List of Hollyoaks characters introduced in 1995–1996
The following is a list of characters who first appeared in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks between 1995 and 1996, by order of first appearance. Hollyoaks is a long-running Channel 4 soap opera in the United Kingdom. 1995 was the first year for the soap and saw the introduction of several original characters. This period also saw the introduction of families such as the Cunningham family, the Osborne family, the Benson family and Andersen family.
Kurt Benson
Kurt Benson, played by Jeremy Edwards, was one of seven original teen characters created for the show. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 23 October 1995 and was the first character seen on screen. He was created by Phil Redmond. He stayed on the show until he left in 1999 when he and girlfriend Ruth Osborne split up. The character was later killed off screen in a jet ski accident. As part of the celebrations for Hollyoaks 25th anniversary, Edwards reprised the role, with the onscreen explanation being that Kurt had faked his death and had been on the run for the past 20 years. He remained in the series for three months after his return. On being asked to return again, Edwards declined, stating that negative comments made about him on social media influenced his decision.Ollie Benson
Ollie Benson, played by Paul Leyshon, appeared from 1995 to 1997. Making his debut in the first episode, he departed two years later when the character died in a road accident. The character's death occurred as part of a new "radical" direction for the serial, as it sought to tackle "tougher issues" on-screen. The car crash storyline aired over four consecutive nights and saw both Ollie and Lee "Stan" Stanley involved in a head-on collision, after a drunken Stan takes Ollie on "a nightmare drive".Ollie is the youngest of Benson children and the brother of Kurt Benson and Lucy Benson. Ollie works as a journalist for the Riverbank Review, where he instigates seminal reports including Babe of the Month and Cleavage of the Year. Ollie's best friend is Lee "Stan" Stanley and even after Ollie exposes a scandal of Stan's, Ollie remains best friends with him. Ollie has sex with Mandy Richardson, not discovering until later that she is fifteen and facing a statutory rape charge. Ollie tries to stop Stan in his car for driving too fast until Stan loses control of the car and a lorry reverses down the road, with Stan having no time to brake. Ollie suffers injuries and is rushed to hospital with his family beside him. After a week, both Ollie and Stan die in hospital.
[|Julie Matthews]
Julie Matthews, played by Julie Buckfield, appeared from the first episode in 1995 and left in 1997. She made brief returns in 2002 and 2007. She then made a surprise return that aired on 19 and 20 September 2018. She is the girlfriend of Tony Hutchinson and later gets engaged to him but leaves him at the altar. When Julie returns in 2002, she is given a job at Gnosh Village by Tony. He tells her he wants to be with her but she reveals that she only wants him so she could steal his money for her boyfriend who is in prison and leaves. When Tony turns thirty, Tina Reilly throws a surprise party and invites everyone in his address book. Julie arrives and tries to make amends but Tony sends her away.In 2018, Tony stays at Julie's for two months while coming to terms with his daughter's illness. Following the character's surprise return, Chris Edwards from Digital Spy noted that fans "got quite the shock" yet "were treated" to Julie's return. Fans expressed their surprise on Twitter at seeing the character again.
