Hollyoaks: Discussion Thread

[dannigold]

Alex Carter returns to 'Hollyoaks'

Former Emmerdale actor Alex Carter will return to Hollyoaks later this year, Digital Spy can exclusively reveal.

The 27-year-old recently signed a six-month contract with the soap under new producer Paul Marquess, who recently axed a number of current cast members including the Ashworths.

Last month, Carter announced his decision to step down from his role as Emmerdale postman Jamie Hope after four years.

It has since emerged that Carter had been in talks with new Hollyoaks producer Paul Marquess to make a come back to the teen serial as Lee Hunter, a character he portrayed between 2001 and 2005.

A show source this morning told DS: "It's no secret that Hollyoaks isn't at its best but Paul's decision to bring Alex back into the fold shows that he's committed to taking it back to its best. He wasn't really used at Emmerdale but that'll change here."

They added: "Everyone's really excited about what Paul has planned - it really is the dawn of a new era."

Carter is due to begin filming within the next few months and will make his screen reappearance around June.

It was recently announced that Marquess is to introduce a new family to the programme as part of his major shakeup.

[DRW50]

Some at Digital Spy are thinking this is to bring back Alex's sister, Lisa. Lisa Hunter started out as a shy, long-suffering misfit. She had a very well known story where she cut herself to deal with her self-loathing and feeling like no one cared about her. As Lisa grew older, the show decided to make her a sex figure, as Gemma Atkinson also began posing in magazines. She suddenly had big fake breasts and went around seducing men, among them Jake Dean and Ben Davies (a somewhat creepy element is that they were both close friends with her dead brother, Dan). She gave Jake an STD, which he then gave to his girlfriend Becca.

In late 2005 she and Ben left the show and went on to appear in several late night specials. They had their own series, called Hollyoaks in the City, where they split up and both fell into prostitution and decadence. The end of this featured Lisa being kidnapped. She freed herself, got a gun, and fired...shooting and killing Ben, who had come to rescue her.

I think it's not a great idea to bring this type of character back but who knows.

Alex was more of a supporting character, he was comic relief. For years he dated Ben's sister Abby Davies, until she cheated on him at college. He later left town with Zara Morgan, a shrill yet generally amusing activist figure. Many stories centered around his desperate need to get laid, and his double act with Bombhead, a weird comedic figure who was also somewhat tragic -- his biggest story involved living with his mother's corpse for weeks.

Edited March 15, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I'm surprised Marquess wants to bring Lee back. The character was fun though, and I'll look forward to see what's planned for him.

Amello should be happy Alex Carter will be back on a soap soon.

I wonder where Lee will fit in now though, Hollyoaks is such a different show from when he originally appeared, and it's bound to get even more different with a new producer there.

Strangely, though, Atkinson/Lisa were very popular, and even now, articles are constantly published about her wanting to come back. I don't know if that's due to her looks, or if people genuinely liked this character. I thought Lisa was just OK, though Atkinson sure was pretty.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Bright Eyes]

Yes, yes, HELL YES! I freaking ADORE Alex Carter! This is easily worth losing Newt and Zak

Ironically, by the time I'm caught up with Emmerdale there probably won't be a long period of absence between his departure from E to his arrival back at Hollyoaks.

Paul Marquess is on my good side now. Let's hope he doesn't screw it up!

[DRW50]

Do you remember Ellie? I didn't see her worst years, I only saw her last 6 months or so, but even though I knew what she'd done to her family I still felt sorry for her and one of the reasons I couldn't stand Lisa was the endless moaning about Ellie. Ellie had one of my favorite soap exits, it was very beautifully done. I'd like to see her again.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

It's weird though with Lee coming back. Does he even really know anyone other than Steph? She's like the last real one left over from that era. Let's not forget that Steph and Lisa have a complicated history too, as it was Steph's bullying that practically drove Lisa into self-mutilation.

[DRW50]

Some think he is coming back to be in charge of Evissa (who's running that now?).

It is weird though because he really has so few ties. I just hope he's not returning for only comedy stories because as fun as those can be sometimes, and as much as Hollyoaks sometimes overdosed on drama in 2008, I'm not sure if viewers would enjoy too much silly stuff.

I think he would work better if they had his parents in. I liked his parents a lot, especially the mother. Then there was the weird treat of knowing that the father had played the detective on Hyacinth Bouquet's crime solving show.

I can't believe how much Hollyoaks has changed since 2005. I know that was considered a down period for the show but I didn't think it was too bad. But part of that is due to Max and OB Some of that era did have weird stories though. I don't know if I can imagine the show as of now spending months on Tony trying to drive a gypsy caravan away from his restaurant.

Edited March 16, 2010 by CarlD2

[Chris B]

Oh god, I guess Lisa is back too. That's not a good sign in his favor. WTF? Of all the people to bringback?!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

The show just seemed so light and lacking in anything resembling substances during that era. It also felt like they were casting all of the actors due to looks and nothing else, a rep Hollyoaks has always had a problem shaking.

The fake comedic moments during that time were SO BAD. The show needed the revamp Tony Wood and Bryan Kirkwood gave it in 2006, I think it was dying for it.

Max and OB brought a lot to the show though, and no other friendship or relationship on this show has been as strong.

[DRW50]

I do think the "light" moments at that time were silly but sometimes they worked, mostly because the actors knew how to play comedy. I really liked Joe and I thought Lee and Zara were amusing. Remember when Zara had to pretend to be Kyle Minoque and she and another Kylie lookalike got into a catfight?

The main dramatic story I remember from then was the one with Justin and his stepbrother Ali being bullied, leading to Ali killing the bully and himself getting run over when Justin told him to run. This led into the Justin/Becca relationship. Kirkwood, for all the talk of how much he supposedly thought highly of Chris Fountain, did Justin no favors as a character. Justin in 2005 and 2006 basically carried huge parts of the show. It was never really the same after that story where he made Becca go to prison. Justin stayed around after that but they clearly had no idea what to do with him, made worse because he had no family on the show.

Some of the stories then did have a very weird tone, like they never seemed how seriously to take Mandy's pregnancy. And then there was some filler, and some dramatic stuff which wasn't as involving...I liked Nicole and Russ and the Owen father, but as a family the stories weren't the best. The mother got on my nerves. Sam was OK, if dull, before they made him psycho. He was hot though (which is probably another reason they had all those episodes where he went around in his underwear).

The drug rape story was harrowing; the woman who played Mel was very good. The guy who played Andy was VERY good. I'm surprised no other soap snapped him up.

I wonder who will move into the Ashworth home when they leave. Since Lee may be coming back alone I guess it won't be him. That home is a house of horrors for young women -- Lisa, Ellie, Beth, Hannah, Melissa, etc.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Who knows if this is really happening, but...

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/news/a209249/claire-sweeney-to-join-hollyoaks.html

[BadBoy93]

if this is the case then excellent news.

[DRW50]

Phina Oruche is joining as the matriarch of a new mixed-race family. She was on the last series of Footballers' Wives. You may also remember her from Buffy, she was in several episodes as Giles' girlfriend, around the time of the mute episode.

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/news/a211351/footballers-wives-actress-joins-hollyoaks.html

[Chris B]

Waaaht?! I really wasn't expecting that. I'd say pretty good casting. I love Phina. She's sexy, unique and will definitely bring a new quality to the show. I can't see her sitting on the sidelines like most of the current older characters. Hopefully that's a sign it'll be more integrated like the others.

Only problem is that she has an ODD accent. She sounds pretty much American. I wonder how she will sound here.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Wow, wasn't expecting this at all. Should be interesting.