Tom Jennings

Thomas "Tom" Jennings (1944 - 1968)  a handyman and vampire who was used by Nicholas Blair, and killed twice by Barnabas.
==Life ==
Tom was a handyman who worked for Roger Collins and was the legal guardian of his younger sister, Amy Jennings, whom he was very close to. He also had a brother named Chris Jennings. Tom was helping Roger make sure the House by the sea was in good shape for Nicholas Blair to move into, when he stumbled upon the coffin of Angelique (554). He was attacked by Angelique, and hospitalized, but as he began to awaken (562), Nicholas sent Angelique to finish him off (563). Barnabas, believing that Tom would rise as a vampire, tried to immediately stake him but found only an empty coffin (564).
==Life and Death as a Vampire==
Tom attacked Julia Hoffman in her laboratory at The Old House (566). A few days later he nearly succeeded in killing Julia at an abandoned crypt on the Collinwood Estate. Elizabeth Collins Stoddard followed Julia (who was under Tom's power) to the crypt and saw Tom's empty coffin, believing it to be saved for her. This alerted Barnabas to Tom's daytime resting place (570). Barnabas had been greatly worried for several reasons that he admitted, but none of them were about Julia. However, when Willie helped him look for Tom and Julia, Willie confronted him about how he felt about Julia, Barnabas did admit that she had been a part of his life for a very long time and that he cared for her more than he let on. Not willing to let Julia die and become a vampire under Tom's control, Barnabas racked his brain in trying to figure out Tom's hiding place. After finding out Elizabeth's information Barnabas returned and battled Tom, finally managing to stake him after the vampire was forced into his coffin as dawn broke (571), but when Elizabeth insisted they return, Tom's body had disappeared.
==Return to Undeath==
Tom resurfaced in the cellar of Nicholas Blair's house when Nicholas dug him up and removed the stake (630). Nicholas proclaimed himself to be Tom's new master, telling him if he staked him again, he would be forever destroyed. Nicholas sent Tom to kill Victoria Winters as she slept, but Barnabas arrived in time to save her. He then went to the House by the sea in order to find Tom's coffin to destroy him, shortly before dawn. Tom then attacked Barnabas, but Barnabas managed to make a cross out of two candlesticks. Tom, forced to stay up past dawn, was consumed by flames less than 24 hours after he was returned from the dead (631).
Tom also appeared in the dream Joe Haskell had before he went insane (658).
In the Big Finish audio dramas, the ghost of Tom still wandered the House by the sea, tidying up the place when visitors stayed. (THBTS)
==Family==
Tom was survived by his brother, Chris, and younger sister, Amy. His parents were previously deceased (630) before his first death. Although he was originally said to have no family, Joe Haskell revealed that he was in fact his cousin (563) at the time of his illness.
Tom was very close with Amy, and she was so distraught over his death that she was sent to Windcliff Sanitarium to recover. She was later cared for by the Collins family before Chris took her away.
It was later revealed that Tom was the grandson of Lenore Collins, as well as the great-grandson of Jenny Collins and Quentin Collins.
In the continuity of the Big Finish audios, his sister Amy named her son Tommy, in honor of her brother (Bloodlust)
==Notes==
*It was explained why, as a descendant of Quentin Collins, Tom did not suffer the curse of the werewolf as his twin brother, Chris, did - it only passed down to the eldest son of each generation. Chris, being the older twin, inherited the curse, so Tom was never affected by it. [Addendum: Tom and Chris are never identified as twin brothers in the show, only referred to as "brothers."]
*Tom Jennings was the first of four characters played by Don Briscoe.
== Appearances ==
554, 563, 565, 566, 568, 569, 570, 571, 604, 630, 631, 658
Jennings, Tom
Jennings, Tom
Jennings, Tom
Category:Jennings Family
Category:Deceased characters