Characters found in the E4 series Glue. Beware! The page contains spoilers.
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Main Cast
Ruth Rosen
"I thought that when you join the police you get answers, but you just get more doubt."
- Played by: Yasmin Paige
Ruth (20 y.o.) is a mixed-race provisional Police Constable who has to juggle work with being a single young mum. She is estranged from both the Romani community and her former group of friends, but that doesn’t stop her. In fact, not much does - she's set on finding Cal's killer, and she will see this goal through.
- Action Mom: Ruth balances raising a toddler with being virtually the only just, competent cop on the force. Needless to say, this is difficult, and the former often gets sacrificed in her ruthless pursuit of justice. She's trying her best.
- Alliterative Name: Ruth Rosen.
- Ambition is Evil: Tina accuses Ruth of desiring power and of being on Cal's case only due to the prospect of promotion. Neither of those points are true.
- Category Traitor: The local Romani population considers her this, because she's in the police now.
- Fair Cop
- Family Versus Career: She tries to juggle the two parts of her life, with varying success.
- Parental Neglect: She loves her daughter but doesn't pay much attention to her, which results in poor little Cassie almost dying. Twice.
- Silent Scapegoat: Ruth never told anyone that her daughter's father is Tina's dad, and the reasons for her ostracization were never understood by anyone but Tina.
- Spiteful Spit: To the Inspector when she realizes just how corrupt he is.
- Teen Pregnancy: By result of which she's a single mum to a toddler.
- Turn in Your Badge: After finding out how deep the corruption runs on the police force.
- The Unfettered: Her dedication to police work knows (almost) no bounds.
- We Used to Be Friends: Ruth used to be friends with the rest of the main cast, but was ostracized for reasons revealed later in the series. See Silent Scapegoat, above.
Tina Fallon
"It's my day. I'm going to shine out. Be who I know I can be, do the thing I do."
- Played by: Charlotte Spencer
Tina (19 y.o.) is Rob's girlfriend - a local girl training to be a jockey. Her hobby is horses and her ambition is to be the first girl to win the Derby. She's unconventional, dangerous and has been in some trouble with the law.
- Affectionate Nickname: "Tintin".
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: At the start of the series she's dating Rob, who isn't exactly a paragon of virtue. Then she ends up with Eli, who she's loved for a long time and who is frankly worse than Rob, what with being a murderer and all.
- Birds of a Feather: If we're talking reckless behavior, then she and Rob are a match for each other.
- Career Versus Man: Throws the race that could make her career in order to help her then-boyfriend Rob.
- Disproportionate Retribution: A couple of years prior to the show, Ruth slept with Tina's dad. Tina cut both of them out of her life; her dad soon died, and Ruth was ostracized by Tin'a group of friends, with none of them knowing the real reason.
- Fiery Redhead: Has quite a temper to go with that hair.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Annie - the two even live together.
- Undying Loyalty: Her defining characteristic is that she'll do anything for those she loves. The two biggest examples are her throwing the race that could make her career to save Rob and Dominic from their smuggling debts; and her talking Eli down from harming James and himself.
- Weight Woe: She struggled with bulimia in the past, and still spends some days without food - all to be a better jockey.
- Wild Card: She's more unpredictable than Rob, which is saying something. One instance is when she steals a car, abandons the steering wheel and later crashes it into a fence. To be fair, she was high at the time.
- Wrong Guy First: Despite dating Rob, she's in love with Eli - and ends up with him at the end, even though he's revealed as the killer.
- You Go, Girl!: She's an excellent jockey and her ambition is to be the first female to win the Derby.
Rob Kendle
"Me? I like to set my sights low. All I need are the basic necessities of life and I'll be OK."
- Played by: Jordan Stephens
Rob (18 y.o.) is Tina's wayward boyfriend and James's best friend. He's fun and extraverted, but also careless and self-involved. He, along with Dominic, is involved in a local cigarette-smuggling operation.
- Big Eater: "Family-sized pack of Mars bars. Breakfast of champions!"
- Character Development: After James calls him on his carelessness and self-involvement, Rob has a Heel Realization which results in him trying ot amend him ways. Two examples are him letting Tina go, and trying to apply to college.
- The Hedonist: The quality at the core of his personality.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Encourages Tina to pursue Eli because he knows she's in love with him, even though he's still in love with her.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Rob's recklessness and irresponsible antics lead others to perceive him and directly accuse him of carelessness. He clearly does deeply care for others, though, particularly James and Tina, and is constantly in fear of mistreating them as his father does to his mother.
- Most blatantly, his father outright tells him he's nothing, to which Rob, subdued, replies, "I know."
