Mr. Carpenter - Spike

Spike was a character portrayed by actor Tom Vaughan from March 2007 to August 2007, with a brief return at the end of November 2008.

Spike was first seen DJing at the reception for Jacqui Malota and Aleksander Malota. He soon befriended Jacqui's gay brother, John Paul McQueen. John Paul was still not confident in his sexuality, but Spike was not only openly gay, he said his father was also gay and lived with a man named Simon.

Once John Paul got up the courage to ask Spike out on a date, they became very close very quickly. Spike was good-natured, but also wasn't afraid to stand his ground, especially when John Paul's ex Hannah Ashworth interfered with a date. On another occasion, Hannah told Spike about John Paul's feelings for his straight best friend, Craig Dean. Spike became jealous and when John Paul tried to tell him how much he cared, Spike told him he was being too serious and that he didn't "do" serious. Spike was in the middle of a DJing gig at the Dog and tried to tune John Paul out. When John Paul turned the volume on his amp down, Spike warned him to never do that again and passionately kissed him in front of everyone. This seemed to strengthen his relationship with John Paul, and he even managed to charm John Paul's sister Mercedes and mother Myra when he finally went to their house for a visit.

John Paul was still a virgin and was nervous about taking the next step. One day while the McQueen house was empty, Spike took John Paul to his bedroom and they made love for the first time. This was the high point of their relationship, as the happier they became, the more upset this made Craig. Craig slept with John Paul and although John Paul tried to continue seeing Spike, he eventually dumped him, not telling Spike the real reason why.

Spike and John Paul remained friends, and when John Paul needed Spike to help him retrieve a poison pen letter he'd written to Craig's mother while Craig was on holiday with his girlfriend (again not telling Spike the truth), Spike did. They sparred with Hannah and her new friend Melissa, and Melissa responded by throwing John Paul's records in the water. Spike and John Paul fished them out and went back to John Paul's place, where they kissed and would have gone further if John Paul hadn't stopped. Spike advised him to sort out what was going on in his head and have some fun.

A few weeks later Spike began bartending at The Dog and quickly realized John Paul and Craig were involved. Spike began teasing Craig, and their increasingly hostile exchanges roused Sarah's suspicions. Craig played on John Paul's sense of chivalry and John Paul convinced Spike to keep quiet.

John Paul himself exposed the affair a few weeks later, and Spike did not appear and was not mentioned for over a year.

Spike made a brief return in November 2008. By this time, Craig and John Paul had left town together, and Spike did not mention them. However, his tensions with Hannah had not gone away. Working as a reporter for the Chester Herald, Spike wanted to do a story on the Dog, or as Neville Ashworth had renamed it, The Jolly Roger. The nautically-themed opening night, complete with young men wearing sailor suits, led Spike to write an article which sold the pub as a gay bar. When Neville realised what was going on, he was shocked, even more so when Spike jokingly pretended that he believed Neville was gay. Neville barred him from the pub, but he'd already booked Spike as a DJ. Finally, Neville had enough, fired Spike, and decided to change the pub back to The Dog in the Pond.