{{DISPLAYTITLE:History of Hollyoaks}}Hollyoaks began airing on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 23 October 1995. The target audience was that of teenagers and it initially dramatised the lives of seven of that age group who lived in Hollyoaks, a fictional suburb in the city of Chester in Cheshire, England. 1990s Suggestions for a serialised television drama that would explore the lives of late-teenage characters were put to producer Phil Redmond in the 1980s by viewers of his Grange Hill school-based drama series. The suggestions came from Grange Hill viewers but Redmond was unable to pursue the idea at the time due to his production commitments with another successful television drama serial, Brookside. In the early 1990s UK television broadcaster Channel 4 sought ideas from independent production companies for a serial to be aimed at a teenage audience. At this point Redmond explored the earlier suggestions made to him, developed the theme and pitched it to the broadcaster as The Teenage Soap. He felt that there was a need for a home-grown British counterpart to the imported serials then being aired by other UK broadcasters and which targeted the teenage audience, such as Home and Away, Neighbours and Beverley Hills 90210. Channel 4 chose Redmond's plans from the pitches presented to it and within months production had begun. The premise of the serial at its inception was to focus on seven teenagers living in the city of Chester, and in particular to deal with teenage rites of passage. The first episode aired on 23 October 1995 and achieved an audience of three million in the UK. The seven principal characters were Natasha Andersen (Shebah Ronay), Kurt Benson (Jeremy Edwards), Jambo Bolton (Will Mellor), Maddie Parker (Yasmin Bannerman), Dawn Cunningham (Lisa Williamson), Louise Taylor (Brett O'Brien) and Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard). The series, which aired once per week, was initially panned by television critics and was subject to adverse press attention. However it proved popular with the teenage audience at which it was aimed. In 1996 a second weekly episode was commissioned. Redmond did have to adjust the style of the series somewhat as audience opinion was found to be that in fact the programme concentrated too much on humour and not enough on serious storylines. An early example of the change in style to issue-focussed storylines was seen when Redmond wrote out the character of Natasha, killing her off with