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Russ Owen

UK soap opera character, created 2004

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 28, 2026
Entity authorityQ7381203 ↗
Source-derived summary

Russ Owen is a fictional character in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Stuart Manning. He first appeared in the episode first broadcast on 6 August 2004 with the Owen family and has been involved in storylines including being diagnosed with testicular cancer and kidnapping his son Max McQueen (Gabriel Lawrence). It was announced in April 2009 that Manning had quit the role and Russ departed in the episode first broadcast on 3 June 2009. Nine years later, it was confirmed that Manning would reprise the role. Russ returned on 13 August 2018 and was killed off on 16 November 2018 after being murdered by Breda McQueen (Moya Brady).

Creation and development

Regular auditions were held in 2004 for the part of Russ, with actor Stuart Manning securing the role.

In 2009, it was revealed Manning had quit. Speaking of his decision to leave the show, Stuart Manning said: "I've had a great time at Hollyoaks over the last five years and I've learnt so much. Russ has been a fantastic character and he's had some great storylines which have been great fun to play - but there's also been lots of hard work! I'll obviously be sad to leave as I've worked with some great people but I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into new projects." Series producer Lucy Allan also commented on Manning's decision, stating: "Stuart has been a valued member of cast over the last five years.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Russ Owen” is uK soap opera character, created 2004. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Russ, Owen and soap, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2004, 2009, 2018—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Russ, Owen and soap is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “uK soap opera character, created 2004” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7381203. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2004, 2009 and 2018.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Russ Owen”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Russ Owen primary sources, Russ Owen archive and Russ research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Russ Owen”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Russ Owen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.