| Hollyoaks Later | |
|---|---|
| Series 3 | |
 Hollyoaks Later series 3 opening title | |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Release | |
| Original network | E4 |
| Original release | 25 October – 29 October 2010 |
| Series chronology | |
The third series of Hollyoaks Later is a British television series and late night spin-off of Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks . The series ran on E4 and began on 25 October 2010. [1]
Following the success of the first two series, Hollyoaks producer Paul Marquess announced in April 2010 that the late-night show would return for a third series in October 2010, after being commissioned by Channel 4. [1] Speaking about the series, Marquess said: "This commission is a huge vote of confidence in Hollyoaks from Channel 4. Seamlessly integrated with the 6.30pm shows, Hollyoaks Later 2010 will be the most exciting series so far. Prepare to be blown away." [1]
Roberto Troni, the commissioning editor for Channel 4, also commented on the announcement, saying: "Hollyoaks is a hit with E4 audiences. We always look for opportunities to extend the brand and give fans something extra. The Hollyoaks Later spin-off provides a unique opportunity to experiment in a late-night slot while staying true to the series. The late-night storylines will be a cocktail of fun, glamour, and grown-up drama." [1]
Cage fighter Michael Bisping, who was cast as "sinister" gangster Nathan, [2] told Sky Sports that viewers should expect "powerful" scenes from his guest appearance in the series. He said: "Some people will laugh at it, but the storyline is fantastic and I'm proud to be a part of it. I can't say too much about the plot, but it comes on our screens on October 25. I play a bit of a bad guy in it and get involved in a spot of kidnapping and whatnot. It's pretty powerful stuff in places and I'm sure people will get a kick out of it. I really enjoyed doing it and I'm pleased I took the opportunity when it came my way. I seemed to have a natural flair for acting and it's something I enjoy. There are a couple of other projects in the pipeline now and I'm interested in doing more." [3]
In October 2010, Channel 4 decided to axe the Hollyoaks 'First Look' episodes, which broadcast the next day's episode on E4 straight after the Channel 4 show ended, for one week during the broadcast of Hollyoaks Later. This was in order to make sure the series was not spoiled, as it would connect with the main Hollyoaks show. [4]
Rachel Shenton, who portrays Mitzeee commented on the series, saying: "It felt a lot different [to Hollyoaks] because we were on location so it felt like we were doing a completely different show for a lot of it. You could push the boundaries a little bit more and we touched on subjects that Hollyoaks couldn't cover properly. We had a great time, it was really good." [5]
The official trailer of the series was released and broadcast in mid October 2010, two weeks before the series started. [6] [7]
The series follows four stories. Riley and Seth Costello are invited to a party at a footballer's house and the McAllisters plot their revenge. Jason Costello is confronted by Fern and admits his gender dysphoria, only to have Fern threaten to tell his family and Bart McQueen. Mercedes Fisher, upset over Malachy Fisher and Lynsey Nolan's relationship, lies that she has been infected with HIV by Malachy. Mitzeee teaches Nancy Hayton and a heavily pregnant Theresa McQueen how to become a WAG.
The cast were confirmed in April 2010, with several of the Hollyoaks series regulars returning. [1] [8] Actress Hollie-Jay Bowes, who portrays Michaela McQueen, was originally signed to appear in the series. However, Bowes was later axed from Hollyoaks and the character was replaced. [9]
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Mitzeee | Rachel Shenton |
| Carl Costello | Paul Opacic |
| Jasmine Costello | Victoria Atkin |
| Riley Costello | Rob Norbury |
| Seth Costello | Miles Higson |
| Mercedes Fisher | Jennifer Metcalfe |
| Malachy Fisher | Glen Wallace |
| Nancy Hayton | Jessica Fox |
| Bart McQueen | Jonny Clarke |
| Theresa McQueen | Jorgie Porter |
| Elliot Bevan | Garnon Davies |
| Cheryl Brady | Bronagh Waugh |
| Jamil Fadel | Sikander Malik |
| Lynsey Nolan | Karen Hassan |
| Anita Roy | Saira Choudhry |
| Carmel Valentine | Gemma Merna |
| Logan Fairhurst | Thomas Sean Hughes |
| Liam McAllister | Chris Overton |
| Nathan McAllister | Michael Bisping |
| Fern | Amy Gavin |
| Chanterelle | Leanne Urey |
| Mark | Daniel Gallagher |
| Sami | Candy McCulloch |
| Terry Vincent | Ian Munzberger |
| Dean | Sol Heras |
| Episode # | Airdate | E4 | E4+1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viewersa | Share % | Viewersa | Share % | ||
| 1 | 25 October 2010 | 447 [10] | 1.8 | N/A | N/A |
| 2 | 26 October 2010 | 438 [11] | 1.8 | N/A | N/A |
| 3 | 27 October 2010 | 309 [12] | 1.2 | N/A | N/A |
| 4 | 28 October 2010 | 553 [13] | N/A | 125 | N/A |
| 5 | 29 October 2010 | 368 [14] | 1.6 | 173 | 0.9 |
aViewers in thousands.
