Hollyoaks - Criticism

Criticism

In 2001, students at Chester College objected to a storyline which they say misrepresented students in the city. Students Union president Gordon Reay said: "Students at other universities think we are a bunch of radicals and militants because that's how the students are portrayed in Hollyoaks. They assume that the college in the programme is Chester College, because Hollyoaks is set in the city." In March 2009, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers identified Hollyoaks as one of a number of programmes – including Big Brother and Skins – cited by its members in a survey to be a bad influence on students, manifesting itself in behaviour such as, "answering back, storming off, swearing, aggression and sexually inappropriate behaviour."

In 2007, the soap came was further criticised along with other soap operas for the amount of alcohol consumption featured on-screen. The Food Commission montired that 18 percent of scenes feature consumption and warned that it was conditioning teenagers into thinking it is normal to consume so much alcohol. A similar incident occurred in 1997 when the Independent Television Commission criticised the series for using an existing brand of alcohol, Caffrey’s in the soap claiming that it breached broadcasting rules and promoted the product.

In October 2009, Channel 4 was criticised for broadcasting character Barry Newton's attempted suicide, which showed similarities to an incident which happened the same week in Glasgow in which two teenagers committed suicide by jumping into the River Clyde. In its defence, a Channel 4 spokesperson stated: "Any similarities are entirely coincidental and we have carefully considered how best to proceed. We feel it is appropriate to continue with the transmission of these episodes as this is not a one-off programme but an established and long-running series. The audience will be familiar with the character of Newt and this plotline, which has been both trailed and promoted, has been developing over a number of weeks. Hollyoaks has a strong track record of dealing with sensitive issues, and the transmission will be followed by a programme support announcement directing viewers to a 24-hour helpline."

In late November 2009, it was announced that character Loretta Jones would be revealed to have killed a child when she was twelve-years-old. A Hollyoaks spokesperson said, "The drama is about how Loretta reacts to Chrissy's arrival back in her life and how she copes with all the memories coming back." The storyline was criticised due to its similarities to real events, such as the Murder of James Bulger. The mother of James Bulger, Denise Fergus, stated her outrage of the storyline while speaking to Click Liverpool. She said: "I'm shocked and disgusted at what Hollyoaks is doing. They have clearly based this story on what happened to James and it's outrageous that they should do this without consulting with me in any way. This is the third time this year that someone has written a so-called drama that treats my son's murderers as some kind of victims and celebrities. It's wrong and I find it very hurtful that a TV company is making a horrific murder that happened only 16 years ago into the subject for a soap opera. How dare they treat James as though he is public property. It is an insult to his memory and I am particularly shocked that a programme, based in Liverpool, has gone ahead and done this knowing that it would be so controversial. Turning James's death into a topic for entertainment is just wrong." Appalled by the decision to produce the episodes, Fergus publicly called for a meeting with Hollyoaks' Liverpool-based production house Lime Pictures, so she could hear it justify its move.

She continued: "I'm demanding an urgent meeting with the producers of Hollyoaks over this. It seems they have already recorded these episodes so they think they have got away with it. But I want to look them in the eye and hear them explain how they can justify it. I want to know how they could stoop so low as to broadcast such a horrible insult to the memory of my beautiful son. The only reason Hollyoaks is doing this is their own self-interest – to get viewers. I watch Hollyoaks, but if they go ahead and broadcast this it will be the last time I will watch it and I will ask other people to support me and boycott the show too."

A spokesperson for Channel 4 added, "The forthcoming storyline is not based on any real-life case and it will in no way seek to recreate real events. The storyline focuses on the psychological repercussions for two characters in the show who were responsible for the death of a 12-year-old girl in the past." Subsequently, the storyline was pulled from the show on 14 December 2009. A Lime Pictures spokesperson said: "Hollyoaks has a very good track record of tackling difficult subject matter for a younger audience and the producers take seriously their duty to deal with sensitive issues in an appropriate way. This particular storyline was not based on any real-life case and was not intended to recreate actual events. However, after conversations with Denise Fergus we have agreed to amend certain aspects of the storyline."