Hollyoaks: Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

Thanks for the article. I didn't know Marquess worked with Brian Park at Corrie. The Deirdre in prison story was a huge national event at the time.

I think some of these culls leave some long term damage. Eastenders has never been the same without Kathy, and a few other characters from that era could have stayed (like Sanjay and Gita). Overall it was probably a success. I do think they do a disservice to Thelma Barlow (Mavis on Corrie). They imply she was fired for being past it. She actually quit the show because she was upset when they wrote out her husband on the show, Derek. She's continued to act regularly since leaving the show -- just a few years ago she did well in a Doctor Who episode (she was in the one where her scientist husband did experiments to become young; he did, but he also became a monster, and killed her).

These days new producers don't cull soaps as much, but there is so much dead weight at Hollyoaks, I won't be surprised if the axe falls, unless they don't have the budget.

Can anyone tell me about Marquess's time at Family Affairs? I wish that show were available. It was on for 7 years yet I have almost never seen any of it. The closest you get is some of the clips of the lesbian stories on the show.

Edited January 15, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

For a while they suspected his father of killing her, but finally he came forward and was eventually found to be acting in self-defense and a state of fear. When he went back to the place where she'd drowned, her mother showed up and almost drowned him. Then they had a heart-to-heart, and she accepted what happened, but said she could never forgive him for leaving her daughter there.

There's a long writeup here on the Murray family.

http://www.brooksidesoapbox.co.uk/page61.htm

The little boy who played him, Ray Quinn, was runner-up to Leona Lewis on the X Factor and won Dancing on Ice last year.

[Sylph]

Thank you, Carl.

Judging by all this, this shouldn't be a bad move at all.

He seems like no nonsense guy. We shall see.

[Toups]

Thank God!!! Lucy's tenure was soooooo boring. Hope this new guy makes the show more exciting. Since UK soaps are always planned so far in advance, I'm going to assume Lucy's stuff will last air around May or June? That's so far away.

[dannigold]

Sunday start for new 'Oaks chief

Incoming Hollyoaks producer Paul Marquess is due to begin work at the soap only two days after his appointment, Digital Spy can confirm.

Yesterday, Marquess was announced as successor to Lucy Allan who quit her role as the Channel 4 serial's leading producer after only 12 months in office.

DS today learned that Marquess will take the reins at Hollyoaks' set at Lime Pictures in Liverpool tomorrow morning.

The cast and crew of the Chester-based soap have been drafted in for a weekend's filming following several days of disruption due to the recent snowy weather.

Marquess is expected to introduce himself to the rest of the Hollyoaks team at some point in the day, before acclimatising himself to his new surroundings.

A source today told DS: "It's all been a very quick turnaround at the top. There'll be a short handover period, but Paul officially takes the helm on Monday and he's really looking forward to the challenge."

Speaking of his new appointment yesterday evening, Marquess said: "I'm a huge soap fan so to be handed the reins of Channel 4's flagship teen drama is not only a huge challenge but also a massive honour."

Marquess's previous television credits have included Brookside, Family Affairs, The Bill and Footballers' Wives.

Edited January 16, 2010 by dannigold

[DRW50]

They're not wasting any time! Usually transitions are longer. Even Kim Crowther, whose tenure at Corrie won't be remembered with fondness, is not actually leaving until mid-year.

So the stories Allan had planned will be significantly changed then?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

LOL! They couldn't wait to get rid of Lucy Allan!

I'm assuming he'll be planning stuff for when her material runs out, unless he can somehow tweak her latter stuff that maybe hasn't been shot yet.

This should be an interesting year for most of the UK soaps, as EastEnders, Corrie, and Hollyoaks are getting new producers.

Edited January 16, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Sylph]

If only the US soaps were so lucky...

[Chris B]

I wonder what will happen with the Flash Forward episode which not only was six months in the future, but would be spinning off yet another story, the Who Killed Calvin story. As for the cast, I do worry about which characters will stay and which will go. It needs a revamp, but I'd like certain regulars to stay...

- The McQueens

- Tony, Dom, Cindy and Holly

- Steph, Darren, Frankie, Jack and Newt (I don't care for these characters, but I know they've been around for years and people enjoy them)

- Lauren and Sasha, the two remaining Valentine's

- Josh, Amy, Ste and all of their kids

- In the college sect I'd keep Hayley and Dave. Not sure I even remember who else is in the halls. Oh I'd keep the girl who shits on herself too. She reminds me of Jessica.

- My babys dad Zak needs to stick around, along with Elliot, Malachy, Kris and Nancy

- Since Kris seems to mainly date girls, why not keep Ravi and develop a male love interest for him? Dump Anita.

