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Niall Rafferty (real name Matthew McQueen) is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Barry Sloane. He first appeared during an episode broadcast on 3 December 2007. Former ''Brookside'' actor Sloane was cast as the "mysterious" hairdresser Niall and was introduced by the series' producer Bryan Kirkwood. During Sloane's portrayal of the character on-screen, he was central to a storyline involving the already-established McQueen family and it was revealed Niall was the illegitimate son of Myra McQueen (Nicole Barber-Lane). The storyline featured Niall seek revenge on the McQueens, which concluded in highly-advertised episodes featuring Niall kidnapping his siblings and causing the death of sister Tina McQueen (Leah Hackett). Niall was portrayed by upcoming actor Devon Jackson, the younger brother of ''Hollyoaks'' actor Kieron Richardson, in flashback scenes depicting the character's childhood. The character's other storylines included his relationship with Steph Dean (Carley Stenson). Sloane made his final appearance as Niall during ''Hollyoaks'' late-night special series ''Hollyoaks Later'' in November 2008. Sloane has been nominated for several awards for his portrayal of the character. ==Creation and development== The character of Niall was first announced in November 2007. Kirkwood discussed Niall in an interview with Digital Spy: "A tall stranger who walks into the village — a guy called Niall. He sets himself up as a hair stylist in the salon and he's very ambiguous and mysterious. Viewers will be wondering 'Is he gay? Is he straight? Is he a drugsman?' " He would soon be revealed as, "the big storyline of 2008 — Myra ()'s secret and abandoned son is back to wreak revenge on each of the McQueens in turn." Niall's backstory was revealed as his storyline continued through 2008. It was revealed he had been given up by a 14-year-old Myra and abandoned at a church a day after the birth. Niall then spent the rest of his childhood in care. As 2008 progressed, Niall was distracted by his love for Steph Dean, but continued to commit a series of violent and manipulative acts against the McQueen family. Barry Sloane said, "When I started, Bryan said to me 'you have to come and see me and say if you feel it's going too far'. We've tried as hard as we can to keep him within the bounds of reality. We know that it has to come to an end eventually. I don't know when that's going to be, but fingers crossed that we can ride the wave as long as possible." Niall was also inadvertently responsible for the death of one of ''Hollyoaks'' most iconic characters, Max Cunningham. Sloane said the scenes were some of the "best material he's done," and that Niall was full of remorse. He also remarked on the irony of Niall attempting to damage the McQueens, but then killing Max completely by accident.〔 In 2010, Sloane joked that his character could be resurrected after Jamie Lomas's return to the series as his character Warren Fox, despite his death in 2009. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Niall Rafferty」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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