Hollyoaks is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera Brookside. Since May 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a day prior to their broadcast on Channel 4. At its inception, the soap was targeted towards an adolescent and young adult audience but has since broadened its appeal to all age groups. Hollyoaks has covered various taboo subjects rarely seen on British television, for which it has received numerous awards. It has won the award for Best British Soap twice, in 2014 and 2019; its first win broke the 15-year tie between rival soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street. Beginning with a cast of 15 characters, it now has upwards of 50 regular cast members. The longest-serving actor is Nick Pickard, who has portrayed Tony Hutchinson since the first episode. Premise The programme is set in the fictional village of Hollyoaks, a suburb of Chester. Characters In its first episode, Hollyoaks began with a cast of fifteen, seven of whom were teenagers that received the main focus of the soap. These teenagers were Kurt Benson (Jeremy Edwards), Jambo Bolton (Will Mellor), Natasha Anderson (Shebah Ronay), Louise Taylor (Brett O'Brien), Maddie Parker (Yasmin Bannerman), Dawn Cunningham (Lisa Williamson), and Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard); all of these but Pickard departed the series prior to 2000. Pickard stated that he was only signed for 26 episodes and exclaimed his joy at having appeared on the show since its inception. In more recent years, the cast has increased to typically 50 cast members, with the increase of castings being accredited to being a fast-paced soap. Production Production team Bryan Kirkwood joined the show as executive producer in 2006, but left three years later to become producer of EastEnders. After he left his role in 2009, a number of producers worked on the show, resulting in a number of creative reinventions and changes in direction during this time. Lucy Allan was named as Kirkwood's successor. In 2010, Allan announced she was to step down from the series after only a year, being replaced by Paul Marquess. Speaking of her decision, Allan stated: "I am very proud to have been part of the Hollyoaks team. I've had a fantastic time working on this show but am now equally excited about what the future will