Phillip Ryan
 | This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (October 2009) |
| Phillip Ryan | |||||||||||
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| Waterloo Road character | |||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Dean Smith | ||||||||||
| Duration | 2009— | ||||||||||
| First appearance | 4x02 | ||||||||||
| Created by | Ann McManus & Maureen Chadwick | ||||||||||
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Phillip Ryan is a fictional character in the BBC television drama series Waterloo Road. He is portrayed by Dean Smith.
Background
Phillip is a new year 11 student, who arrived in series 4. He is the son of fellow newcomer Melissa Ryan and the nephew of established character headteacher Rachel Mason (Melissa's sister), who became head of the school during series 3.
Series 4
On his first day, Phillip was bullied by pupils Bolton Smilie and Paul Langley. After becoming friends with Earl Kelly (who himself had a grievance with Bolton and Paul the previous week), he went to a house party at the Kelly's and inadvertently got drunk, unbeknown to his mother, Melissa.
He learnt that he was going to get a stepfather in the shape of Eddie Lawson after Melissa accepted his proposal of marriage. However, the marriage was thrown into doubt when Phillip informed Rachel Mason that Melissa was still married to his real father. When it was revealed that Melissa was a bigamist (and on the verge of becoming a double bigamist), she ran away, leaving an unhappy Phillip to stay with Rachel Mason.
Since his mother's abandonment, Phillip has been depressed. He is mocked by his peers for being geeky and a virgin. At his recent sixteenth birthday party at Rachel's house, Kim Campbell said that if he wants to loose his virginity he should become more popular by advertising his party at Rachel's. He grew a friendship with Paul Langley and Bolton Smilie. However, loving Rachel told Bolton strictly to look after him and if anything happened, he would be in trouble. A depressed and drunk Flick tried to make him have sex with her, only for Phillip to stop at the last minute, saying he wanted to lose his virginity to someone who cared for him. Phillip however has made true friends with Bolton and Paul after he helped Mr Budgen save Bolton's life. They also coached Phillip on how to become more sexy and popular and Grantly Budgen has become less annoying towards Phillip. Howver, Phillip fancied Flick and gave her lingerie that was actually Rachel's. Rachel was shocked but didn't punish him. In episode 19 he mixed laxative chocolate into cakes he had made for a school fund-raising event as revenge for the continuous bullying he'd had to endure at the school.
When Phillip's mother arrived after abandoning him, he was distraught since she was pregnant with Eddie's child. Even though Eddie was the only paternal figure in life, he still didn't like that fact because he knew it will ruin his aunt's relationship with his ex-stepdad. Melissa tried to be rather sly and mean to her sister, Rachel who gave her strict instructions to leave Phillip alone because of her pregnancy, bigamy and upset. However, Melissa decided to hand herself to the police to prove how sorry she was to her family (especially Phillip). Sadly she didn't do it and Phillip ran off back to school. Melissa decided to hand herself into the police to prove how much she loved her son. He is still shocked that he is having a baby brother or sister.
Series 5
Things start to look up for Philip, romantically, when he becomes acquainted with Ros McCain, from the recently-closed public school, John Fosters.