Those are the people I'd like to say off the top of my head. I'm sure I'm forgetting one or two people. Overall they have a decent cast that needs better storylines, but there are certainly gaps that need to be filled. I just hate that this show in particular seems to constantly have people coming and going. With the young focus I expect that, but when revamping the show they need to develop some of the older characters like Darren, Steph, Zak, Nancy, etc. so they can have a strong group of characters going into their mid-20s-early 30s if we're looking to the future.

Glad to hear this guy has mostly positive feedback. I'm willing to accept major changes even if they suck. I just want someone with a bold vision and attempts to do SOMETHING. Lucy Allan seemed to be piggy backing off of Kirkwood's material. None of her new characters were anything special and her stories were dull. I couldn't tell you what her vision was for the show. Just to keep it moving I guess. But when the ratings dropped to around 700,000 or 800,000 in December I knew she'd be gone.

[DRW50]

Ravi is a very bad actor and I don't think he's all that believable with men or with women. If they're going to have a gay relationship, which I hope they do, I think they need to bring someone new in. I can also see someone like Ste in this type of story.

Lauren is OK but I wouldn't mind seeing the back of Sasha. The girl who plays her is not capable of carrying stories. The only time I was interested in her was when she was with Fletch, and that was ruined when they wrote Fletch off in such a shoddy way (the character deserved better). Everything with Sasha, Warren, I thought it was a mistake.

I think you could write out Frankie and Jack and Newt (although Newt must be popular with teens and tweens) without a real loss. I loved Jack but Bryan Kirkwood ruined him. He also ruined Frankie. She was a bitter harridan for his entire tenure and it's been hard to see her as anything different.

Kirkwood was lucky in that he left the show with his reputation intact, but his 2008 HO was highly flawed. The story pacing was not good. Niall's story went on and on. Popular characters like Hannah, Justin, and Russ barely had anything to do the entire year. Tony, who had once been a funny and quirky character, became walking misery. Jacqui, a great character, was really damaged by his storytelling, which made her all about Tina's baby. Louise/Warren was repetitive and plot-driven and depressing. The Kieron/John Paul relationship was one of the most oddly written romances ever -- they would be friends, then the characters would vanish for weeks, then they'd sleep together, they'd vanish again, they were in love, and so on. Most of the important scenes were never shown. Then when Craig returned, he and John Paul were rushed together without any of their baggage being explored, and Kieron was killed off as an inconvenience. The character could have been so much more, he had ties to many others, like Ste, and the actor, Jake Hendriks, was charming and handsome.

Worst of all was the small little moments were lost, like the conversations people used to have. This especially affected the McQueens, who barely even tolerated each other and only had the occasional scene which wasn't shouting and crying. Everything which had made them stand out in 2006 and 2007 was gone. Jacqui and John Paul had maybe two or three scenes the entire year.

I think the show had become very depressing and sparse, and needed a change, but unfortunately, Allan seemed to just think bringing in endless teens and "comedy" stories was the answer.

Anyway, here's another Marquess article, from 2002.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2002/feb/18/mondaymediasection6

Edited January 18, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I think the show lost a lot of heart when OB left, and then when Max was killed off months later. I understood why it happened, since Jeffries and Littler wanted to move on, but I thought Max and OB brought a lot of heart to the show and their friendship was the strongest relationship on the show for years.

I didn't realize how much I've missed them until they were gone.

2006 and ESPECIALLY 2007 were dynamite years for Hollyoaks, mostly everything clicked and the main storyline were all must see. I think Hollyoaks in 2007 was one of the best years I've ever seen on any soap.

Things started to falter a bit in 2008, but I still thought the show was entertaining. Lucy Allan just made the show lots more aimless and her stories adn new characters were so poorly developed.

I'm interested in seeing Kirkwood's work on EastEnders, which is a totally different animal from Hollyoaks. I think he's a very strong storyteller, but it should be fun to compare and contrast it with his time on Hollyoaks.

Edited January 18, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[DRW50]

You're right, losing Max and OB, especially the way it happened, hurt a lot. But this also reinforced just how devoid the canvas had become of friendships and bonds. Stuff like Nancy/Sarah/Hannah, which was often Nancy and Sarah running around, "What about ME?", were not an adequate replacement.

2007 was a very good year for the show, I think the one downside is Kirkwood seemed to think it was the big events which made that year stand out, when I think it was the day to day relationships moreso than plot twists.

He's got his work cut out for him, because Eastenders is seen as being in a good state right now. I think there's plenty of room for improvement, I hope he won't continue the stunt-driven, depressing storytelling which often has no followthrough (like Lauren running over her father).

[Toups]

Glad the turnaround is happening right away! So maybe the new EP's material will start around March/April? I hope it's March.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/s13/hollyoaks/news/a198988/hollyoaks-stars-fear-mass-cast-cull.html

[Bright Eyes]

GOOD! The show needs some major refocusing.