HOORAY FOR HOLLYOAKS
MARION McMULLEN LOOKS BACK AT 25 YEARS OF THE HIT CHANNEL 4 SOAP
FROM hard-hitting issues like male rape, to the first gay domestic violence storyline and a sinister serial killer called the Gloved Hand running amuck, Hollyoaks has covered a lot of ground over the years. Here are 25 facts about the television favourite.
1
HOLLYOAKS was the brainchild of Grange Hill and Brookside creator Phil Redmond. It was set in the fictional borough of Hollyoaks in Chester and started with just seven main characters.
2
MY Coo Ca Choo singer Alvin Stardust appeared in the opening episode on October 23, 1995, playing pub landlord Greg Anderson.
3
THE cast for the first helping of Hollyoaks also included Will Mellor as James “Jambo” Bolton, Jeremy Edwards as Kurt Benson and Nick Pickard as Tony Hutchinson. A role he continues. Nick has now appeared in more than 1,000 episodes of the Channel 4 soap.
4
THE first episode of the new teen soap was watched in 2.9 million homes. The show opened with a series of scenes that encapsulated the lives of the seven youngsters in Chester.
5
VIEWERS saw four teenagers scramble out of a car before it exploded into a ball of flames – a sign of the action, drama and spectacles to come.
6
THE opening episode saw Kurt’s younger brother Ollie exposed as the ‘thief’ who stole his car and Jambo (Will Mellor) climbing through Kurt’s bedroom window. It would become his signature move. 7 THE first instalment closed with Kurt being rejected by Natasha not once, but twice… He finally got the message when her Alsatian dog leapt at him.
8
HOLLYOAKS was originally on once a week until 1996 when this was doubled. In 2001 Hollyoaks was being beamed into living rooms four times a week by 2001 and it went up to five episodes in 2003. 9
MANY famous faces have paid the village a visit over the years with cameo appearances from James Corden, Boy George, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Paul McKenna, Cat Deeley, Scott Mills, Nick Grimshaw, Ben Foden and Eammon Holmes.
10
HOLLYOAKS is also popular with musicians. Girls Aloud, McFly, Wretch 32, Lethal Bizzle and The Vamps have all been spotted in the village.
11
THERE have been a host of soap firsts over the years. Hollyoaks has tackled male rape twice and in 2015 Ste Hay, played by Kieron Richardson, became the first gay character on a soap to find out he was HIV positive.
12
HOLLYOAKS was also the first soap to feature a gay wedding. The happy couple, ple, John Paul and Ste Hay, wed on Christmas Day in 2014. Sadly, y, the marriage didn’t last. 13
THE village is a dangerous place to live. There has been serial killer Toby Mills – who bumped off nine people including his own mum, the Gloved Hand Killer (later revealed as Lindsey Roscoe) and creepy pensioner Silas (Jeff Rawle) who merrily murdered women in the village.
14
ONE of the soap’s most expensive sets was the hospital. Researchers and medical advisors were brought in to make sure it looked as realistic as possible.
15
THERE are around 14 differentsized baby “bumps” that are used if any of the female characters have a pregnancy storyline.
16
HANGOVERS are unlikely after a night out in Hollyoaks. The booze featured in The Dog and The Loft was all non-alcoholic beer and wine or grape juice.
17
THE sweets featured in the Price Slice store were real, but all the cakes in Esther’s Magic Bean were fake, although the coffee machine was real. Most of the soap’s sets are fully functioning with running water. 18
IN 2002 Hollyoaks made in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest kiss. It lasted three minutes and 15 seconds and was between Ben (Marcus Patric) and Ellie (Sarah Baxendale).
19
THE soap is said to go through 30 pairs of false eyelashes a week as well as countless cans of hairspray and fake tan.
20
A CAT called Elvis called the set home and was occasionally spotted in background shots.
21
ONE of the most expensive items of clothing used in the soap was a leather jacket from All Saints that cost almost £500. It was worn by the character Freddie Roscoe.
22
HOLLYOAKS became the fir first British soap to show the tr tragic consequences of ano anorexia when it aired H Hannah Ashworth’s h heart- breaking story between 2006 and 2008. Emma Rigby won Best Actress at the British Soap Awards for her portrayal of Hannah’s struggle.
23
A MIX of CGI effects and live actio action was used to film the Hollyo Hollyoaks bus crash in 2012 in which characters Rhys, Maddie, Neil and Jono died. The scenes were filmed over a full week with two days dedicated to the stunt sequences.
24
HOLLYOAKS always goes big with their annual October stunts and this year’s anniversary special could be the biggest and best yet. Original cast member Jeremy Edwards is returning as Kurt Benson... even though the character apparently died off-screen in a tragic jet ski accident.