HOLLYOAKS

'''Hollyoaks''' is a British television soap opera, first broadcast on 23 October 1995, on Channel 4. Originally devised by Phil Redmond, who also devised shows such as ''Brookside'' and ''Grange Hill'', the programme is set in and around the fictional Chester suburb of ''Hollyoaks'' and is centred around a former 1950s technical college which is now a college of higher education called Hollyoaks Community College (often mistaken for the real-life University of Chester), with the characters and main target audience generally being in their late teens or early twenties.
Hollyoaks is the fourth highest-rating soap opera on British television, behind Emmerdale, Coronation Street, and EastEnders.
Produced by Lime Pictures (formerly Mersey Television) and filmed mainly at studios in Liverpool, the show currently broadcasts at 18:30 each weekday on Channel 4, with an omnibus edition on Sunday morning, usually at 9.50am but this time may vary. At 19:00 each weekday, Channel 4's sister station E4 airs a 'First Look' feature, in which viewers are able to watch the episode which will be shown on Channel 4 the following day. A Saturday omnibus is also aired on E4 as well as daily repeats each weekday at 16.30. The Welsh fourth channel, S4C, broadcasts the Sunday omnibus only. ''Hollyoaks'' is also shown in other countries, such as Canada, on the BBC Kids channel, Ireland on TV3 Television Network and, as of 2007, in the United States on BBC America in June as well as in parts of Eastern Europe including Ukraine. It has recently been aired in New Zealand as well. Episodes shown in countries other than the United Kingdom started at the time of the Sam Owen's return which aired in the UK during Summer 2006. (Broadcasts of the show in Ireland are an international version of the UK episodes, and do not contain the same incidental music and songs as the UK version, presumably as a result of music licencing issues.)
The programme is known for launching the careers of Will Mellor, Jodi Albert, Gary Lucy, Elize Du Toit, Jeremy Edwards, Terri Dwyer, Ali Bastian, Sarah Jayne Dunn and James Redmond.
''Hollyoaks'' has received numerous awards over the years and raised awareness of teen issues such as teen pregnancy, abortion, bereavement, male rape/date rape, alcohol, drug abuse, epilepsy, homosexuality, and anorexia.


Hollyoaks was the only soap to be nominated in every category at the 2007 British Soap Awards. ^[1]
On February 26 2007, the programme launched a new theme tune along with new look titles, with the name written as H♀LLY♂AKS. The revamp was brought about since the majority of characters featured in the previous version had either been killed-off or had left the programme, while others generally now look different to how they did.^[2] The new titles show different characters in the drama posing in various positions with bright colourful backdrops. These credits were changed slightly on the 25 May 2007 so different characters were included that weren't before such as Fletch and Tom, and new characters such as Katy and Elliot, characters that have left such as Sonny and Will and characters in different poses than before such as Nancy (who now has a more prominent place in the order), Mercedes and Rhys, with the majority of the credits remaining the same.

Contents

Characters

Hollyoaks specials

Hollyoaks DVD and Video specials

Hollyoaks Late Night Specials

Hollyoaks New Media Content

Hollyoaks Spin Offs

Books

Music

Issue-led storylines

See also

References

External links

Characters

:''See: List of characters from Hollyoaks''

Hollyoaks specials

The show also features occasional late-night spin-off editions, which feature more dramatic or controversial plot lines; these generally do fit into the Hollyoaks universe, and are considered canon. There are also a number of DVD and Video specials.

Hollyoaks DVD and Video specials

★ '' (1998)

★ '' (2001)

Hollyoaks Late Night Specials

★ '' (2000)

★ '' (2000)

★ '' (2003)

★ '' (2004)

★ '' (2004)

★ '' (2005)

★ '' (2005)

★ '' (2006)

Hollyoaks New Media Content

★ 'Hollyoaks Backstage' (2007)

Hollyoaks Spin Offs

★ '' (2001)

★ '' (2005)

★ '' (2006)

Books

★

★ 'Hollyoaks: New Friends' (1996)

★ 'Hollyoaks: Friends and Families' (1996)

★ 'Hollyoaks: Can't Get the Girl' (1997)

★ 'Hollyoaks: Luke's Secret Diary' (2000)Luke dealing with life after being raped by Mark Gibbs

★ 'Hollyoaks: Lives and Loves of Finn' (2000)

★ 'Hollyoaks: Running Wild' (2002): About what Ellie Mills (nee Hunter) did before she came to Hollyoaks and the real reason she returned.

★ '' (2002): about Lisa Hunter self harming.

★ 'Hollyoaks: Truth or Dare' (2006): about Hannah Ashworth, Nancy Hayton and Sarah Barnes on a school trip to France. Although Nicole Owen is featured on the cover she does not appear in the book as she is still in shock after Andy Holt's attack.

★ 'Hollyoaks: Playing with Fire' (2006): this follows the storyline of Becca Dean and Justin Burton's affair.

★ 'Hollyoaks: Fame Game' (2006): about Steph Dean and Debbie Dean in London on a search for stardom.

★ 'Hollyoaks: Guilt Trip' (2006): about Nicole Owen's struggle for a normal life and Sam Owen's plan and action for revenge.

★ 'Hollyoaks: It's My Life' (2007): about Amy Barnes' pregnancy.

Music

''Hollyoaks'' is the only major British soap to make use of incidental music, Each episode begins with a current or recent chart song. These have included bands such as Ocean Colour Scene with the song "Hundred Mile High City", Belle & Sebastian, Oasis, Radiohead,Fall Out Boy, Scissor Sisters, U2, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Justin Timberlake, The Libertines, The Kooks, Muse, Feeder, Seth Lakeman, Arctic Monkeys, Morrissey, The Fratellis, Kasabian, The Darkness, Maroon 5, BabyShambles, Sugababes, Dirty Pretty Things, Kate Nash, The Maccabees and My Chemical Romance. Current chart songs are not used in the international version of the show; instead library music and a selection of purposely-composed songs are used. In 2007, The Alphites were the first band to perform on the show. They played in the SU Bar
A "Hollyoaks" soundtrack CD was released in 2001, containing music used in the programme.
The main theme was written and performed by Steve Wright, who produced music and themes for not only ''Hollyoaks'' but ''Brookside'', ''Grange Hill'' and other Mersey TV productions.

Issue-led storylines

Over the course of the show's history, it has dealt with a number of storylines based on serious issues. Given the large and established proportion of young viewers, some feel that the soap is an ideal platform to show a variety of life-problems.
Storylines the soap has dealt with include heroin abuse, male rape, sexuality, child abuse, anorexia, living with epilepsy and pupil/teacher relationships and also dealing with OCD. Often a telephone helpline number is displayed after episodes that feature a particular emphasis on a story that may have affect viewers.

See also

★ Hollyoaks locations

★ List of characters from Hollyoaks

★ List of past characters from Hollyoaks

★ Hollyoaks Comprehensive

References

1. Hollyoaks sweeps the board at Soap Award nominations
2. 'Hollyoaks' opening sequence revamped Kris Green

External links

★ ''Hollyoaks'' at Channel4.com

★

★ Digital Spy: ''Hollyoaks''

★ ''Hollyoaks'' at What's on TV

★ Hollyoaks World

★ ''Hollyoaks Forum''

★ ''Hollyoaks - HCC''