Emma Smithwick's Strive For Strong Females !!

In a recent interview with the Radio Times, Hollyoaks' Series Producer Emma Smithwick discussed her goal to make the female characters on the show strong role-models.

Smithwick who took over as Series Producer last summer said on the state of the female characters on the canvas;

“There weren't enough strong, smart and intelligent women for my liking. At a stretch, I might have considered having a drink with Texas.” 

The article goes on to argue that in recent years the general consensus of the show is that the female characters have been objectified, victimised and only judged on their physical appearance. The soaps annual 'Babes and Hunks' calendars are also critically discussed for the way they can be seen to reinforce this ideology that, can be seen to be damaging to the soaps large audience of a young demographic.

On this Smithwick states;

“I'm passionate about the portrayal of women in the media in general and specifically on television thats aimed at a younger audience. I'm determined to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.” 

Following on from this the article talks about the ways in which the the show under Emma Smithwick's regime can be seen to already be taking steps towards tackling this vague and single-minded representation of women. In the way that characters such as Jacqui McQueen (Claire Cooper) and Lynsey Nolan (Karen Hassan) have in recent months been developed further into stronger women in front-burner storylines, such as the rape trial and it's aftermath, as well as the Silas murder plot.

In relation to her  long-term goal for the series during her tenure at the helm Smithwick goes on to say;

“I want to redefine what sexy and glamorous is in Hollyoaks. I don't want girls just to watch and think, ‘I want that outfit’ or ‘I like her hair’. I'd like them to see it as an emotional encyclopedia that's relevant to the changes and issues in their lives."

“I want to look at the sophisticated social hierarchies of teenage girls, at their insecurities, at the challenges of growing up in contemporary Britain. The responsibility is enormous but the pay-off is huge.”

 Gareth McLean the author of the article praises Smithwick for her efforts when he states;

"Smithwick’s enthusiasm to transform Hollyoaks from hangover telly beloved by teenage boys for all the wrong reasons into a soap that's political with a small “p” is palpable, and the programme’s audience – of both sexes – should applaud her efforts. "

Finally based on the shows position as a leading source of entertainment and education for its youth audience and the endless possibilities it has to make a difference, Smithwick states;

“Of all the shows, we can and should be braver and have more conviction. If I haven't achieved that evolution in my time as producer, I won't have done my job right.” 

You can read an edited version of the this article by clicking here or you can read it in full in the latest issue of the Radio Times which is available at all leading newsagents.

Digital Spy: Steven Robets Interview

Digital Spy recently caught up with Hollyoaks' Steven Roberts (George Smith) in which he talked about the recent development of his character within the recent homelessness storyline. As well as his friendship with Pheobe (Mandip Gill) and Callum (Laurie Duncan) and the direction in which his storyline is going to take during next weeks episodes.

Check out some of what Steven said below but you can read the interview in full here. 

We've seen you on our screens in Hollyoaks for a few months now. How are you finding your time on the show?
"I'm really enjoying it, especially with George's storyline becoming a lot more serious now. He's not so much the joker anymore, and I think this story has perhaps explained why George is the way he is - he's been covering up this big secret. I'm particularly enjoying how the story is becoming a lot darker, and you'll see that in the episodes that are coming up."

Were you excited when you received the first scripts for this storyline?
"Yeah, the first I heard of it was when I met with Emma Smithwick, our series producer, and she talked me through the way the story would be going. I was really excited when I found out that it would be a homeless story. I knew it would be quite hard-hitting due to the issue we were dealing with.

"As the story progresses, it also becomes a lot more about the character - so I think we'll find out a lot more about George and how he deals with different situations."

How long has George been homeless for?
"Well, Phoebe is a lot more experienced with this compared to George. She's been telling him what to do and where to go, while George is quite new to this. He's been living rough for about seven or eight months.

"The way I see it is that, when George first left home, he took his bare essentials with him and probably had some money that he could take away too, allowing him to stay in a hostel. But over time, that money has run out and his situation has become more desperate - and as a result, he's become more dependent on Phoebe."

What happens next?
"Up until now, George has been able to stay at the squat while continuing to attend college and keep up his front. But now he finds himself literally sleeping on the streets, with nothing more than cardboard to sleep on and a cheap sleeping bag.

