Rob Hollins

On his BBC character profile, Rob is described as a "stable and reliable" family man, as well as an alpha male. The profile notes that at work, Rob is "highly respected" due to his experience as a "seasoned copper". It also explains that he is not the type of person to be intimidated by people in charge, and that "if he smells injustice", he will ignore orders to do the right thing, even if it does not "work in his favour". On his relationship with Karen (Jan Pearson), the profile states that they have a "teasing banter", and it explains that Rob can "always find a way to make Karen laugh out of one of her dramas".[1] In 2021, Walker talked about Rob's clothing on the serie. He explained that after 12 years on the series, he still enjoys wearing the police uniform, but that if he could, he would "definitely tell Rob to buy better clothes". He also explained that his character needs to "chill out a bit", and stated that Rob acts "so middle-aged", joking that he would not "chew the fat with him in the corner of a pub". He went on to note that Rob is "such a dependable character", and that when somebody needs advice or support, there is "no doubt" that Rob would be the ideal person to ask.[2]

When he was a child, Rob's father left just before his 14th birthday, which Rob describes as 'the best present' he could have asked for. He has a sister who also lives in Yorkshire. Rob is a sergeant at Letherbridge Police Station. He is married to Karen, who is a receptionist at the Mill Health Centre and The Campus Surgery. They got married on 5 August 1989. Together they have two children; Jack who is studying Law at Letherbridge University and their daughter, Imogen, an artist. Karen is approached by Gerry Cutler (Steffan Rhodri), the father of Lewis (Alexander Vlahos), Jack's friend from university. He asks if Lewis can stay at their house over the Easter holidays, to which she accepts. Unknown to the Hollins family, Lewis has mental health issues. As the week continues, his problems become clear, but Lewis covers his tracks very easily. After Karen sees a knife mark in her kitchen table, she knows it was done by Lewis. Imogen then realises that her art project has been tampered with, by Lewis. Jack is called to a fake interview at the university, which is later revealed to be Lewis holding people hostage with a gun. Rob runs inside despite being warned not to, and helps Karen to defeat Lewis. When Karen becomes pregnant, she does not want to have the baby, unlike Rob. She informs him that she wants to have an abortion, which he disagrees with. She has the termination, and as a result, their relationship is initially strained.

After Rob accidentally hits Karen with his car, she develops amnesia. She forgets who Rob and her children are, and believes she is 18. After she has recovered her memories and their children move out to attend higher education, Rob and Karen decide to become foster parents. Bren Lee (Andrea Gordon), the mother of Karen's colleague Ayesha (Laura Rollins), is brought into custody at the police station. Rob's colleague Emma Reid (Dido Miles) is shocked to find that Bren has died in police custody. Rob, the sergeant on shift at the time, had a blackout when he was due to be checking over Bren, and he confides in Emma that he feels responsible. Emma lies to the investigating officer, stating that Rob performed all of the checks diligently. Rob later confesses, and Emma is almost suspended. Ayesha struggles to forgive both Rob and Emma, due to feeling that the pair are trying to cover up a case of police brutality. Feeling responsible for Bren's death, Rob stops going to work and has heightened anger levels. He later approaches Ayesha, where he apologises. Due to feeling incapable to be a foster parent, Rob meets with social worker Jane Fairweather (Patricia Potter) and lies to her by saying that Karen is unable to foster due to her history of amnesia. Jane informs Karen of this, who is angry with Rob due to feeling responsible for his state. When the pair foster Jayden Hunt (Ciaran Stow), a 14-year-old with epilepsy, they look into getting him medical aid for his seizures. They discover that Jayden has been using Karen's money to buy marijuana, since it eases his condition. Rob warns him not to do it again due to his police career being put at stake, but Karen disagrees. She meets with Iris Nicholson (Jenny Stokes), a local drug dealer, to buy Jayden marijuana. She is stopped by Rob's colleague, Pat Dyson (Dawn Butler), who states that she will not tell Rob. However, Karen later confesses what she has done to Rob, who is angry with her decision to go behind his back.

Walker and Pearson spoke to Digital Spy about their onscreen chemistry. Talking about their first scenes together, Walker said: "First day on set, in fact first scene it was, 'Hi I'm Chris', 'Hi I'm Jan', right get into bed. So that broke the ice." When asked why they work so well together on the soap, he explained: "I think that we're not precious with our own stuff and we always want to give and help each other and that's nice, and we do row very well."[3] In 2021, Walker spoke again about their relationship to Inside Soap after the pair had become experienced foster parents. While dealing with a difficult case involving a child with anger management issues, Karen hides details from Rob about the incidents. Walker stated that the situation would "cause friction" in their relationship, and compared the "different skills and different ways" that the pair deal with problems. However, Walker explained that despite the situation, they are still "so strong as a couple" and that with Rob and Karen, "you always get the feeling that they'll get through it somehow", meaning they can deal with the issues that come with fostering difficult children.[2]

After Rob's wife Karen becomes involved in a memory loss storyline, Pearson revealed that Walker devised the storyline. Speaking to Digital Spy at the launch of Pentahotel Birmingham, Pearson explained: "The story has been hugely long and it's still going on. I've been filming it for a year now. It was very exciting because it was Chris's idea. I think his original idea was that Karen would be run over by some ex of Rob's. The producers didn't run with that, but they did run with the accident and the memory loss. I was utterly delighted that Chris was responsible for running me over! We now have a very playful banter over who's to blame for the situation!" Pearson added: "We always knew that Karen and Rob were going to get back together in the end, but the break-up made a nice change from what we normally do. Because it was Chris's storyline and his idea, I really wanted to give it my best shot. What Chris came up with was very detailed - it was extraordinary. If the acting career doesn't work out for him, I think he's got a really good shot as a storyliner".[4]

At the 2010 British Soap Awards, Walker and Pearson received the award for Best On-Screen Partnership.[5] Later that year, Walker was nominated for Male Acting Performance at the RTS Midlands Awards.[6] In 2013, he was longlisted for Best Actor at the British Soap Awards,[7] as well as receiving another nomination at the RTS Midlands Awards.[8] In 2014, Walker was nominated for Best Dramatic Performance at the British Soap Awards.[9] In 2017, Walker was longlisted for Best Daytime Star at the Inside Soap Awards.[10] The nomination did not progress to the viewer-voted shortlist.[11] He was also shortlisted for Acting Performance of the Year at the RTS Midlands Awards later that year.[12] A year later, he received a longlist nomination at the 23rd National Television Awards for Serial Drama Performance.[13] In 2019, he was again nominated for Best Actor at the British Soap Awards.[14]

• List of Doctors characters (2009)

• Rob Hollins at BBC Online