the confrontation, Max came back to town. It's revealed that he actually went to the family for shelter. At first Steph couldn't take him back, but then she recanted her decision. Max was delighted to hear this. However after he learned that he was second choice, he said that either she choose him or he goes away forever.
Max then faced his court case, where Robert Robinson is brought in to give evidence. Paul
burst into the court room and screamed at the judge saying Robert was not well to testify. After his lawyer, Toadie Rebecchi proved that Robert is aggressive, Max won his freedom.
After realising that his marriage with Steph was not going to work out he decided to return to the oil rig
s at Sale, two hours from Melbourne.
opined he was compelled to watch Max and Steph's wedding, describing it as 20 minutes of "good fun". Brian Courtis of The Sunday Age
and The Sun-Herald
also chose their wedding as their "Pick of the day". Fergus Sheil of The Age said chose Max as the standout character from the episode airing on 21 April 2005, however was unimpressed by the lack of scientific knowledge in the episode. He quipped that Max "deserves a Logie" for his "attempts" to awaken a comatose Boyd, by with holding the outcome of a football match. Michael Idato
writing for The Sydney Morning Herald disliked Max and described his appearance stating: "Max who, for the record, looks young enough to be hanging out with the gang rather than claiming fatherhood to at least two of them is dealing with the precociously slappable Summer and the hormonally simmering Boyd."
Neighbours
Neighbours is an Australian television soap opera first broadcast on the Seven Network on 18 March 1985. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, who proposed the idea of making a show that focused on realistic stories and portrayed adults and teenagers who talk openly and solve their problems...
, played by Stephen Lovatt
Stephen Lovatt
Stephen Lovatt is a New Zealand actor, best known for his portrayal of the character Max Hoyland on the Australian soap Neighbours.-Career:...
. He made his first appearance on 22 August 2002 and departed on 16 February 2007.
Casting
After his last appearance in 2007, Lovatt said that he did not know if he would be coming back to Neighbours. However, he said that he would "consider any offer from its producers", but thought that characters like Max usually go for good.Character development
Network TenNetwork Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
describe Max stating: "Max always looked out for his little sister and cultivated a stern sense of responsibility." Describing how his likeness to his mother Rosie Hoyland (Maggie Millar
Maggie Millar
Maggie Millar is an Australian actress, best known for her TV appearances as Marie Winter in Prisoner, Elizabeth Bradley in The Sullivans and Rosie Hoyland in Neighbours.-External links:*...
), they add: "Both headstrong and idealistic, they rub up against tradition and authority the wrong way and frequently find themselves taking opposite stances on big issues." Tom Adair writing for The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
, has described his character as simply "decency personified".
Storylines
Max is the father of BoydBoyd Hoyland
Boyd Hoyland is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Kyal Marsh. He made his first on-screen appearance on 5 June 2002...
, Summer
Summer Hoyland
Summer Rose Hoyland is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, played by Jordy Lucas. She made her first on-screen appearance on 20 May 2002. The character was originally played by Marisa Siketa from her arrival to her departure in 2005 and her subsequent...
, and Charlie and the son of Bobby and Rosie. His first wife Claire died several years earlier of heart failure, later thought to be Long QT syndrome
Long QT syndrome
The long QT syndrome is a rare inborn heart condition in which delayed repolarization of the heart following a heartbeat increases the risk of episodes of torsade de pointes . These episodes may lead to palpitations, fainting and sudden death due to ventricular fibrillation...
because of Summer's later development of the condition. This left him to raise Summer and Boyd on his own, until he married Stephanie Scully
Stephanie Scully
Stephanie Jo "Steph" Scully is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Carla Bonner. She made her first on-screen appearance on 21 October 1999. Stephanie is the eldest daughter of Joe and Lyn Scully and the mother to a son, Charlie...
in 2004.
He used to co-own the pub "Lou's Place" (with Lou Carpenter), before it was burnt down
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
. He then went on to co-owns "Scarlet Bar" with his sister Izzy. His father Bobby returned to see Max and Izzy, and Max didn't want anything to do with him, but after he decided to accept him, Bobby ran away again.
He and Steph were going to adopt a baby girl from Kayla Thomas (Virginia Ryan
Virginia Ryan
Virginia Ryan is an Australian actor who played the recurring character of Kayla Thomas in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. She also played Trish Jenkins in the Australian-New Zealand children's show, Holly's Heroes.-Son CV de 2010 :...