"You'll see that he looks a lot rougher, because it's cold, damp and very bleak. People may think that things have been bad for George so far, but it's about to get a whole lot darker."

Have you had to do much research for this storyline?
"The issue was something that I didn't really know that much about to begin with. But there are charities like Shelter and Centrepoint, who have their own websites. Hollyoaks are working with them at the moment as we move forward - especially with Centrepoint.

"Over the next few weeks, we're going to try to raise awareness of the problem of homeless teenagers. It's not something that's really reported and you don't really see it in the papers. So I think it's nice that Hollyoaks are bringing this to the forefront, as it's a very real issue."

The scene you did with Emmett Scanlan (Brendan) in Price Slice was a memorable one!
"That was really good. Our producer Emma has said that she wants to incorporate the village a lot more, and have us all crossing paths with other characters. It was obviously really great to do a scene with Emmett and to break out of the sixth former 'bubble' that we'd got ourselves in. It was quite a random scene, but people seemed to like it!"

You can see the developments of this storyline unfold next week on Hollyoaks at 6.30pm on Channel 4 followed by the first look episode at 7pm on E4.

Review: It's A Wonderful 'Hollyoaks' Life

This is a new feature of the blog that I’ve wanted to implement to go along the podcast and that’s an offering of a daily episode review, and what better time to start it than for one of the best episodes of Hollyoaks I’ve ever watched and Emma Smithwick’s first as the credited ‘Series Producer’.

As you can probably tell from my twitter feed since Friday I absolutely fell in love with the Boxing Day episode of Hollyoaks which, was an homage to one of the best Christmas films It’s A Wonderful Life’. It picked up where Friday’s episode left off with Doug on a bridge depressed from the loss of Becks at the hand of Silas and feelings lost. As Doug jumped from the bridge into the river below he then found himself back in his flat in the presence of the late Stephanie Del’A Dean (played by Carley Stenson). She then gave Doug the choice to ‘move on’ and be with Becks or to go back to village as if he had never been there before. Having chosen the latter Doug then goes into a parallel realm where he sees what life in the village would have been like had he never made an influence.

Through various mini-plots we were shown that had Doug never come back to the village Ruby would be pregnant, as he wouldn’t have been able to support her and tell her to go home after she’d gotten in a drunken state. Ricky would be a drugs runner for Brendan as Doug wouldn’t have been around to do so. And both Lynsey and Mercedes would be dead leaving Cheryl and Riley heartbroken, as Doug would never have been able to play his part in stopping Silas.

The episode was the perfect way for PJ Brennan to really shine and show how talented he is and for the character of Doug and his importance in the village to be highlighted. Since he first debuted back in the summer of 2010 and his return at the start of this year Doug, has been a character that has kind of floated around and only had several moments where he’s been able to shine. For example when Becks was murder, during Hollyoaks Later when he struggled over whether he should tell Riley the truth and more recently when he supported Lynsey through her ordeal. But the events of this episode brought all of these to the foreground and really showed how much of an impact a single character can have even if they haven’t been able to show it through a long storyline like other characters.

One of the highlights of the episode was of course having Carley Stenson back as Steph as she was a character that I’d grown up watching and had missed over the past year since she departed from the show. What was great was although Steph as an angelic version of herself she still had that attitude and personality we’d all fallen in love with over the years. It may have been a year but it was like both Carley/Steph had never left and fitted right back in.

Apart from the closing scenes which will have a long lasting impression on me the scenes which I really liked were where Doug was talking to Riley by the Dog, and leaned of Mercedes death. The scene where Doug saw Cheryl crying over Lynsey’s death, Bronagh was so great in that scene and I really want them to give Cheryl a real strong and emotional story to do. Doug and Becks’ goodbye but most of all the scene where Doug saw that Lynsey was alive and embraced her it was such a moving scene and I do love the friendship that these to have, I just hope we get to see more scene between PJ and Karen in the future.

It may have only been about 25 minutes long but in that time so much was accomplished as it enabled a lot of story to be given closure. As back when Becks was killed it felt like it just happened out of the blue after we’d just learned of her past connection to Doug but, this really was a great and imaginative way to give it the ending it deserved both for the fans and the actors. Not only did it help wrap up the Becks storyline, it also brought several plots from the year which had felt random like, his and Ruby’s close encounter back into perspective and gave them a purpose which, was not apparent or clear back when these episodes originally aired. Also the way in which it brought characters that wouldn’t usually be connected by story together was perfect, as integration of characters within the village is something I’ve wanted to see on the show for a while now.