- It's All About Me:Rob: [Tina] loves Eli, and I, fundamentally, love myself.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's cocksure and careless, and among other things cheated on his girlfriend and drugged his best friend, but he also shows a more considerate side such as when he works hard to get James out of jail and when he tries to cheer his friends up in various (somewhat awkward) ways.
- Life of the Party: As seen when he organizes a huge woodland rave.
- Like Father, Like Son: Rob's father, too, has a rather suspect record of being faithful to his partners.
- Plucky Comic Relief: One of the few sources of humor on the show.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red (extraverted, wild) to James' blue (rational, introverted).
- Running Gag: His over-the-top love of Mars bars.
- Sad Clown: Rob is clearly the comic relief, for his own friends, even, cracking jokes, getting into trouble, and throwing parties even as the others mourn. It seems to be both his own coping mechanism, and an example of him trying to put the needs and feelings of others before himself. It's his way of trying to help.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Where James is a sensitive guy, Rob is what passes for a manly man at their age, being mainly interested in sex and food.
- The Stoner: Most characters qualify, but Rob best of all. Even his final appearance in the series is him rolling a joint.
James Warwick
"I wanted to save him."
- Played by: Billy Howle
James (18 y.o.) is Rob's best friend and complete opposite - shy, quiet, reliable. He spends his days helping his mum at the farm and finding complications in the smallest of things. He's also the one who finds Cal's body in episode one, which leaves him traumatized for the rest of the series, not least because Cal was his boyfriend.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He coldly kills a calf at the end of episode 1 and delivers a Curb-Stomp Battle to Rob after getting fed up with the latter's treatment of him.
- Bury Your Gays: He thankfully avoids this fate, but very narrowly.
- Butt-Monkey: A lot of Rob's jokes are at James's expense; his mum, too, is dismissive of him.
- Distressed Dude: In the finale.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: He pleads for his life before trying to escape - too bad he doesn't get away and has to resort to begging again.
- The Dutiful Son: James dreams of leaving the farm, but stays in order to support his mum. It's revealed that he was actually planning to leave along with Cal and after the latter's murder simply sees no point in doing that.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Rob calls him "Jim-jams".
- Helpful Hallucination: While tripping on acid he hallucinates Cal, who tells him where to find the contract for Blackout.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Rob.
- Manly Tears: At a rate of once per episode, occasionally crossing into Inelegant Blubbering. To be fair, he has his reasons.
- Berserker Tears: When he learns that Eli is Cal's killer.
- Tears of Fear: Throughout his Alone with the Psycho experience.
- Memento Macguffin: He and Cal had matching Moon Horse necklaces; James throws his out after Cal's death but later recovers it.
- My New Gift Is Lame: His mum gives him a set of keys for his birthday, which he happily assumes are for a car. Cue disappointment when it turns out they're for a tractor.
- The Quiet One: He doesn't say much and usually tries to fade into the background.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue (rational, introverted) to Rob's red (extraverted, wild) and Cal's red.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The sensitive guy to Rob's manly man - his actor describes James as "a poet" at heart.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: James's older sister is extraverted, loud and fun-loving - much like Rob, in fact.
- Straight Gay
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He appears aloof and emotionally cold, but he's very affectionate in interactions with best friend Rob and boyfriend Cal. Not to mention he's basically a gentle soul all around.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: He's unresponsive after his time in jail - although he snaps out of it fairly quickly.
- Trauma Conga Line: First his boyfriend is brutally murdered and he's the one to find the body; then he's drugged against his will - by his best friend, no less; Then he's arrested for the murder and released on police bail; and finally, he's kidnapped by his boyfriend's murderer, beaten and almost killed. What a good time to be James.
- Uptight Loves Wild: goody-two-shoes James fell for Troubled, but Cute Cal.
Annie Maddocks
"If you think it's right, then I think it's right."
- Played by: Jessie Cave
Annie (20 y.o.) is Tina's best friend. She's someone who no-one quite notices - always fun, always part of the action, but never on its front lines.
- Big Eater: As she says at one point: "I love calories! They're fucking delicious!"
- Cool Shades: She wears tea shades as part of her outfit.
- The Ditz: Annie's quite...peculiar where mannerisms and clothes are concerned.
- The Fashionista: Her outfits are somewhat unconventional, but she definitely puts a lot of thought into them, which is more that can be said for other characters.
- Genki Girl: Not much brings Annie down.
- The Heart: She's easily the nicest person in her group of friends, and is referred to as such by Ruth.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Tina; they even live together.
