The following is a list of characters that first appeared on the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks in 2001, by first appearance. The year saw the introduction of many new characters including the Hunter family.

Jason Cunliffe

Jason Cunliffe, played by Alex Reid, first appeared in 2001 and made his final appearance in 2002.^[1] In 2009, a tabloid newspaper reported that Reid was to return to the show, however a spokesperson confirmed that this was "absolute nonsense".^[2]

Jason is a footballer who lived the high life and always got what he wanted until he meets Geri Hudson (Joanna Taylor). Geri instantly falls in love with Jason, or rather for his status, and the pair become Hollyoaks' very own 'Posh and Becks'. Geri wants to marry Jason, but Jason had other things on his mind as he oftens has regular affairs with his book publisher, Alyson. He also makes a pass at Geri's rival Izzy Cornwell (Elize du Toit), but Izzy has none of it and tells Geri what happened. Jason admits to Geri, who forgives him.

Geri sees Jason's true colours when he has a night party in his mansion, despite agent Dion telling Jason to recover from his injury. During the night, Jason's team-mate Scott Anderson (Daniel Hyde) attempts to rape Geri and Jason fails to do anything about it. Realising that Jason treats her like a 'trophy', Geri decides to hit him where it hurt the most: in his pocket. Geri threatens Jason for him to marry her, or else she will tell the press what he is really up to. After getting married, Geri throws Jason out of the car, leaving him to realise that she is going to take him for every penny he is worth after what he had put her through. Feeling embarrassed, Jason leaves the village.

Jon O'Brien from Metro called the character a "womanising footballer who got on the wrong side of wife Geri".^[3]

Brian Drake

Brian Drake was played by Jonathan Le Billon.^[4]

Brian is a goth who dates Zara Morgan (Kelly Condron). He is very religious and Zara pressures him to have sex, though they do not have sex. He cheats on her with Steph Dean (Carley Stenson) at a party at Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard)'s House. Brian became friends with Lisa Hunter (Gemma Atkinson) and asks her to sing in his band. They end up going out. When Brian finds out about Lisa's self-harming, he tries to help. In helping Lisa he neglects his revision and fails his GCSEs. Brian then stalks Lisa with threatening text messages. Lisa at first thinks it is Cameron, but when she discovers Drake is the culprit, he leaves the village.

Dion

Dion is a football agent who took extreme measures to get what he wanted. Dion was Jason Cunliffe and Scott Anderson’s agent and had to keep the pair in line, making sure that they stayed out of trouble. However the pair did get themselves in deep trouble when they faced serious allegations. Scott had raped Beth Morgan, but in order to protect his reputation, he protested his innocence. But the major worry for Dion was Jason’s wife-to-be, Geri Hudson, who had been treated roughly by Jason and threatened to go to the press unless she received a large payment. Dion was clearly aware that if Jason paid Geri, he knew that would affect his payment as agent and therefore he would have to reach an agreement with Geri. In order to keep Geri sweet, Dion began to date Geri’s mother Jackie and warned Geri that he would tell her mother what she was really up to. Geri had the last laugh, however, after confessing to her mother and then failing to sign a contract agreement on her wedding day with Jason, which allowed Geri to take Jason for every penny he was worth. Dion failed to get what he wanted with Jason but managed to get the better of Beth Morgan during her trial against Scott. Despite Dion’s co-worker Alyson going against him and defending Beth, Scott was found not guilty, leaving Dion to get his own way.

Dan Hunter

Daniel Simon "Dan" Hunter is a fictional character on the long-running Channel 4 British television soap opera Hollyoaks. He was played by actor Andy McNair who made his first on-screen appearance in April 2001.^[5] The character was killed in a car explosion in 2004 after the actor quit.

Dan was the first Hunter to arrive in Hollyoaks, opening his own garage (later owning Dan's PitStop), followed by the rest of his family. Sensitive, yet extremely volatile and moody, Dan was extremely private about his life, which is why the first person he got involved with, Izzy Cornwell, did not last very long. She accused him of being on drugs and spread the gossip around college. In reality, he was not; instead he suffered from diabetes.

Dan's relationship with his family was strained at the best of times. He hated his selfish sister Ellie, but he did love her and care for her, did not understand his mother, clashed regularly with his father, had little in common with his brother Lee, but had a close, if overprotective, bond with little sister Lisa. Dan's family turned upside down when his brother Lee was failing his exams and getting in trouble, Lisa started to self-harm after she was bullied by Steph Dean and his sister Ellie disappeared in Ibiza for almost two years, but returned in 2002.

Dan was shy yet good-looking and fell for Debbie Dean the moment he saw her. The two were very much in love but were torn apart. Firstly he cheated on her after she had embarrassed him publicly by revealing she had taken his virginity, and when Dan was wrongly imprisoned for his brother-in-law, Toby Mills's killing spree. Dan was released after months in prison and was gutted to find Debbie had moved on. Dan and Debbie were not over each other and left it to the last minute to tell each other they loved each other, when moments later Dan's rally car exploded, killing him and leaving Debbie devastated. Soon after, she opened a present that Dan gave her earlier and this was an engagement ring.

