Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill. The programme is set in a fictional suburb of Chester called Hollyoaks and is centred around a local further education college called Hollyoaks Community College, with the characters generally being in their late teens or early twenties. Since 1995, the cast has expanded from just seven major characters to approximately 50 cast members. Since the long-serving producer Bryan Kirkwood quit in 2009, the role of series producer has seen several changes. Kirkwood's successor Lucy Allan stepped down from her position in 2010 after just twelve months, and her replacement, former The Bill producer Paul Marquess took control later that year. Like his predecessor, Marquess left the series after a year and Gareth Philips was appointed as series producer.Emma Smithwick later replaced Phillips as a permanent replacement. Smithwick has been a series editor of the soap for while, before taking on the role of producer in Autumn 2011. read more