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''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. Originally broadcast as one episode per week, in 2011 it is being shown five times weekly. Audience numbers have varied over its lifespan, with viewing figures well below one million being contrasted with highs of four million. The series has always focused on rites of passage and has an element of comedy. Comments made by television critics early in its run regarding their view that there was too much emphasis on humour caused the programme's creator and executive producer. Phil Redmond, to introduce issue-led storylines which highlighted the taboo issues faced by teenagers. Jo Hallows, who took over from Redmond, continued this strategy by using plots such as male rape and self-harm. She was replaced briefly by David Hanson and then Bryan Kirkwood was appointed to the role. Kirkwood made substantial changes to the cast and the programme looked at issues such as homosexuality, HIV and domestic violence. During this period ''Hollyoaks'' began to receive higher viewing figures, won a higher number of awards and received praise from those who had previously criticised the show for its acting and storylines. Kirkwood's deputy, Lucy Allan, replaced him and continued many of the themes as well as using devices such as a non-linear week of episodes which saw the episodes shown out of chronological order so as to keep viewers guessing how the events came to happen, a flash forward episode which saw the events of six months into the future were shown, a baby-snatch story and a child murder plot. She left her position when the viewing figures declined, being replaced in 2010 by Paul Marquess, who began with a shake-up of the production team, the biggest cast cull since the show began and the introduction of over twenty new characters. Marquess stepped down from the role after one year and Gareth Philips took his position. ==1990s== Suggestions for a serialised television drama that would explore the lives of late-teenage characters were put to producer Phil Redmond in the 1980s by viewers of his ''Grange Hill'' school-based drama series. The suggestions came from ''Grange Hill'' viewers but Redmond was unable to pursue the idea at the time due to his production commitments with another successful television drama serial, ''Brookside''.〔 In the early 1990s UK television broadcaster Channel 4 sought ideas from independent production companies for a serial to be aimed at a teenage audience. At this point Redmond explored the earlier suggestions made to him, developed the theme and pitched it to the broadcaster as ''The Teenage Soap''. He felt that there was a need for a home-grown British counterpart to the imported serials then being aired by other UK broadcasters and which targeted the teenage audience, such as ''Home and Away'', ''Neighbours'' and ''Beverley Hills 90210''. Channel 4 chose Redmond's plans from the pitches presented to it and within months production had begun.〔 The premise of the serial at its inception was to focus on seven teenagers living in the city of Chester, and in particular to deal with teenage rites of passage. The first episode aired on 23 October 1995 and achieved an audience of three million in the UK. The seven principal characters were Natasha Andersen (Shebah Ronay), Kurt Benson (Jeremy Edwards), Jambo Bolton (Will Mellor), Maddie Parker (Yasmin Bannerman), Dawn Cunningham (Lisa Williamson), Louise Taylor (Brett O'Brien) and Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard).〔 The series, which aired once per week, was initially panned by television critics and was subject to adverse press attention. However it proved popular with the teenage audience at which it was aimed. In 1996 a second weekly episode was commissioned. Redmond did have to adjust the style of the series somewhat as audience opinion was found to be that in fact the programme concentrated too much on humour and not enough on serious storylines. An early example of the change in style to issue-focussed storylines was seen when Redmond wrote out the character of Natasha, killing her off with a spiked drink.〔 Later in the 1990s a further two weekly episodes were commissioned to bring the total output to four episodes per week. Audiences rose to four million.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Hollyoaks」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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