HOLLYOAKS TURNS 25! - HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLYOAKS

This week sees Hollyoaks turn 25 years old on Friday (23rd October) as it arrived on our screens on Channel 4 in 1995.

I remember the very first episode of Hollyoaks, I watched when I turned on channel 4 on by accident but I was glued to the TV for those 30 minutes as a 6/7 year old (can't remember the characters through but I am sure one of the families in the episode was the Cunningham's and of course, Tony was involved).

It wasn't until 2003 that I started watching Hollyoaks regularly as a 10 year old having a TV in my room it was exciting (I loved my TV, and watching the soaps every evening).

One of the very first families, I return loving where the Hunter's because they remembered me of my friends family with a mum, dad, 2 brothers, and a sister - everything about this families dynamic was so interesting to watch because you never knew what was next for them which was what make it gripping viewing for me.

Another family, I loved watching were the Fox's especially when Warren's sister, Hannah arrived in the Hollyoaks Village because every episode that featured them you knew drama was never too far away from them. But my favourite episode of the Fox's was when Clare Devine kidnapped her leading to Warren, and Katy's boyfriend, Justin going on a speed chase ending at a cliff to which Clare's car landed in. This episode had me speechless, I remember cheering loudly as Katy survived. Oh, how I miss Hannah Tointon in Hollyoaks.

Everyone has that one family they love, and mine was The Barnes family with Mum - Kathy, Dad - Mike, and 2 sisters - Sarah, and Amy them coming into the show in 2005 was just genius because the amount of storylines we got from this one family was brilliant, and one of my favourites was Amy's teenage pregnancy in 2006/ 2007 with her giving birth to her oldest child daughter, Leah on the kitchen floor of her family home with the help of her sister, Sarah, and dad Mike who thought she had made it all up until her felt her stomach (that moment still makes me laugh looking back). The scenes which followed seeing Kathy being ashamed of her daughter, and telling Amy to lie about her daughter being her sister in a storyline, I remember thinking why would you do that but the moment Amy told Josh Ashworth about her daughter was one moment, I thought Yes, Amy is finally standing up for herself.
But in 2016 when Amy returned with her 2 children, Leah and Lucas - I was thrilled by her arrival back in the village however, in 2017 when Amy was killed off by her husband that was relieved in a special flashback episode, I was devastated as Amy was one of the very first characters I grew an interest in as a young person watching the show.

2007 saw one of my favourite storylines in the shows history because I remember being able to related to this storyline as a young person, Emma Rigby was so incredible during the whole of storyline as she wasn't afraid to give such an incredibly raw, and honest portrayal. The families portrayal was so honest too - many times you can see the family being torn apart as they tried to help her, but with her not wanting the support what can you do?! I was just so glad that Hannah finally accepted help despite being forced into it.
You could definitely see why Emma won Best Actress at the 2008 British Soap Awards for her portrayal.

One character in 2015, I was so glad to have on my screen was Kim Butterfield as she was played by my favourite theatre actress, Daisy Wood-Davis and my god what an amazing addition she was - I had great expectations but seeing everyone's reaction to the character over the 4 years Kim was on screen, I really enjoyed it.

This year, I have enjoyed so many of the episodes that Hollyoaks attention to detail as been nothing short of amazing, especially with the county lines storyline with many of it's younger cast allowing their acting abilities to be shown off. Ruby O'Donnell and Kirsty Leigh Porter have been amazing as has Niamh Blackshaw, Billy Price and Connor Callard.

2020 has been a tough year for everyone in the Hollyoaks Village but with this Covid 19 pandemic, I have to give a MASSIVE praise and credit to all of the Hollyoaks Team - The Directors (1st/ 2nd/ 3rd Assistant Directors), Artist AD's, Wardrobe, Make-up Artists who have been teaching/ helping the cast do their own, Camera/ Sound/ Lighting departments, The Art Department, Props teams (set designers), Scriptwriters coming up with ways to include the pandemic, Script Editors, The Special Effects Teams, The Soaps Researches, Story Producers, Producers, Runners, and especially the Actors, and Actresses at Hollyoaks.

Can't wait to see Kurt Benson return as part of the anniversary week, will be interesting to see how Jeremy Edwards fits back in.

Other favourites
As I was researching for this article, I realised how many incredible storylines, and stunts Hollyoaks have had over their 25 year old history - One of my favourite episodes even though it was also the saddest was Steph Dean and Max Cunningham's wedding however, I just sad it was short lived with Max dying on the same day.

Lisa Hunter's Self-Harm Storyline from 2005 for me were very harrowing episodes as a 12 year old watching the show. Gemma Atkinson's portrayal was just amazing. The fact that Hollyoaks gave an amazing portrayal on this subject thanks to the taboo topic at the time, the amount of research that went into this storyline was just fantastic.

All of the McQueen dramas, Ollie/ Buster/ Brody in 2018 which were extremely hard hitting episodes, All the John Paul/ Craig drama what a love story that was, Becca Hayton and Justin Burton relationship which was just weird viewing but looking back was one storyline I enjoyed watching for all the wrong reasons.

In 2015, Hollyoaks saw one of it's most gripping storylines with The Gloved Hand Killer with Lindsey Roscoe being identified as the killer following the killing of 7 Hollyoaks residents - Rick Spencer, Will Savage, Mariam Andrews, Phoebe McQueen, Dylan Jenkins, Ashley Davidson, and Charles S'Avage.

Another storyline that gripped me was Silas Blissett's serial killing spree with India Longford in 2010, Jenny in 2011, Rae Wilson's also in 2011, kills his own daughter, Heidi who he thought was Lindsey Roscoe in 2011 too. Before finally killing Lindsey in 2016.

The Hollyoaks High Gas Explosion in 2017, The Bus Crash in 2012 and The Dog Pub on Fire in 2006 were three brilliant stunts that deserved a lot of praise in my opinion.

However, over the past 5 years I have enjoyed watching Patrick's abuse towards Maxine which saw a lot of awareness raised on domestic violence, and most recently Darren's depression thanks to Ashley Taylor Dawson's fantastic portrayal along with so many of you reading this.

One storyline, I think a lot of people forget about is Sophie Burton's drinking problem because she covered it up so well so that episode which saw her go into an AA meeting was a turning point for the character, and her problems which left viewers leaving emotional over.

When I asked for your favourite moments over the past 25 years, here are what you all said -

Anything from the early days where things were just normal and no crazy storylines with Kurt, Banjo, Finn, Ruth, Tony etc, Silas! It felt like a real classic era of Hollyoaks - good characters & I like how many other storylines were weaved into it, Justin and Becca's affair, Freddie and Sinead's wedding, Brendan Brady, Bombhead and his mum,  and finally meaning of you said McDean.