Not only did it help to give just these stories closure but it also gave the character of Steph some real closure. As back when Steph died it happened in such a tragic way that weren’t able to really say goodbye. And the way that they brought in Steph’s goodbye messages and the way Frankie’s was missed was both heartbreaking and a perfect way to end the episode. Helen Pearson in my opinion is one of the most under used members of the cast it was such a treat to be able to see Frankie really be able to have some closure and peace over Steph’s death as she knows she wasn’t forgotten. The scene where Doug told her about Steph’s note which lead to them playing Carley’s version of ‘Girls Wanna Have Fun’ was one of the most subtle and moving scenes I’ve watched in a long time. It was so understated and had a real personal meaning both for the characters and for the fans especially in seeing Cheryl’s reaction and when Steph sat down next to Frankie, it really made me miss Carley and Helen’s scenes as I always loved them. Also by having Tom in the scenes to allow that final scene and acknowledgement between him and Steph was such a perfect way to end the episode as Carley and Ellis really had formed a great bond on screen.

Although she has been responsible for bringing us some a lot of great stuff over the past few months this as I stated before was Emma Smithwick’s first as the credited ‘Series Producer’ and she should be really proud of this episode. It was an episode that could have gone in so many different directions and gone too over the top but, it was executed perfectly both in the construction of the stories featured, the composition and aesthetic look of all the scenes and the way in which the music was used. But, most of all the amazing performances from all of the actors involved, and on the whole based on the amazing quality of this episode I look forward to what we have to come our way in 2012.


This is a review of the episode of Hollyoaks which aired on Friday 23rd December 2011 on E4 and Monday 26th December 2011 on C4.


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Digital Spy: Emma Smithwick Interview

Although still fairly new in the role new Hollyoaks series-producer Emma Smithwick has already got off to a brilliant start. She recently did an interview with Digital Spy in which she outlined what her vision for the show is and what we can expect as we move into 2012.


Here's a preview of what was said:

You've been Hollyoaks' series producer for a few months now. How's it all going so far?"It's going brilliantly, I'm absolutely buzzing. I think the autumn was outstanding and I'm so happy with the material that we've got coming through now. I've been producer for a few months now, but I was here for a while before that as series editor so whilst it's somewhat of a new role, I have been heavily invested in all the storylines that are currently on screen."  

What can you tell us about your overall vision for the show?"I have a very strong idea about the show that I want to make, and a lot of it is coming through already so the viewers will have seen it. I joined Hollyoaks in May which saw the beginning of a lot of the changes that are coming through.  

"There have been a lot of new arrivals and through the stories that we're telling and the way we're telling them, we want the audience to really engage with the characters. It definitely takes time but when that happens, it means you can do things with the characters and the viewers will really care. I find the worst thing is when you watch certain shows and something horrendous happens, but you don't really care or know why you should care. Emotional integrity is one of the key things that I want to drive through.  

"I also want to use the audience more and get them involved, as we did recently with the Wretch 32 Invasion. I'd like to redefine the way that the viewers can watch a show."  

2011 has been a strong year for Hollyoaks but now it feels like a number of successful and long-running stories have ended at the same time, such as Silas's murders, Jacqui/Gilly/Rhys, Jason's transgender, and the Costello affair dramas. Do you have equally big and long-running stories to replace these with next year?"Definitely. I know there's been varying reactions to sixth formers and the freshers, and we tried to complement the Silas storyline by bringing in those characters alongside it. Those characters have had a bit of a 'soft launch', but certainly at the beginning of next year, we'll be doing a lot of getting to know those characters even more so that we can elevate them and their stories.
"As well as the sixth formers and the freshers, there are a lot of other characters who will have big storylines coming up in 2012. We're certainly not going to drop long-running stories just because a number of them have now culminated - 2012 is going to be a big year." 

When will your first episode credited as series producer air?"It's going to be on Boxing Day - so it's going to be the Doug special."

You can check out the rest of the interview with Emma Smithwick by following the links below:
Part 1   :   Part 2