Sarah Andersen
Sarah Andersen, played by Anna Martland, was introduced as part of the Andersen family. In the first episode of the series, Sarah accompanies friend Julie Matthews to Ollie Benson's house. They go joyriding in Kurt Benson's car and go to hospital. Following her sister Natasha's death, Sarah leaves to live in the United States with her parents.Natasha Andersen
Natasha Andersen, played by Shebah Ronay, was one of seven original teen characters created for the show. She debuted on-screen during the first episode, which airedon 23 October 1995. She was created by Phil Redmond as one of the serial's original characters and stayed in the show until nearly six months later when she died on 11 March 1996. Her death was prompted after producers made the decision to have a hard-hitting storyline due to critics feeling that the show lacked edge. The storyline involved Natasha dying from the use of drugs.Dawn Cunningham
Dawn Cunningham, played by Lisa Williamson, was one of seven original teen characters created for the show. She appeared on the first episode on 23 October 1995. She left in 1997 when the character dies on Christmas Day from leukemia.Gordon Cunningham
Gordon Hilton Cunningham, appeared in the serial's first episode airing on 23 October 1995 played by an uncredited walk-on actor and later played by Bernard Latham who made his first appearance on 25 March 1996. He left in 2004 when the character died of a heart attack after being involved in a car crash. He briefly returned in 2008 in a dream sequence.Angela Cunningham
Angela Cunningham is the ex-wife of Gordon Cunningham, and mother of Max Cunningham, Jude Cunningham, Cindy Cunningham and Dawn Cunningham. Since her first and last appearances as a regular character in 1995 and 1999, Angela has made several guest appearances in 2004, 2006 and 2008. She married her boyfriend, Terry Williams in the first ever marriage on the show.When Hollyoaks began, Angela and Gordon were already divorced, but Angela tried to play a part in the complicated lives of Max, Jude, Cindy and Dawn, including Cindy's teenage pregnancy and Dawn's death from leukemia in 1997. Angela returned for Gordon's funeral in 2004, Max's wedding to Clare Devine in 2006, and again for his wedding to Steph Dean in 2008. When the ceremony finished, Gordon son Tom Cunningham was playing on the road when a car was coming, Max moved Tom on the pavement but he was struck by a car and was killed, and Angela's last appearance was attending Max's funeral.
She was mentioned in February 2010 when Cindy's daughter Holly Cunningham went missing, but she didn't return. In 2016, Cindy later called her, and was happy that Jude returned to the village.
Tony Hutchinson
Anthony "Tony" Hutchinson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nick Pickard. He was one of seven original teen characters created for the show. Tony first appeared on-screen on 23 October 1995, the first episode of the series. The character was created by Phil Redmond as one of several main characters for the soap opera and since then has been part of various different storylines including an affair with Helen Cunningham, the death of his daughter to sudden infant death syndrome and sleeping with underage Theresa McQueen. Tony was the first character to speak on the series.Terry Williams
Terry Williams is a fictional character on the long-running Channel 4 British television soap opera Hollyoaks. He was played by Ian Puleston-Davies and appeared in the first ever episode on 23 October 1995 before leaving in October 1996, a year after the character first appeared. He was the boyfriend of Angela Cunningham and when he married her he was part of the first ever marriage on the show. He had a continuous feud with Dawn and Jude Cunningham. He rented them his flat but later moved his brother in to annoy them. He later left leaving Angela in debts of over £55,000. In 2005, Max went to visit him for three days, he mentions this to his friend OB that Terry was doing well, and was still strong with his relationship with his mother. In 2008, he couldn't attend his stepson Max funeral. The Independent described him as the "toyboy" of Dawn's mother.Jambo Bolton
James "Jambo" Bolton is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Will Mellor. He was one of seven original teen characters created for the show. He first appeared in 1995 in the first ever episode airing 23 October 1995, before leaving in 1998. In 2004, Mellor reprised his role briefly for a special Christmas episode.Lucy Benson
Lucy Benson is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kerrie Taylor between 1995–2000 and appeared in the shows first ever episode airing on 23 October 1995. The character left five years later when she went travelling.Greg Andersen
Greg Andersen was played by Alvin Stardust from 1995 to 1996. He was introduced as part of the Andersen family and the father of original character Natasha, the husband of Jane Andersen, father of Sarah Andersen and brother of Celia Osborne. He first appeared in 1995 as the landlord of The Dog in the Pond and was the first landlord of the longstanding pub which currently survives today and has been the centre of many storylines. After Natasha died he sold the pub to Celia and her husband Jack Osborne and went back to the United States with Jane and Sarah. In 2005, Jack invited him, Jane and Sarah to his wedding with Frankie, however he and Jane couldn't attend due to flight comments, while Sarah had work conflicts.In 2013, it was revealed that Greg was not Darren's uncle. In 2016, Jack's son Darren Osborne and his wife Nancy Osborne went to visit him, Jane and Sarah for a while.