HOLLYOAKS

[ChrisL]

Hello, I have a question regarding the writing team for HOLLYOAKS. I'm trying to figure out who the head writers are for this awesome soap. The credits for the writing appear differently then they do for US soaps. For instance, at the opening of the show, it says Written By. Then during the closing credits, we see - Script Editor, Assistant Script Editor, Story Editor and finally, Storyliners. Does anyone have any idea which one of these titles would be considered head writer? If this is any help, the Written By name during the opening seems to change daily, while the other names generally stay the same for an extended period of time. Thank you in advance for your help!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

UK soaps don't have "Head Writer(s)."

We were discussing this in the Hollyoaks thread in the Foreign Soaps forum a few days ago.

Bryan Kirkwood is the producer (he'll be stepping down in January). Anyway, he and his storyliners come up with the storylines. The script editors and story editors help plot them and check for errors in each episode. The "Written By" part in the beginning lists the scriptwriter, the person responsible for writing that particular episode (both scenes and dialogue).

The head producer on UK soaps typically drive huge amounts of storylines, Bryan Kirkwood in particular, had just come off a 5 year stint at Coronation Street as Script Editor before he was named Producer of Hollyoaks. He is a writer at heart. It seems UK soap Producers have the responsibility for both production and writing (even if they don't do the actual writing).

UK soaps are a huge collaborative effort from what I've heard. About anyone can pitch a story on the staff.

[ChrisL]

Thank you for this informative information, Y&RWorldTurner. Very interesting. I wasn't aware of how prominent Bryan Kirkwood's role was in the telling of story. I'm very sad to see him leave as I've been a fan of the show ever since he took over. And I should have checked out the 'foreign soaps' section first. Sorry about that... Mods - by all means - please place this there if necessary.

[JamesF]

I think another good point to the system is that they often have huge story conferences every 6-12 months with all of the writers present. This is where they hammer out their failings, gaps in the cast etc and fight for story ideas.

It works to an extent in stopping the pervading network interference. It's harder for a suit to shoot down a huge group of writers and producers than one headwriter.

What is often noteable (particularly when storyliners of Aussie soaps are interviewed) is how people are hesitant to take credit for an idea and always attribute it to the team. Someone might have the germ of a story which is built upon by various other people during a story session.

[ChrisL]

JamesF, appreciate the news about the story conferences. This is really an intriguing way to write a show.

[Rakesh]

^Agreed.

US soaps should learn from these soap operas around the world.

It's kinda like Big Brother... different countries have their own version of the reality show but they all try to add something unique to their version. The EP of the US version said all the producers of all the BB shows around the world would get together and discuss stuff like once a year.

Maybe US soaps should try and get help from those British soaps. I really like the format that the British soaps are using.

[EricMontreal22]

Well Frons hired that writer from Corrie, etc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daran_Little he created the brief Hollyoaks spin off In the City) but sadly so far I haven't seen much of his influence

[Chris B]

Whoops! wrong thread.