Tamara Wall is “really excited” about the future of Hollyoaks.
The actress has recently retuned to the Channel 4 soap as Grace Black after getting axed last year but despite it being an “emotional time” behind the scenes, the TV star is staying positive.
It has been confirmed that he soap will undergo a one-year time jump in its autumn stunt week. The shake-up to the E4 soap’s format is being made to adjust to job cuts that will result from Hollyoaks being reduced from five episodes per week down to just three from this September.
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Speaking about the huge change, Tamara told Daily Star: “I think it’s really exciting. It’s obviously been an emotional time because a lot of people aren’t going to be staying, and I know how that feels and it’s awful, but it’s going to be really exciting to have a smaller cast to work with so you can keep up with the stories a bit better.
(Image: Lime Pictures)
“When there’s loads of cast it’s kind of difficult to focus on certain characters so it will be nice to get long storylines and longer scenes so I think it’s going to be great.” When the news first broke about Hollyoaks’ schedule reduction, the soap shut down filming temporarily to give the cast time to process the news.
In an official statement, Hannah Cheers confirmed the “lost year” storyline will involve saying “goodbye to some much-loved Hollyoaks villagers — and some earlier than we would have expected to”.
(Image: Channel 4)
The producer said: “When we started talking about the move to three episodes a week, we realised we needed a mechanism through which to transition our stories and characters and we kept coming back to this one,” the producer said. “It’s bold, daring and is a first for a UK soap; it sums Hollyoaks up perfectly.
“The new three-episode pattern offers us a different model of storytelling, which means we’ll see characters on screen for much longer. Our viewers are really smart; in order to serve them well, we need to kick off this new structure in a meaningful way.
(Image: Getty Images)
“Fast-forwarding the show permanently by a year presents us with unlimited story possibilities. We are now a streaming-first soap and can lean into less-restricting and conventional structures.”
Addressing the loss of some cast members, Hannah added that “reducing the team in size is a tough consequence of this transition”. “It’s not kind to our characters or our audience to have a drawn-out stream of goodbyes on screen, and a heightened stunt didn’t feel like the right approach,” the producer explained. “We also want the flexibility to see favourite characters again and we got really excited about how this would work.
“We believe this creative approach will celebrate the uniqueness of Hollyoaks and will serve and honour our amazing characters – throwing us forward into exciting new territory as we pave the way to our 30th anniversary in 2025.”
Hollyoaks airs weeknights on E4 at 7pm and first look episodes can be streamed Channel 4 at 7.30pm
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
