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Lucy Benson | |||||||||
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Hollyoaks character | |||||||||
Portrayed by | Kerrie Taylor | ||||||||
Duration | 1995–2000 | ||||||||
First appearance | Episode 1 23 October 1995 | ||||||||
Last appearance | Episode 405 24 January 2000 | ||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
Created by | Phil Redmond | ||||||||
Introduced by | Phil Redmond | ||||||||
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Lucy Benson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks , played by Kerrie Taylor. Taylor appeared from the first episode on 23 October 1995. Taylor later quit the role with the character leaving in January 2000 [1] when she went travelling. The character's storylines included a heroin addiction. The character has been described as a "good daughter" type who changed becoming a "hopeless addict".
Taylor quit the role saying "I was scared to leave. I thought I might never work again, but the time was right". [2] Taylor described her time on the serial as "happy" which made her decision to leave "hard". Taylor added that the Hollyoaks cast felt "like family". Taylor filmed her final scenes around Christmas 1999. [3]
Merle Brown of the Daily Record labelled Lucy "troubled". [2] Taylor felt the character had "gone through everything" saying she had taken the character from "a good daughter character on a journey to hopeless addict and then to strength again". [2] The character was also labelled "hopeless" and a "junkie" by the Daily Record. [4] The Daily Mirror labelled the character a "goody-two-shoes". [5]
Taylor commented on Lucy's heroin addiction saying "it wasn't pleasant. I had this foundation I had to wear called Death Grey. Most foundations have girlie names, like Autumn Dew or Sunrise, but not this". [2] Taylor commented on the storyline saying "For 18 months, I'd go into work and play a heroin addict" which she found "challenging, but it did get to me after a while". [5]
Lucy was introduced as part of the Benson family. Lucy begins dating Rob Hawthorne (Warren De Rosa). Lucy is involved in an accident which kills Dermot Ashton (Lauren Beales). Lucy tells the police of Rob's part in Dermot's death. After Lucy and Kurt seek revenge Rob is thrown off a car park roof by his drug dealers. Rob begins a vendetta against the Bensons. Lucy begins a band with Carol Groves (Natalie Casey) and Bazil McCourtney (Toby Sawyer).
Lucy's younger brother Ollie (Paul Leyshon) is killed in a car crash. Lucy blames herself for the accident, as she encouraged Kurt to chase after him. Lucy found it difficult to get over Ollie’s death, and ended up turning to Rob for support. He offers Lucy some tranquillisers to get her through difficult times. Lucy becomes addicted and Rob decides to begin giving Lucy heroin. Lucy is put in a coma. Lucy's brother Kurt (Jeremy Edwards) confronts Rob, leaving him stranded in the Atlantic Ocean as revenge. Lucy awakes and finally weans herself off heroin. However, Rob returns claiming to have killed Kurt. He traps Lucy, Lewis Richardson (Ben Hull), Ruth Osborne (Terri Dwyer) and Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) in a watertank where they nearly die. Rob tries to set fire to Rory Finnigan's (James Redmond) bus but is trapped inside, perishing in the fire.
Lucy decides that she wants to travel the world and Tony offers to go with her. As Tony became increasingly preoccupied with researching tropical diseases, Lucy began to realise that he really did not want to leave Hollyoaks and told him he should stay in Chester. As Lucy and Tony bid farewell at the airport, Tony promises Lucy that he would wait for her.
For her portrayal of Lucy, Taylor was nominated for Best Actress at the Inside Soap Awards of 1998. [6] Taylor was then nominated for Best Dramatic Performance at the 1999 British Soap Awards. [7] While expressing her disinterest, Merle Brown from the Daily Record did not welcome Lucy's drug habit being a heavily focused upon storyline. [8] Charlie Catchpole of the Daily Mirror commented on the performances of soap actors giving his opinion on what they should be paid. On Taylor, he said she would be in his bottom paid soap stars saying she deserved £15,000, which if given to Lucy, she would use for "a new silver spoon for her nose. She's tried every drug bar aspirin". [9] In 2018, writing about addiction storylines across British soap operas, Laura Morgan of Digital Spy listed Lucy's drug addiction storyline as one of the eight "darkest" addiction plots to be featured in a soap. [7]
Natasha Andersen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Shebah Ronay. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 23 October 1995. She was created by Phil Redmond as one of the serial's original characters.
Kurt Benson is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jeremy Edwards. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 23 October 1995. He was created by Phil Redmond as one of the serial's original characters. Despite the character's supposed death in 1999, Kurt returned in 2020 as part of the celebrations for the 25th anniversary, with the explanation being that he faked his death.
Kate Patrick is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Natasha Symms. She debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 6 November 1997. She departed in 1999 and returned for guest appearances in 2000.
Gina Patrick is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Dannielle Brent. She debuted on-screen during episodes airing in 1997. Brent secured the role after originally auditioning for the role of Gina's sister Kate Patrick. Gina was initially a recurring character, though was promoted later to the regular cast. Brent felt that the role had given her good training, though decided to leave the serial after four years.