Eve Crawford

Eve Crawford was a student at Hollyoaks Community College. She dated Jamie Nash and had a one-night stand with Matt Musgrove, but left the village after Becca Hayton reported Eve for stealing money.

Lee Hunter

Lee Hunter is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Alex Carter. The youngest son of Les (John Graham Davies) and Sally Hunter (Katherine Dow Blyton), he made his first on-screen appearance on 13 May 2001. The character was described as "wayward", a "cheeky chap" and a "wheeler dealer". Carter announced his decision to quit the serial in 2005 to have more free time, filming his departure scenes in October 2005 and departed on-screen 23 December 2005.

Carter returned to Hollyoaks as a full-time character in September 2010, reintroduced by series producer Paul Marquess, although his comeback scenes aired in internet spin-off Hollyoaks: Freshers. Upon his return, the character has been described as "a tool", "confident" and "arrogant". In May 2011 it was announced Carter had quit again, in order to pursue other projects.

Lisa Hunter

Lisa Hunter is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Gemma Atkinson. The character is noted for her storylines including bullying and self-harming. After her exit from Hollyoaks, Atkinson reprised the role twice in two spin-off series.

Les Hunter

Leslie "Les" Hunter is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by John Graham Davies.

Sally Hunter

Sally Hunter is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Katherine Dow Blyton.

Becca Dean

Rebecca "Becca" Dean (née Hayton) is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ali Bastian. She debuted on-screen during episodes airing in 2001 and departed on 14 February 2007.

Bombhead

David "Bombhead" Burke is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lee Otway. Initially known as 'David Witherspoon', he appeared on the soap between 2001 and 2005. In 2010, Otway reprised the role in online spin-off Hollyoaks: Freshers.^[6] The character returned again on 13 January 2011 for two episodes.

Toby Mills

Tobias "Toby" Alexander Mills is a fictional character from the long-running British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Henry Luxemburg.

Jodie Nash

Jodie Nash, played by Kate McEnery, appeared between 2001 and 2003. Jodie arrives in Hollyoaks with best friend Nick O'Connor (Darren Bransford) and brother Jamie Nash (Stefan Booth). She soon becomes the famous 'virgin' of Hollyoaks as her love life is a disaster. She begins to date Max Cunningham (Matt Littler) but nothing further develops. After Jamie dies in an accident during a potholing trip, Jodie struggles to cope and has sex with Nick, who is gay, which confuses him on his own sexuality. She then has a break away from Hollyoaks to clear her head.

She returns reinvented, a far more assertive and flirtatious woman. She decides to remain good friends with Nick and her love life improves. She begins to have one night stands with Max and Jake Dean (Kevin Sacre). However, neither of them work out for Jodie as she set her sights on the unexpected. She begins a relationship with flatmate Kristian Hargreaves (Max Brown), but Jodie later discovers that she has failed her course and has to move back home, leaving Hollyoaks.

Jamie Nash

Jamie Nash, played by Stefan Booth, appeared between 2001 and 2002.^[7]

Jamie arrives as a new student at Hollyoaks Community College as a jack-the-lad with a cheeky charm, so when a sexually transmitted disease goes around at college, Jamie gets the blame. Although he is vindicated, he realises the error of his ways and asks for help from sister Jodie (Kate McEnery) to change his ways. This includes running for student president against Chloe Bruce (Mikyla Dodd), and despite winning, he gives the position to her.

Jamie realises that the only one of his affairs that he cares about is Becca Hayton (Ali Bastian). Jamie vows to win Becca back and the pair eventually get together. However, she becomes reinterested in ex-boyfriend Alex Bell (Martino Lazzeri) and dumps Jamie. Jamie eventually gets back with Becca, but while on a potholing trip with his friends, Jamie gets injured. He dies in hospital and a heartbroken Becca, who is pregnant with his baby, decides to have an abortion.

Nick O'Connor

Nicholas "Nick" O'Connor is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Darren Bransford. He made his first appearance in 2001 before being written out in 2004.^[8]

Scott Anderson

Scott Anderson was played by Daniel Hyde. Scott was introduced in the late-night DVD feature film Hollyoaks: Indecent Behaviour by current producer Jo Hallows. The film would see Scott's arrival as the new local bad boy who was involved in a rape storyline involving, Beth Morgan. Scott originally appeared sporadically from November 2001 to September 2002 before returning as a regular character from January 2003 to June 2004 where he would make an exit but later returned for three episodes in February 2005.

The character was introduced in a spin-off episode released on DVD. Scott is a footballer and is accused of raping Beth Morgan (Kate Baines).^[9] Hyde then joined the main cast of Hollyoaks. The Daily Record's Lee-Ann Fullerton summed up his storylines: "he has bedded a 16-year-old, tried to seduce his rape accuser's best mate and been a suspected serial killer not bad for two years' work".^[9]

In February 2004, Hyde announced that he would be leaving the show in April of that year, so he could pursue other acting roles. His final scenes were to be filmed in March.^[9] Of his decision to quit, Hyde explained "I have enjoyed my time in Hollyoaks. The storylines have been great. It has been fun but it has also been tough. When you are getting really good storylines, such as the original rape story and the stuff with Izzy, you get such good things written for you. Then you have to go in and do the normal stuff too."^[9] He felt that two and a half years was "a good stretch" and that he was lucky to have been given further plots after the DVD appearance.^[9] Written as an ambitious and possessive character, in many appearances, Scott exhibited a mean streak that could quickly offend others. However, on the show, he is also shown to be able to show prepossession characteristics and easily charms others.