), a teenager that wanted to give up her unborn child , but Kayla eventually decided to raise the baby with her boyfriend (played by Adam Hunter
Adam Hunter (actor)
Adam Hunter is an Australian actor.Hunter studied acting at the University of Southern Queensland . He is best known for his work on the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours, in which he appeared in the dual role of twin brothers Robert and Cameron Robinson in 2006...
, who later played Robert and Cameron), the baby's biological father. Max was overjoyed to discover on his 40th birthday that his wife Steph was pregnant with their first child, Charlie Hoyland, who was born on 20 March 2006.
Max is responsible for the death of Cameron who he believed to be Robert when he knocked him over with his car. Paul
Paul Robinson (Neighbours)
Paul Stewart Robinson is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, a long-running serial drama about social life in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough. He is played by Stefan Dennis. Paul debuted in the serial's first episode in 1985 and appeared on a...
almost murdered Max out of grief for his innocent son. After this, Max began to come to terms with the fact he killed Paul's son but Cameron's sister Elle Robinson could not stand seeing him going so well so she devised several schemes to make Max think he was going crazy, a technique known as Gaslighting
Gaslighting
Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory and perception...
. First she stole his football tickets, then she moved Charlie onto the road, then she kidnapped Charlie. She then forged Max's signature and made him buy unnecessary alcohol and stole his car. After this Max hired a private investigator
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
who caught her stealing the car but Elle paid the guy off. When the report came back negative, Max admitted himself into a hospital. Not long after, he lost grip on reality and heard voices from his family members and friends saying he was insane. Not long after this, he walked out of the hospital and left Ramsay Street, leaving a family picture which he had torn up.
Shortly after, Max was supposedly seen by Stingray Timmins (who may have been drunk at the time ) Max gave a passed out Stingray a piece of paper and written on it was Tell Steph I love her. Stingray later told the Hoylands but knowing about his recent troubles with alcohol they remained skeptical about his story. Max has recently made contact with his family via the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
by stating that he has a new life now, and suggest the Hoylands move on.
Max gets spotted by Elle when she returns and she learns that he has settled in with a new family. Elle told Janae about Max and his new family. She in turn went and confronted him about it. After the confrontation, Max came back to town. It's revealed that he actually went to the family for shelter. At first Steph couldn't take him back, but then she recanted her decision. Max was delighted to hear this. However after he learned that he was second choice, he said that either she choose him or he goes away forever.
Max then faced his court case, where Robert Robinson is brought in to give evidence. Paul
Paul Robinson (Neighbours)
Paul Stewart Robinson is a fictional character from the Australian Network Ten soap opera Neighbours, a long-running serial drama about social life in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough. He is played by Stefan Dennis. Paul debuted in the serial's first episode in 1985 and appeared on a...
burst into the court room and screamed at the judge saying Robert was not well to testify. After his lawyer, Toadie Rebecchi proved that Robert is aggressive, Max won his freedom.
After realising that his marriage with Steph was not going to work out he decided to return to the oil rig
Oil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
s at Sale, two hours from Melbourne.
Reception
Max has become a popular character with some viewers. Robin Oliver writing for The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
opined he was compelled to watch Max and Steph's wedding, describing it as 20 minutes of "good fun". Brian Courtis of The Sunday Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
and The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald
The Sun-Herald is an Australian tabloid newspaper published on Sundays in Sydney by Fairfax Media. It is the Sunday counterpart of The Sydney Morning Herald. In the 6 months to September 2005, The Sun-Herald had a circulation of 515,000...
also chose their wedding as their "Pick of the day". Fergus Sheil of The Age said chose Max as the standout character from the episode airing on 21 April 2005, however was unimpressed by the lack of scientific knowledge in the episode. He quipped that Max "deserves a Logie" for his "attempts" to awaken a comatose Boyd, by with holding the outcome of a football match. Michael Idato
Michael Idato
Michael Idato is a television critic and writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.He has worked previously at The Daily Telegraph, and at The Sunday Telegraph between 1995 and 1999 as a writer and columnist. Between 1992 and 1996 he was also the film critic for Australian Penthouse Magazine...
writing for The Sydney Morning Herald disliked Max and described his appearance stating: "Max who, for the record, looks young enough to be hanging out with the gang rather than claiming fatherhood to at least two of them is dealing with the precociously slappable Summer and the hormonally simmering Boyd."
External links
- Character profile at the Official AU Neighbours website