All viewer figures are from BARB. [15]
Hollyoaks is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera Brookside. From 2005 to 2023, episodes have aired on sister channel E4 a day prior to their broadcast on Channel 4. In 2023, Hollyoaks was removed from Channel 4's early evening schedule, but remains on E4 and Channel 4's on demand service with episodes now uploaded to YouTube.
Darren Osborne is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. He was introduced by executive producer Phil Redmond as part of the Osborne family, making his first screen appearance on 18 November 1996, portrayed by Adam Booth. Booth left the role in 1997, and the character was later recast to Ashley Taylor Dawson who first appeared in September 1999. Dawson left the role in 2000 to concentrate on his music career, though returned in 2003 and has remained in the role ever since. He remains one of the longest-running characters in the programme.
Hollie-Jay Bowes is an English actress, known for her roles as Dawn O'Malley in the BBC drama Grange Hill and Michaela McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Since 2023, she has appeared in the BBC drama Waterloo Road as Debs Rafferty.
Mercedes McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jennifer Metcalfe. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 19 June 2006 as the first character to be introduced to the series by series producer, Bryan Kirkwood. In 2008 Metcalfe feared that the character was to be axed but was later reassured by the series producer that she would not be. Metcalfe later stated her intention to stay with the series. Mercedes is part of the McQueen family and is the longest serving McQueen on the series. On 26 August 2014, it was revealed that Metcalfe had decided to quit the soap. On 20 November 2014, Mercedes was presumably stabbed to death, with her body discarded. However, Metcalfe returned to screens on 17 February 2015 in a surprise, unannounced twist which saw Mercedes revealed as alive and well, living in Nice, France. It was announced that Mercedes would make a full-time return to the show in May 2015, after brief appearances on 18 February, 9 March, and 6 April. Metcalfe announced her pregnancy in 2017 and revealed that she would be taking a year's break from the show. Mercedes was last seen on screen leaving with Goldie McQueen on 4 July 2017, although she briefly appeared on 7 September 2017 in a fake flashback scene involving her and Amy Barnes surmised by James Nightingale. Mercedes returned on 9 July 2018, and then made several other appearances before returning permanently on 13 August.
Stephanie Louise Waring is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Cindy Cunningham in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. In addition to her work on Hollyoaks, she has also had roles on Coronation Street, Doctors, Holby City, Crash Palace and Merseybeat, as well as competing in the tenth series of Dancing on Ice.
Michaela McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Hollie-Jay Bowes. Michaela was the first of the McQueen family to be seen on-screen in 2006, when she was credited as Michaela Jones. On 8 June 2010, Bowes announced that she had quit the show and would leave in six months. However, it was announced on 24 June 2010 that show bosses had axed Bowes and speedily wrote Michaela out after she spoke about upcoming storylines and her exit on social networking website Twitter. Bowes reprised her role as Michaela in 2011, initially appearing in the fourth series of Hollyoaks Later, before reappearing in the main series. In July 2012, Bowes confirmed she would be leaving Hollyoaks, and her final scenes would air on 31 August 2012.
Ste Hay is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kieron Richardson. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 10 February 2006. Ste was created by David Hanson and was originally intended to be a short-term character for seven episodes. The following series producer Bryan Kirkwood decided to bring the character back on a permanent basis. As of 2010, Richardson has revealed that he is committed to staying in the serial. In April 2017, Richardson began taking hiatus from the show due to paternity leave, and made a full-time return on 18 December 2017. In October 2019, it was confirmed that Richardson will take a hiatus from the show departing on 20 November 2019. He returned on 3 November 2020.
Hollyoaks Later was a British television spin-off of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. The series allowed for more sexual content, 'edgier' storylines and stronger language than Hollyoaks. The show was on hiatus from 2014 to 2020, where it returned on 6 January 2020 for a one-off episode focusing on the conclusion of Breda McQueen's serial killer storyline.
Cheryl Brady is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Bronagh Waugh. The character first appeared on-screen on 25 November 2008, during the first series of the Hollyoaks spin-off Hollyoaks Later, as the former love interest of Malachy Fisher. She made her first appearance in main Hollyoaks episodes in July 2009, introduced to the serial by series producer, Lucy Allan. In 2010 when Paul Marquess began producing the serial, he felt that Cheryl was being used in the wrong way, subsequently making her a central character to the show. It was announced on 1 February 2013 that Waugh quit her role. Cheryl departed Hollyoaks on 22 March 2013, after four years on the show, along with her brother, Brendan Brady.
