Older 'Oaks stars to get more storylines

Hollyoaks' series producer Lucy Allan has promised to pay more attention to the soap's older characters in the months ahead.

In an interview with DS, Allan conceded that the Channel 4 show's teenagers had dominated screen time in the summer as many of the older cast members were busy filming late-night spinoff Hollyoaks Later.

However, the drama's boss said that she hoped viewers have noticed a change in its focus since then, claiming that progress has already been made in providing "much more of a mix" on screen.

Discussing suggestions that the programme has been too teen-focused, Allan explained: "One thing to say is that I think we're talking about a period across the summer and actually what's now appearing on screen, there is quite a big change in that - I don't think the teens are now dominating the way that they were across the summer.

"If we're being completely honest, Later took away a substantial number of my cast, so they were unavailable to me for three months. So for three months, I had to play with what I had. I do care about the teen stories and I do invest in them. I do recognise that it hasn't always been a success in terms of viewers, though - I absolutely take that on board."

She continued: "I think you'll find that there's much more of a mix driving forward. I'm categorically not saying that I won't play teen stories - because Hollyoaks is the show for those stories - but if I've learned one thing from this year, it's that the stories with the older characters have a very big place in the show, too.

"What's interesting as well is that the family unit doesn't exist quite the way it did within the show and that's certainly something we're looking at. A lot of the characters that viewers have grown up with have grown up. Those family units have changed. Perhaps that's a clue as to where we need to go in the future."

Allan was appointed as Hollyoaks' leading producer last year following the departure of her predecessor Bryan Kirkwood, who is due to become the new boss at EastEnders.

> Click here to read Lucy Allan's Producer's Perspective 2009
> Click here to read what's to come in Hollyoaks in 2010