Does the show need an injection of life, if so, then what?

[Lunar]

I've been watching from the sidelines still and do enjoy some elements of the show (it's refreshing that it isn't just a bunch of extreme issue-based storylines happening at the same time like some of the UK soaps are doing right now, or bringing back legacy characters to kill them off and ruin them). Unfortunately I do think some of the things I miss aren't possible on the current budget.

The loss of the school is the main thing as it allowed for the fostering and more dynamic families. The last family that wasn't the usual parents/kids dynamic that I really liked was probably the Morgans as they had an interesting backstory. I know they said they wanted a more YA audience, but I do think young people would still watch if teen characters were there. I think Hollyoaks still manages to have a mostly teen audience due to putting the episodes online.

I do think a lot of the characters feel like spare parts without their families too. Tane is kind of just there. Justin and Leah have each other I guess. John and Marilyn should've been put back together imo.

It seems like they've cut back on sets which makes things feel smaller, and they don't seem to do big Bay events now.

The comedic element isn't there as much anymore. I wouldn't mind another character like Colleen Smart.

Edited September 9 by Lunar

[adam436]

4 hours ago, Lunar said:

I think Hollyoaks still manages to have a mostly teen audience due to putting the episodes online.

Hollyoaks has a good balance of cast and therefore potential universal appeal. It now has a core teenage group, and then a fair spread of characters in age groups beyond that. My only criticism of the cast is that there are still probably a few too many long-termers who have well and truly run their course.

 

4 hours ago, Lunar said:

The comedic element isn't there as much anymore. I wouldn't mind another character like Colleen Smart.

There's still a number of cast like Emily Symons, Ray and Shane that have great comic timing, so it's a shame that isn't used to its full potential. In fact, most of Marilyn's lighter/fun stuff since returning in 2010 has been with John, so it's a real shame they broke up and don't interact much anymore.

Maybe TV viewing habits have changed that there is no room for comedy stories in soaps that once complimented the drama ones in the 90s. Everything has to be fast-paced and dramatic now to hold viewers attention.

Hollyoaks is much the same though - it's all doom and gloom now, and when comedy B plots are done, they feel forced and unnatural. I can't speak for any other soaps, since I don't watch them.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Neighbours and H&A have always usually been for younger people, or at least had a great deal more younger people than other soaps in the 1980s. Although Brookside and EastEnders are a bit older in the UK, and they introduced that demographic in the UK, 1982/1983 and 1985 with several of the original characters being mid teens to early to mid 20s. 

Edited September 10 by Homeandawayfan.

[cymbaline]

The original cast had a "something for everybody" feel to it and they could do worse than to revert back to something resembling that. Aside from the teen stories, we had Floss and Neville being alienated from their grandson, 40 year old Tom struggling to find a job, Fisher's ex-wife and son coming back into his life, Ailsa's ghosts from the past, Roo trying to break up her father's marriage etc. The funny thing is that many of the current cast are quite a bit older than the oldies were in 1988. 

It's understandable that they don't want the hassle of putting loads of kids onto today's show, and it wouldn't suit the current audience. But I feel they are leaving so many opportunities for good stories on the table because of this. Everyone was a teenager once.

 

[adam436]

57 minutes ago, cymbaline said:

It's understandable that they don't want the hassle of putting loads of kids onto today's show, and it wouldn't suit the current audience. But I feel they are leaving so many opportunities for good stories on the table because of this. Everyone was a teenager once.

And if their audience is supposedly the same age of the bulk of their cast (i.e. 25-40), then they may be or will soon be parents of teenagers and be able to relate through the parent lense. The cast doesn't need to be overun with teenagers like it was in the 90s and 2000s, but 3 might be good, which we saw with Ryder/Raffy/Coco and Ryder/Bella/Nikau, pretty much the last teenage characters we had as regulars. 