Carl Costello is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Paul Opacic. The character was introduced by executive producer Paul Marquess and he debuted on screen during the episode broadcast on 19 July 2010. Carl arrived in the village as the new owner of The Dog in the Pond and the father of established character Jem Costello. Carl departed from Hollyoaks on 1 December 2011 with his son Jason Costello. Opacic later reprised his role and returned to Hollyoaks on 26 September 2012 and left again on the 5 October 2012. Opacic reprised his role once more in January 2013, which coincided with the exit of Mitzeee Minniver. He returned on 25 January 2013 and departed again on 15 February 2013. Opacic returned again for a guest appearance on 10 July 2018, which ended in his character being murdered by an unknown assailant on 11 July of that year. He reappeared via a flashback on 16 November 2018, which revealed Breda McQueen to be his killer.
Heidi Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kim Tiddy. She made her first on-screen appearance on 20 July 2010 and made her final appearance in the series on 1 November 2011, after Heidi was accidentally murdered by her father, Silas Blissett, in which he mistakes her for Lynsey Nolan.
Riley Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Rob Norbury. Riley was introduced on 20 July 2010 with the Costello family as part of a cast overhaul of the series. In December 2011, the serial's executive producer Emma Smithwick said that Riley would remain in Hollyoaks despite his family's departure. On 14 September 2012, it was announced Riley was to leave Hollyoaks and Riley was killed off in a shooting during the episode airing 3 October 2012.
Seth Costello is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Miles Higson. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 July 2010. His first major storyline was in 2011 when he was the centre of a steroids storyline. He also became involved in the storyline where his father Carl Costello began an affair with Mercedes McQueen. 2020 saw the return of Seth, when he blackmailed the McQueen family with grandfather Silas Blissett. He departed again on 2 February 2021.
Anne "Mitzeee" Minniver is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Rachel Shenton. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 23 July 2010. Mitzeee was created by series producer Paul Marquess for a different television series which was never commissioned and instead introduced his ideas onto Mitzeee. She is also one of the first characters created in Marquess's 2010 reinvention of Hollyoaks. Mitzeee is a wannabe glamour model and WAG, she is portrayed as being ruthless in achieving her goals and is fame driven. Shenton helped create her backstory and has stated on different occasions that Mitzeee uses femininity to get what she wants. Various media outlets drew comparisons to the character with pop star Cheryl Cole and Mitzeee spells her career name with triple e's because she finds her name plain, a tag Shenton has also agreed with. On 20 December 2012, it was announced that Shenton had left the show and her final scenes aired on 15 February 2013.
Brendan Brady is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Emmett J. Scanlan. The character was introduced on 5 August 2010 by series producer Paul Marquess during part of the show's overhaul, and became one of Hollyoaks' most popular characters. He is easily recognised by his famous horseshoe moustache. He is the older half-brother of already established character Cheryl Brady. Following the announcement of Brendan's casting, he was quickly billed as the show's new "bad boy" character. Despite having the persona of a villain at the start of the show, as the show progressed the character was portrayed to be more of a tragic antihero. He made his final appearance on 22 March 2013.
Rachel Joy Shenton is an English actress and writer. She gained prominence through her role as Mitzeee Minniver in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2010–2013). She is also known for her role as Courtney in Waterloo Road and has starred in the ABC Family drama Switched at Birth (2014–2017), the BBC2 sitcom White Gold (2019), and the Channel 5 series All Creatures Great and Small (2020–).
Lynsey Nolan is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Karen Hassan. The character originally appeared in the first series of the Hollyoaks spin-off Hollyoaks Later. In 2010, Hollyoaks series producer Paul Marquess asked Hassan to join Hollyoaks as part of the soap's ongoing rejuvenation, to which she agreed and the character began appearing in the main show from 11 August 2010. Hassan left Hollyoaks in 2012 when her character was killed off during a "dramatic cliffhanger" episode. To surprise the audience, the actress's exit was not announced beforehand. Hassan's final scenes were broadcast on 21 August 2012, giving viewers the "ending they were looking for".
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.
The fourth series of Hollyoaks Later is a British television series and late night spin-off of Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. The series aired in September 2011 at 10pm. The series revolved around Silas Blissett's search for another murder victim which culminated in the death of Rae Wilson, the stag do of Riley Costello, the hen party of Mercedes McQueen and Ricky Campbell and Duncan Button's trip to fat camp.