- Only Sane Man: Despite being a wee bit kooky, she actually shows more sound judgment than other characters such as when she suggests opening a gate rather than just driving through it.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Along with Rob, she provides much of the show's humor.
- Satellite Character: She's the only member of the main cast to have no bearing on the plot.
Dominic Richards
"I am occasionally capable of doing the right thing."
- Played by: Tommy McDonnell
Dominic (23 y.o.) is an Assistant Trainer at the stables. While well-liked, he's not friends with the rest of the characters - presumably due to his higher status. He's also involved in a local cigarette smuggling operation.
- Demoted to Extra: Fades into the background after the episode focusing on him.
- Greed: He wants to have enough money for a land purchase, hence the smuggling.
- Lonely Rich Kid: A variation - he's not friends with the rest of the characters, probably because of his higher status.
- Loveable Rogue: He's a smuggler - but a good guy at heart.
- Love Interest: To Ruth.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's good at his job, and he helps to fulfill Tina's ambitions by letting her ride in a potentially career-making race. Too bad he asks her to throw it afterwards.
- Smug Snake: Tends to treat people in a cooler-than-thou manner; especially evident during his police interrogation. A rare heroic variant of the trope.
Janine Riley / Elizabeth Marshall
"I'd rather the police didn't know and the same goes for Eli."
- Played by: Faye Marsay
Janine (24 y.o.) is a local vet; she loves animals and is a real professional at her job, but by night she parties like everybody else.
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Tells her friends to share as little information with the police (and with Eli) as possible.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's a very good vet despite her partying ways and being unqualified for the job.
- Convenient Coma: Ends up in one after her attack, unable to tell the police who the culprit was.
- Dead Person Impersonation: She actually failed vet school and took on the identity of her dead, and more successful, classmate.
- Dr. Feelgood: Fabricates horse records in order to procure surplus ketamine, which she then sells through Cal.
- Friend to All Living Things: Her love for animals is the reason for her career choice.
- Killed Off for Real: Dies in episode 7.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Put in a coma in episode 3, later dies.
Eli Bray
"And the huntsman did come and together they danced and that's how the violin was made."
- Played by: Callum Turner
Eli (23 y.o.) is murder victim Cal's older brother. With their dad in jail and mother dead, Eli cared for Cal until his brother was carted off to care. Their relationship was scrappy, but Eli loved Caleb and spends the series trying to find out the truth about his brother.
- Amateur Sleuth: Starts his own investigation into what happened to Cal.
- Byronic Hero: He's brooding, dark and mysterious, lives on the outskirts of society, adheres to Romani laws rather than British ones, and is shown to be in tune with nature. And he's basically the villain of the series.
- Calling the Old Man Out: He visits his dad in jail to tell him that he's signed their half of Blackout over to Tina and that his dad now has nothing.
- Character Tic: He tends to hum songs when agitated.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible to Cal's foolish - where the latter was doing drugs and getting into trouble, Eli was procuring a future for the two of them. Later turned on its head.
- Loners Are Freaks: He's a brooding loner - although he does have a friend in Tina.
- Manly Tears: Notably after his interrogation by the police in episode 1.
- Memento Macguffin: Has a Horse Moon necklace similar to Cal's to remember their mum by.
- Noble Savage: Lives on the outskirts of society by the code of the Romani.
- Promotion to Parent: After his mum dies and his dad goes to prison.
- The Quiet One: A man of few words, befitting his "brooding loner" nature.
- Troubled, but Cute: As Tina jokes, "dark and mysterious will only get you this far".
Caleb "Cal" Bray
"Our family is a disease."
- Played by: Tommy Lawrence Knight
14-year-old Caleb is the murder victim - a stable boy, younger brother to Eli, boyfriend to James. All his friends were older than him, but he fit right in - doubtlessly helped by the fact that he's Wise Beyond His Years.
- Badass Boast: Before jumping into the grain silo:Tina: Everyone looks down.Cal: I don't.
- Break the Cutie: Foster care really did a number of Cal - he was abused physically and sexually, and later prostituted himself for money. And, of course, he winds up killed by his own brother, no less.
- Bury Your Gays: His sexuality doesn't get revealed until later in the series, but it's his murder that gets the plot going.
- Establishing Character Moment: See Badass Boast, above.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish one to Eli's responsible - doing drugs and breaking the law. Turned on its head since Cal was thinking of the future while Eli was stuck in the past.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: He was blowing men for money, yet it doesn't take anything away from his genuinely good nature.
- Killed Off for Real / Kill the Cutie / Plot-Triggering Death: His brutal death jumpstarts the plot.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red (enthusiastic, extroverted, wild) to James's blue (introverted, rational, subdued).
