Murphy: 'Changes will help 'Oaks compete'

Sheree Murphy has said that the "massive, massive changes" to Hollyoaks may help it compete with other soaps on TV.

The former Emmerdale actress was one of the first cast members hired by new series producer Paul Marquess when she was picked to play Anita Roy (Saira Choudhry)'s long-lost mother Eva Strong.

Murphy told DS: "They've got lots of characters in their mid-to-late 30s coming in, which I think is important because not everyone wants to watch kids all the time.

"I know it's a teen soap, but I think if they're going to try to compete with the other soaps they need a few older characters in. Hopefully the changes will be for the better."

Of her own character's upcoming storylines, she added: "I'm still a bit of a mystery because my daughter's just found out that I'm her mother, but it's not until the stuff I'm filming now that my character really comes into her own."

Asked if Eva really wants to reconnect with her daughter, Murphy said: "She's obviously made that effort to go and find her so I think she does.

"She had her when she was very young. To all of a sudden have a 17 or 18-year-old daughter and never had to deal with her before, I think there's going to be a lot of issues.

"Does she really want to be her mum? Does she want to be a friend? Because she's still young herself - there's lots of things like that coming up."

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