Yahoo News Exclusive: Hollyoaks boss teases 25th anniversary plans
Hollyoaks boss Bryan Kirkwood has spoken to Digital Spy about his plans for the show's 25th anniversary.
The Channel 4 soap reaches its next major milestone in October next year and the team are already busy plotting the on-screen celebrations.
Sharing some early hints with Digital Spy, Kirkwood explained: "We have got a really confident framework for the 25th year, which we're very excited about.
"Nick Pickard is right at the centre of that – as he should be, as Tony Hutchinson is our original character from episode one.
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"We're looking at the themes that brought people to Hollyoaks 25 years ago. It was introduced as a very young and youthful soap, so that ingredient is really high in the mix for the next year.
"I'm really confident in saying that we have a very original, ambitious story coming up for the teens and the families. Hopefully that will engage all of our viewers.
"We're already talking about our stunt for the 25th anniversary week, which has got us excited too."
Hollyoaks made its first major announcement for the upcoming birthday last month, confirming that Tony Hutchinson's estranged father Edward will be playing a key role in the 25th anniversary storylines.
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Joe McGann has been cast in the role of Edward, a new supervillain for Hollyoaks who'll be making waves "for the anniversary and beyond".
Expanding further on the plans, Kirkwood continued: "We're very lucky to have Joe McGann here. He's part of the McGann acting dynasty and it's always a real treat and a pleasure to have someone of that calibre coming into Hollyoaks to shake things up.
"Among the talks as we approached the 25th anniversary, we spoke about Tony's dad. He was in the show as an off-screen character for the first few years of Hollyoaks.
"The character was previously called Brian in the show, so we will acknowledge the fact that he has changed his life. We are paying respect to the character that superfans will remember, so all will become clear when Edward comes on screen.
"We thought it was time to reintroduce that character as a force to be reckoned with. He's a very interesting villain and very complex. Fundamentally it'll be great to see how having his dad return changes Tony's life.
"When he arrives, Tony is in a very, very interesting place."
Although Edward is a ruthless and manipulative surgeon, Kirkwood confirmed that he won't be following in the same murderous footsteps as the Gloved Hand Killer, who proved to be a terrifying presence in the 20th anniversary year.
He said: "We went big a few years ago on hospital murderers, with Doctor Browning and then Lindsey Butterfield as the Gloved Hand. It's not something we're keen to return to, as Edward is a different kind of villain."
Hollyoaks airs weeknights at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first look screenings at 7pm on E4.
Read more news, spoilers and gossip on our Hollyoaks homepage
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