Interview with Lee Mason

7 October 2015

 

What is the secret to Hollyoaks' longevity?

Hollyoaks was at the beginning, and still is now, a soap that offers something completely different. It's fun, it's sexy, it tells stories in a big, bold way. It has Channel 4's ethos at its heart in that it is mischievous and brave and doesn’t shy away from difficult issues. I suppose it's been around for 20 years because it's evolved with its audience and continues to feel contemporary and relevant.

How important is Hollyoaks to Channel 4?

To have Hollyoaks as a foundation across the week, bringing that core young audience to the channel, is incredibly important. It's a starting block for the evening schedule. Hollyoaks is also key in terms of Channel 4’s commitment to drama out of London.

Indeed. Hollyoaks is famous for tackling difficult storylines. Do you think it does this very successfully?

Very. Soaps are a big part of young people's lives and they can help to raise awareness around particular issues that other TV shows might struggle to do. We take that responsibility very seriously. Our story about Ste’s HIV is a case in point. Bryan [Kirkwood] said to me, 'We talk to a young gay audience in a way nobody else can, and HIV rates for young gay men are increasing, so we should be doing that story'. I didn't even blink. Of course, people want soaps primarily to be entertaining - they want to watch stories about affairs and romances and revenge – but while they’re watching, we’re also encouraging our audiences to debate and think about bigger issues. In a way, it’s educating by stealth, public service embedded in what is, essentially, entertainment.

 

How often do you get involved in overseeing controversial storylines?

I discuss every storyline with Bryan [Kirkwood] and the team. They come to me and say, 'This is a story that we really, really care about', and it's usually a story that a particular producer or writer passionately wants to tell. As long as they tell it truthfully, then I agree that we should be raising those issues with our audience. Clearly when making a teatime soap, we have to be careful not to be gratuitous or cause offence. So it's about being careful and clever about the way you tell the story. But as long as the research is done brilliantly, with help or a partnership with the relevant charities or organisations, and as long as those charities tell us we are being truthful and authentic, then the Hollyoaks team absolutely has my backing.

Which storylines stand out to you as being particularly successful?

We were developing a domestic abuse story and the Home Office approached Channel 4 because they wanted Hollyoaks to be part of their This Is Abuse campaign. In partnering with us, they immediately had access to and were able to reach an audience they felt they couldn’t directly speak to. It is very gratifying to be in a position to raise awareness of important social issues amongst younger viewers. The John Paul rape storyline, however, was more difficult. There’s only so much you can show on screen at 6.30pm; this story was more about how does someone cope with being the victim of rape, how do they recover? When Hollyoaks last did a male rape storyline, with Gary Lucy, a very long time ago, that was shown in a special late-night episode. We did initially discuss doing a late night special for the John Paul storyline, but quite rightly Bryan and the team said, 'We don't want to do that; we don't want it to come across as something that can't be discussed and has to be hidden late at night'. What is left of my hair went a little bit grey at that point! But they found a way of telling that story that was utterly outstanding, and one of the bravest things Hollyoaks has ever done. They smashed that taboo and told that story to a predominantly young audience, and that was ground-breaking.

What was the reaction like?

It was very interesting to watch it all unfold on Twitter and Facebook. The character who raped John Paul, Finn, wasn't gay, and so there was a lot of debate around that and a lot of discussion – you could see the fans correcting each other that rape is about power not sexuality. We told the story, and left it to them to discuss it and educate each other and talk about their own experiences. It’s proof that Hollyoaks can make people think differently.

Presumably a story line has to be right for the existing characters, though: you can't just crow-bar it in because you want to cover it?

No, you can't. It absolutely has to feel authentic; you can't just throw in an issue. Long-term, once that particular story is over, that character is changed forever. John Paul is forever going to be affected by that rape, and that's a real shift for that character. Another example of that is that Cindy was diagnosed with bipolar in a big issue-led storyline, and that will always be part of her character from now on.

You currently have eight LGBT characters. Why so many?

I don't think that it’s even an issue to the majority of our audience that we have more LGBT characters than most other shows. Our audience cares about watching two people falling in love, two people having an affair, two people breaking up. A gay love story is as normal in Hollyoaks as any other love story. Sexuality doesn't define our characters. Hollyoaks doesn’t have gay characters - it has characters who are gay.

Where does Hollyoaks find new talent?

Channel 4 prides itself on discovering and nurturing new talent and Hollyoaks is a big part of that. It’s a show on which writers, directors and actors can learn a great deal. The casting team work with schools and within communities to find new, raw talent all the time. Lime Pictures have held transgender and disabled acting workshops and actively encourage agents to put forward BAME talent. Earlier this year, Channel 4 set up a new writing award with Lime Pictures and Red Production Company, The Northern Writers Award, to find people who don't necessarily have access to the TV industry. We found a brilliant young writer called Sharma Walfall who's is spending a year being mentored at Hollyoaks and working with script editors, before writing her own shadow script. Hollyoaks can only remain as popular, relevant and contemporary as it is by finding, developing and championing new talent.

How important is it for Hollyoaks to engage with the audience via social media?

Massively important. The digital team on Hollyoaks are a vital part of the creative team. They attend every meeting, they are in the story conferences. Our audience spend a big part their lives online and it would be naïve not to engage with that. Hollyoaks’ digital team produces brilliant and innovative content. When we did the Who Killed Fraser Black storyline we ‘leaked’ the identity of the murderer on Snapchat. When that idea was first suggested to me, I thought it was crazy – I’m old enough to remember who shot JR and that was the most closely guarded secret ever. But I trusted the team and when it happened, there was a real buzz about it. I absolutely believe that it drove other people to watch Hollyoaks that evening.

The other soaps are realising the value of engaging with their audience more and more online, as we do, and it’s flattering to see them trying to emulate Hollyoaks’ digital success . From the digital team to the stories we tell, Hollyoaks has always been ahead of the game and set new benchmarks - it’s exciting to see what they’ll be working on in the months and years ahead.