- Retirony: Before being killed, he was on the verge of leaving the country - and his criminal lifestyle - to have a fresh start with James.
- Shirtless Scene: Found dead sans shirt and T-shirt. In a lighter and straighter example, he takes his shirt off when James hallucinates him.
- Spirit Advisor: Appears to James, Eli, Tina and Ruth at various points in the narrative, although he acts as an advisor only to James.
- Straight Gay
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: The character in a nutshell. He's a 14-year-old doing and dealing drugs with his older friends, planning on running away to Argentina with his older boyfriend, prostituting himself and continuously getting in trouble with the law (albeit for minor crimes). Some of this is due to him having a messy home life and a very harsh upbringing.
- Twofer Token Minority: Romani and gay.
- The Unfavorite: Eli and Cal's mother severely disliked her younger son due to him heavily resembling his father.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: According to Eli, he came back from foster care "different".
Recurring Characters
Sgt Ian Salter
- Played by: Griffin Stevens
Ian (28 y.o.) is Ruth's supervising officer on the police force, with an interest in her that seems to go beyond what's expected professionally.
- The Beard: He told his family that Ruth was his girlfriend - but it's unclear whether she's The Beard or whether he actually wanted to date her.
- Bury Your Gays: When his dirty deeds finally catch up with him.
- Depraved Bisexual: His sexuality is ambiguous - he's known to have abused boys, but he also shows obvious romantic interest in Ruth.
- Dirty Cop: Sexually abused local minors, including Caleb and Chris.
- Geek: His house is filled with DVDs and comics.
- Muscle Angst: He wistfully states that he'd like to have Dominic's physique.
- Pædo Hunt: Ian liked little boys. In a bad way.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's a good boss to Ruth. Too bad he's also a pedophile.
- Red Herring: Ruth pegs him as Cal and Janine's killer. He isn't.
- Walking Spoiler
DCI Simpson
- Played by: Adrian Rawlins
The DCI overseeing the investigation into Cal's murder. Despite his initial misgivings, he agrees to put Ruth on the case.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's actually a capable leader, and isn't shown to be a Dirty Cop like most other police characters.
Chris Pollard
- Played by: Dean Chapman
Cal's friend from foster care - an equally traumatized boy in his early teens.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Much like Cal, he was blowing men for money.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Well, he is basically a rentboy.
Marah
- Played by: Hana Luheshi
A local Romani girl.
- Best Served Cold: She waited 4-5 years before getting revenge for her sister.
- Blackmail: She's the one sending the videos to Rob.
The killer: SPOILERS!
Eli Bray
- Played by: Callum Turner
- Accidental Murder: Killed Cal and Janine in fits of rage; his murder of Ian, however, was premeditated and done in cold blood.
- Ax-Crazy: Grows more deranged as the bodies pile up, culminating in him kidnapping and trying to murder James with a cattle gun.
- Cain and Abel: Though, unlike in the Bible, the murder of his brother was not premeditated.
- Confess to a Lesser Crime: When Ruth deduces he's Ian's killer, he willingly confesses to this particular murder but not to the other two.
- Cute and Psycho
- Disproportionate Retribution: Let's see. He murdered Cal for insulting their mum, murdered Janine for calling the social services on Cal and was going to kill James for his plan to leave the country with Cal.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: The reason for Cal's and Janine's death is Eli misjudging just how strong he is.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: What pushes him over the edge is Cal calling their mum a cunt.
- Green-Eyed Monster: He's enraged that Cal wanted to leave the country with James rather than stay in England with Eli.
- Heel Realization: When confronted by Tina, Rob and Ruth, he finally admits to himself that he's responsible for the tragic way his brother's life ended - and promptly beats himself with a cattle gun.
- Hot-Blooded: Kills two people in uncontrolled fits of rage.
- It Gets Easier: Says that each murder was easier than the previous one.
- Motive Rant: James is treated to one. Turns out Eli was harming people who he felt "damaged" Cal and were trying to take him away from him.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After murdering Cal.
- Revenge Before Reason: Ruth allows him to leave the country, but of course Eli has to stay to get his revenge on James. Cue Eli getting caught.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The motive for the murders.
- Rule of Symbolism: Fortunately for James, Eli can't just up and murder him in the woods - the deed has to be done at a place that holds emotional meaning for Eli, i.e. the White Horse where his mum's ashes were scattered.
- Straight Edge Evil: Doesn't do drugs and wants his brother off them, too.
- Sympathetic Murderer: It's hard not to feel sorry for him by the series' end.