Cash and Eden could potentially foster one, Alf or John could have another secret grandchild thrown into the mix (or in Alf's case, Duncan's son would be teenage by now?), Mackenzie could have a wayward half-sibling she never knew about, Leah could have another niece or nephew, and maybe one of men like Remi, David or Tane could be revealed to have fathered a child they never knew about. 2-3 of those options could work for the show. Roo has also been down the fostering route, but it makes it difficult long-term due to her frequent absences, but regular teen characters would help intergrate the teenagers Roo fosters and give them different characters to interact with beyond Roo, Alf and Marilyn. 

[Lunar]

On 09/09/2026 at 22:13, adam436 said:

Hollyoaks has a good balance of cast and therefore potential universal appeal. It now has a core teenage group, and then a fair spread of characters in age groups beyond that. My only criticism of the cast is that there are still probably a few too many long-termers who have well and truly run their course.

For sure. I think the current issue is there's a lot of 20-30 somethings but they sometimes feel quite disconnected from the older characters.

On 09/09/2026 at 22:13, adam436 said:

There's still a number of cast like Emily Symons, Ray and Shane that have great comic timing, so it's a shame that isn't used to its full potential. In fact, most of Marilyn's lighter/fun stuff since returning in 2010 has been with John, so it's a real shame they broke up and don't interact much anymore.

Maybe TV viewing habits have changed that there is no room for comedy stories in soaps that once complimented the drama ones in the 90s. Everything has to be fast-paced and dramatic now to hold viewers attention.

Hollyoaks is much the same though - it's all doom and gloom now, and when comedy B plots are done, they feel forced and unnatural. I can't speak for any other soaps, since I don't watch them.

Its a shame because I often see people commenting on how all of the soaps are too gloomy these days and how they miss the comedy and the 'real life' element of people doing everyday things, instead of just cop storylines and 'hard-hitting' ones. I suppose part of that is that some of them have reduced their episode counts so maybe they feel people won't be gripped as much if there's only 3 episodes a week.

Edited September 11 by Lunar

[c120701]

I don’t like how isolated from the long term cast John seems to be at the moment. With Irene gone and Roo away, aside from the occasional interaction with Alf & Justin he’s really seeming on the outside with very little outside of his Surf Club role.

[adam436]

2 hours ago, c120701 said:

I don’t like how isolated from the long term cast John seems to be at the moment. 

I actually like his interactions with Mali.

I assumed that after Irene's exit, he would inevitably be lumped with Alf/Marilyn/Roo dynamic. I find them as a group quite isolated from the rest of the cast, other than Marilyn's scenes at the Diner, and Alf's interactions when the script calls for it. At least with John the writers are making an effort.

It's a shame John and Marilyn never got back together, nor do I understand the rationale of breaking them up and then not doing anything meaningful with them as individuals. I thought Marilyn's jealousy of Irene and John a few years ago (I can't remember what happened, but he was staying with Irene while he recovered from a hospital stay?) was the start of them getting back together, but that went nowhere too.

[c120701]

I wish I hadn’t seen a spoiler a couple of weeks ago, as Dana’s exit with Harper was a real shock to me when it aired in Australia, just not today. It did surprise me how quickly it came around on screen here though.

I’m sad to see her go, she’s been one of my favourite characters and one of the best in recent years.

I’ve even warmed to Harper these last few months since Tane was acquitted.

[Revealed]

We were all teenagers once but the world teenagers are growing up in these days is completely different to the world I grew up in and not for the better. Same goes for the 20 somethings in the show at the moment. I can watch an old episode and see someone like Tug being relatable to my teenage self in some ways but I don't really get young people these days.

Going back to the early 90s the 20 something character was never the shows strong point. The 20 somethings who joined the show in this period (i.e. 90-94) were Grant, Ben, Nick, Greg, Lucinda, Luke, Roxy, Rob and Donna. None of them were iconic and most were short lived.

Also the 20 somethings back then were more responsible adults whereas now they're more like the irresponsible teenagers. Again maybe this is how times have changed.