List of Hollyoaks characters introduced in 1997
Hollyoaks is a British television soap opera that was first broadcast on 23 October 1995. The following is a list of characters that appeared in 1997, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the soap's series producer, Jo Hallows. [|Spike] was introduced in February 1997, followed by [|Dennis Richardson] was introduced in April, followed by his wife [|Helen Richardson] in September. Hollyoaks High headteacher [|John Barrington] first appeared in June. The Patrick family, made up of Jill Patrick and her three children Sol Patrick, Gina Patrick and Kate Patrick, made their debuts in October and November respectively. Gordon Cunningham's cousin [|Benny Stringer] appeared in November, and [|Holly Cunningham] made her first appearance in December.
Spike
Spike, is played by Jack Deam. He is a builder who worked on a local construction site with Kurt Benson. He took a liking to Kurt's girlfriend Ruth Osborne, but she did not reciprocate his feelings. He also homophobically attacked Bazil McCourtey, leaving him with a serious brain injury. Spike was later caught making unwanted advances on Ruth by Kurt. Kurt attacked Spike and they fought. Spike ended up falling off the scaffolding and was impaled on a short spike. Spike went to the police and Kurt was arrested and charged with ABH and attempted murder. Spike refused to drop the charges, however at his trial, Kurt was found not guilty of all charges. Spike ended up encountering Ruth again whilst working on the repairs at Riverbank College. He attempted to force himself on Ruth, but Rob Hawthorne managed to stop him.Dennis Richardson
Dennis Richardson, played by David McAlister, made his first appearance on 14 April 1997 as part of a "long running storyline". Mr Richardson was McAlister's biggest role at the time. Mr Richardson was introduced along with his children Lewis Richardson and Mandy Richardson and wife Helen Cunningham. He was a teacher at Hollyoaks Comprehensive School.Dennis was featured in an issue-based story in which he sexually abused his own daughter, Mandy. Dunn told an Inside Soap reporter that "it was my first big storyline and was controversial". She recalled that McAlister was "really nice" but the story was challenging. She added that producers "trusted" them with the heavy story and they had to "work really hard". Dunn added that "this wasn't the most fun in terms of the subject, but it was really rewarding." In another interview, Dunn revealed that McAlister's acting when Dennis became violent scared her. She stated he became so convincing it helped her portray the story because she could react to him easier. Dunn concluded that "one minute we'd be smiling and chatting, the next he'd be nasty Mr Richardson." Ella Mayes of the Buckinghamshire Examiner branded the character a "baddie". While Steven Murphy of Inside Soap stated "Hollyoaks nasty Mr Richardson. Doesn't he just make your skin crawl!" The character departed on 3 December 1998, after being found guilty of rape. He returned in April 2003 as part of the show's 1000th episode celebrations. Wendy Graniter of Inside Soap said viewers were promised some "very emotional scenes" as Mandy finally confronts Dennis.
An abusive alcoholic, he beat up Helen and Lewis and molested Mandy. When he finds out that Mandy is dating Sol Patrick, he flew into a rage and raped her. Mandy briefly ran away, and then told the police what Dennis had done to her. He was arrested and eventually found guilty of rape, for which he was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. During his imprisonment, Lewis committed suicide. Dennis was released from prison five years later, and returned to Hollyoaks. He tried to explain himself to Mandy, but she refused to listen. Dennis then tried to mend his relationship with Helen when she took him to where Lewis's ashes had been scattered. She forgives him for what he has done. Mandy arrived with Tony Hutchinson, Helen's husband Gordon Cunningham and his son Max Cunningham to get rid of Dennis, and a fight broke out between Max and Dennis. Dennis was last seen telling Mandy that he is dying of cancer, hoping she might forgive him. She bought him some alcohol to quicken his death, telling him she could never forgive him. He would die of liver disease. He is cremated, and Mandy pours his ashes down the drain.
John Berrington
John Berrington, played by Keith Ladd in 1997 and Richard Avery in 2000, was the headteacher at Hollyoaks High School. In June 1997, Mr. Berrington called Mandy Richardson and Cindy Cunningham into his office after learning of their scam fundraiser for a supposed "donkey sanctuary". In April 2000, Mr. Berrington brought Andy Morgan and Sue Morgan to the school to discuss teacher Ms. Riley's accusations of their daughter Zara Morgan stealing from her. He threatened Zara with expulsion and removed her from the mural design project in her art class. The young woman took revenge by setting the mural ablaze, which ended up spreading around the art room. Mr. Berrington was mentioned to still be the headteacher in December 2002, when Sally Hunter discussed Brian Drake's punishment for the abusive text messages sent to her daughter Lisa Hunter.Helen Cunningham
Helen Cunningham, played by Kathryn George, first appeared on 8 September 1997. The character was written out in 2004 when she was killed in a car crash. Helen is the mother of Mandy Richardson, Lewis Richardson and Tom Cunningham. Helen and her husband, Gordon Cunningham were deemed mainstays of Hollyoaks prior to the pair being "notoriously killed off". The pair were both centre of a tribute made by Tom in 2020, where he thanks them for making the Hollyoaks village his home.O.B.