Mandy Richardson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Sarah Jayne Dunn. She first appeared on 7 October 1996 and has been involved in various storylines, including dealing with sexual abuse while she was a child by her father Dennis, the suicide of her brother Lewis, and an on-off relationship with Tony Hutchinson before the couple married. Mandy had a miscarriage causing her to hit Tony. Mandy and Tony had a daughter together who they named Grace, only for her to die from sudden infant death syndrome. This led to the character and Dunn's exit from the serial in 2006. Dunn made a brief return in 2007 before making a return for six months in 2008. Dunn reprised her role as Mandy in 2010; in September 2011, Dunn announced her departure from the soap, and Mandy made her last appearance on 2 September 2011 before departing off-screen. Dunn later returned to her role in the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later in October 2013. In June 2017, it was announced that Dunn had reprised the role again and that Mandy would appear from July alongside Luke Morgan, played by Gary Lucy. Mandy returned on 26 July 2017. In November 2021, it was announced that Dunn's contract with Hollyoaks had been terminated due to starting an OnlyFans; viewers of the soap criticised the decision and Dunn herself voiced her disappointment with the production team. Her final scenes aired on 27 December 2021, and Mandy was given an off-screen departure on 31 January 2022.
Tony Hutchinson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nick Pickard. His first appearance on-screen occurred on 23 October 1995, the inaugural episode of the programme, and is the longest-serving character in the soap. The character was created by Phil Redmond, as one of several main characters for the show. For his portrayal of Tony, Pickard won the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2017 British Soap Awards.
Kerrie Taylor is a British actress from Romsey, Hampshire.
Jamie "Fletch" Fletcher is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Sam Darbyshire. The character made his first on-screen appearance on 21 October 2005. Fletch was originally a recurring character and Darbyshire was promoted to the regular cast in 2007 by executive producer Bryan Kirkwood. The character is introduced into the series as a student studying at the local school and a member of the show's Ashworth family. Fletch is characterised as "easily led" and a solitary figure who "enjoys his own company". Writers created a double act between him and Josh Ashworth.
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.
Dawn Cunningham is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lisa Williamson. Williamson was cast as one of the original characters on Hollyoaks in 1995, and was the first member of the Cunningham family to arrive in the village, before the introduction of her family. However, she left in 1997 when the character died following a battle with leukemia.
Robert "Rob" Hawthorne is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Warren Derosa. Derosa first appeared in the role in January 1996 before the character departed, making his final appearance on 28 December 1999. The character is known for his status as a villain, with Derosa describing him as a "theatrical villain".
Lewis Richardson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ben Hull. Lewis was introduced by Phil Redmond as part of the Richardson family. Lewis made his first on-screen appearance on 30 October 1995 before departing on 15 October 2001. Lewis was initially a "good bloke" but changed, becoming like his abusive father Dennis Richardson. Lewis's exit from the serial was devised by series producer Jo Hallows who decided to kill Lewis on screen as part of a suicide storyline. The storyline was devised to show the "full horror" of suicide.
Luke Morgan is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Gary Lucy. He was introduced by the show's creator Phil Redmond as part of the Morgan family, and made his first appearance on 25 March 1999. The character was involved in a male rape storyline, which was branded "groundbreaking" and met with controversy. Lucy opted to leave the role in 2001 after two years, although he returned for two episodes in August 2002. The character's reintroduction was announced on 21 May 2017 and he returned on 24 July. Lucy took a break from the series in 2018 to appear in a play. The character made a few brief appearances throughout 2019 before he returned permanently in August. Luke was killed off in 2022, with his final scenes airing on 9 June 2022. He returned briefly in 2023 as a vision to his former fiancée Cindy Cunningham.
Ruth Osborne is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Terri Dwyer. She first appeared in January 1996 as the cousin of Natasha Andersen, and departed in 2001. She made guest appearances between 2003 and 2004, and another in 2008. Dwyer expressed interest in returning full-time in 2009.
Carol Groves is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Natalie Casey. Carol first appeared in the serial on 22 January 1996. In August 2000 it was announced that Casey had quit the role and would film her final scenes at the end of the month. Carol remained with the serial until 11 December 2000 when she left the village to never return.
Holly Barton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Sophie Powles. She made her first on-screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 17 July 2009. Holly was introduced to the soap as part of the Bartons, a new farming family who took over the running of Butler's Farm. Holly was joined by her mother, father and two siblings. The family were described as being "sexy, modern and contemporary" by the show's series producer, Gavin Blyth. Holly departed on 20 June 2012, but Powles later reprised her role and Holly returned on 24 March 2016 for a six-month stint. The character was killed off on 29 September 2016. Powles reprised her role on 20 November 2024 when she appeared in Moira's deam sequence whilst undergoing surgery.
Toyah Habeeb is a fictional character from the British soap opera Coronation Street, played by Georgia Taylor. Toyah and her family were introduced to the serial by executive producer Brian Park in a bid to increase falling ratings. Actress and singer Toyah Willcox gave the producers permission to name the youngest member of the Battersby family after herself, since the character was said to be born during the height of her career. Taylor originally auditioned for the part of Zoe Tattersall, but was cast as Toyah instead. The role marked her acting debut. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 4 July 1997.
The sixth series of Hollyoaks Later is a British television series and late night spin-off of Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. The series consists of five episodes, which aired from 7 October to 11 October 2013, on E4. The series transmitted to concur with the main show's eighteenth anniversary and acted as "a celebration of Hollyoaks past and present". These celebrations included several former cast members returning for the series as part of original character Tony Hutchinson's storyline. These returns included Jeremy Edwards, James Redmond, John Pickard and Sarah Jayne Dunn.