Scott first appeared in the Hollyoaks video/DVD Hollyoaks: Indecent Behaviour, where he caused a fight with Luke Morgan, forced himself on Geri Hudson, and raped Beth Morgan. This was not the first time he had taken advantage of a woman, but never was any action taken against him because he is a professional footballer.

However, Beth decided to take action against him in court, but the case was dropped after it was confirmed Beth had been talking to an outsider about the case. Scott began to have his one-night stands with sixteen-year-old Steph Dean, but soon got bored of her and dumped her. His attentions grew closer to Izzy Cornwell, and he made several attempts to seduce her. At one time it went too far. Scott would not let go of Izzy and Beth drove toward Scott and knocked him down whilst driving. This cost Scott his chances of playing in the World Cup and he never played football again because of an injury. At her trial Scott let it slip that he did actually rape her hence provoking the car attack but she is still found guilty. Beth Morgan was sentenced to six months. Scott was later convicted of perjury, for which he received a suspended prison sentence. Scott later returned as the new owner of The Loft.

Many residents of Hollyoaks, mainly Izzy, tried to protest against Scott, but he insisted that he was a changed man. With murders happening around the village, Scott was a key suspect when he was arrested but was later cleared of any charges. Scott tried to convince Izzy that he had learnt his lessons and was leading a new life, but she was still unforgiving towards him. Trouble was also brewing for Scott as Ben Davies became a rival in Hollyoaks, with Ben dating his beloved Izzy.

He then began to show two sides of his character—a caring side as he supported Ellie Hunter through her problems, and a more negative side when he led Matt Musgrove in being arrested for handling doggy fake notes. There was to be another blow for Scott when Ben and Izzy announced that they were set to get married. Scott was desperate to persuade Izzy not to marry him. After discovering from Emma Chambers, Scott told Izzy that Ben had a one-night stand with Emma and that she was carrying their child in a bid to stop Izzy from marrying Ben. Despite the attempt, it did not stop Ben and Izzy from getting married, which left Scott devastated.

A few months later, Izzy suffered a miscarriage and was told that she could never have any children. She struggled to cope with seeing Ben around with Emma's child, Arthur. Izzy confided in Scott and then slept with him. Scott's hopes were raised, as it could have been the path to finally being together with the girl of his dreams. However, it wasn't meant to be after Izzy told Scott that she only slept with him so she could cut all ties with Ben. A desperate Scott asked Izzy to give him another chance, but she did not want to know as Izzy left to make a fresh start away from Hollyoaks.

Scott felt it was useless to stay in Hollyoaks after Izzy's exit, but he was in for another surprise when his bar worker Darren Osborne had stitched up Scott for a credit card scam. Knowing it was Darren who stitched him up, Scott decided to teach him a lesson by locking the doors of The Loft and setting fire to it. Scott fell down the stairs at The Loft and pleaded to Darren for help, but Darren refused to help and managed to make his way out. Thinking that Scott was left for dead, Darren phoned the police but was shocked when no trace of Scott had been found.

A year later, Scott started threatening Darren to pay back the money. He managed to persuade Ben and Russ Owen to go with him for a deal he was set up but when they arrived at the location they saw that Scott was the person Darren owed money to. Immediately they were jumped by Scott's thugs and the three were tied up and tape gagged. They were then untied after a long calming conversation. Ben and Russ left the Flat leaving Darren to plead with Scott not to kill him. Scott was about to attack Darren when the police arrived and arrested him.

Scott later appeared in the non-canon episode Hollyoaks: The Good the Bad and the Gorgeous in 2009, an episode looking back at the history of the show. Scott featured in two musical numbers with the (as then) current cast.

Theo Sankofa

Theo Sankofa, played by Andrew Somerville, appeared from 2001 to 2002. Somerville was cast in the Hollyoaks: On the Pull campaign to find new young actors to appear in the show. The other three chosen were Marcus Patric (Ben Davies), Lesley Johnston (Laura Burns) and Elize du Toit (Izzy Cornwell).^[10]

Theo moves to Hollyoaks where he set up the village's first gadget shop, Theologic, which supplies strange devices. Friendly and well-liked, Theo is someone who the residents of Hollyoaks come to for advice and help. He often supports and adviss his friends, including Chloe Bruce (Mikyla Dodd) and Matt Musgrove (Kristian Ealey). Theo also plays a key part in helping Gordon Cunningham (Bernard Latham) in winning the local elections as his campaigner.

Theologic begins taking little profit, which leads Theo into selling the business and moving into the Hunter's caravan park. With crippling debts ahead and not much money available, Theo struggles with money problems. Theo, alongside friends, heads for a potholing trip which turns into a disaster. During a rock fall, Theo dies in the van the group is using.

Other characters

References

External links