Sam "O.B." O'Brien, played by Darren Jeffries, made his first appearance on 6 October 1997. Jeffries become one of the show's longest-standing cast members. Along with Matt Littler, Jeffries was nominated twice for the Best On-screen Partnership accolade at the British Soap Awards. After ten years on the show, Jeffries announced his departure in November 2007, as he wanted "new challenges". His final scenes aired on 26 February 2008, as OB leaves Hollyoaks to be with his girlfriend Summer Shaw.Jill Patrick
Jill Osborne, played by Lynda Rooke, made her first appearance on 30 October 1997. She appeared until 2000.She begins working at The Dog in the Pond as a barmaid, and is soon joined by her children Kate, Gina and Sol Patrick. She and Jack Osborne, her boss, begin a relationship, eventually getting married. The marriage goes well, despite a feud between the Patrick children and Jack's children Ruth and Darren Osborne. Sol and Gina discover that they are not Jill's biological children. Gina goes missing and Sol and Jill go looking for her in a car he has stolen. He crashes it, almost killing Jill. He spends time in a Young Offenders Institute, and eventually forgives Jill for hiding the truth from him for so long. Jill is devastated to find out she has a brain tumour and later informs her family. She makes Jack agree to look after her children when she dies. Jill dies of her illness and Jack keeps his promise and cares for her children, helping Sol flee from the police abroad. Gina later leaves Hollyoaks to live in China and work at an orphanage to make Jill proud.
In 2017, Jack mentioned this to his late wife Frankie about his marriage with Jill and her death, she spoke to Nancy saying it was his second time losing his wife since Jill and mentioned how he was devastated by her death.
The Daily Record commented on the character's death saying "When there's a problem with a character in Hollyoaks, they just kill them off." They further commented saying "Remember Jill? Gina and Sol's mum with the Noel Gallagher eyebrows and bottle blonde hair? Well, she's dying. Yep, as if the Patrick kids haven't gone through enough - finding out their mum wasn't really their mum, etc, now she's going to die on them. She turns up at the Dog and tells Jack that he's going to have to look after the kids, so now not only does he have Ruth, but this motley crew to look after too." Due to her role as Jill, Guy Henderson from InYourArea referred to the actress as a "Hollyoaks favourite".
Sol Patrick
Sol Patrick, portrayed by Paul Danan, made his first appearance on 3 November 1997. Danan graduated from Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, where he shared classes with Natasha Symms and Dannielle Brent, who went on to play his character's sisters Kate Patrick and Gina Patrick. The trio shared a house in Liverpool after they were cast in Hollyoaks. Danan was grateful for his "big break", stating "There's so many actors out there and not much work all the time, it's very hard, so I think I'm really lucky to have this."Sol is the show's "resident bad boy" with a history of homelessness, a stint in a Young Offender Institution, and a temperament that causes him trouble. Describing Sol, Dawn Collinson of the Liverpool Echo wrote "With his bad lad reputation and close-cropped moody look, Hollyoaks Sol Patrick is quite a handful." She noted that without his character's trademark clothing and attitude, Danan was much warmer. He told Collinson that his character "stresses too much", where as he was a more chilled and loving person. Collinson observed that since his introduction to Hollyoaks, Danan had been dubbed a "heartthrob" and was popular with female viewers. Danan admitted that the fan mail gave him confidence, saying I wouldn't really want to date a fan because me and Sol are two separate people, but reading some of the letters really brings me back up if I'm feeling down."
For the cliffhanger final episode of 2000, Sol and his girlfriend Jess Holt were trapped by a fire "in the Hollyoaks local". Wendy Granditer of Inside Soap observed that Sol's life "has been turned upside down" since he began a relationship with Jess. The character's final episode aired on 5 April 2001, following a storyline in which Sol is falsely accused of trying to kill Jess' brother Steve Holt. A writer for Virgin Media said Sol ended up "fleeing the area for his own good". Danan found the scenes in which Sol confides in his former stepfather Jack Osborne to be "really touching" and said he and McKenna cried for real. Danan also explained to Granditer that the final shot had to be filmed multiple times to get it right and he felt that it would never end. His leaving party was held that same night and then he returned to London. Danan was happy with his exit storyline, saying "It was great that they left it open rather than killing him off. Sol didn't kill anyone, or commit any crime, all he did was protect his girlfriend, so there's no reason why he can't return one day."