'Hollyoaks' is planning a huge stunt for its 25th birthday next year.
Nick Pickard
The soap will celebrate a quarter of a century on the air in 2020 and 'Hollyoaks' boss Bryan Kirkwood has promised that original cast member Nick Pickard, who plays Tony Hutchinson, will be central to the storyline.
He told Digital Spy: "We have got a really confident framework for the 25th year, which we're very excited about.
"Nick Pickard is right at the centre of that - as he should be, as Tony Hutchinson is our original character from episode one.
We're looking at the themes that brought people to Hollyoaks 25 years ago. It was introduced as a very young and youthful soap, so that ingredient is really high in the mix for the next year.
"I'm really confident in saying that we have a very original, ambitious story coming up for the teens and the families. Hopefully that will engage all of our viewers.
"We're already talking about our stunt for the 25th anniversary week, which has got us excited too."
And Tony's father is set to appear in 'Hollyoaks' as a new supervillain.
Speaking about Joe McGann's character Edward, Bryan said: "We're very lucky to have Joe McGann here. He's part of the McGann acting dynasty and it's always a real treat and a pleasure to have someone of that calibre coming into 'Hollyoaks' to shake things up.
"Among the talks as we approached the 25th anniversary, we spoke about Tony's dad. He was in the show as an off-screen character for the first few years of 'Hollyoaks'.
"The character was previously called Brian in the show, so we will acknowledge the fact that he has changed his life. We are paying respect to the character that superfans will remember, so all will become clear when Edward comes on screen."
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