SOAPS & SOCIETY

Gary Carter and Chloe Tucker (Channel 4, Hollyoaks)

Presented at:

Wellcome Collection as part of Care and Destruction 2019.

Soap operas have a long tradition of reflecting and impacting societal debate and a duty of care to their audiences to accurately and supportively deal with story issues. In this panel, The Sick of the Fringe welcomes senior members of the Hollyoaks team to explore how a complex organisation deals with this duty of care, both internally, through all aspects of the production including casting and writing, and externally with agencies, charities and other stakeholders. Providing behind the scenes insight into a popular show operating in a genre whose societal reach is often underrated, but whose impact is widely felt. The conversation will be chaired by television super-fan and TSOTF co-founder Brian Lobel and feature Gary Carter (Hollyoaks Series Consultant), and Chloe Tucker (Commissioner, Channel 4 Drama).

About Hollyoaks: The long-running Channel 4 series Hollyoaks, produced by Lime Pictures, has a tradition of dealing with contemporary societal issues in the context of a unique, youthful, aspirational story-world, and is widely recognised as a leader in this area amongst contemporary soap operas.  For Hollyoaks' optimistic, progressive and energetic portrayal of contemporary British society and its skilful handling of issues of disability, race, sexual politics and physical and emotional health, it has received widespread recognition. Hollyoaks is recognised as a consistent innovator in this regard, as demonstrated by Hollyoaks' 2018 Disability Confident campaign and other activities.

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