Hollyoaks' 'Exhilarating' Last-Minute Changes Explained by Former Executive Producer
Iain MacLeod, the former boss of Channel 4's long-running soap opera Hollyoaks, has revealed the surprising reasons behind the show's frequent last-minute alterations to scenes and storylines. Currently serving as Executive Producer for Continuing Drama at ITV, where he oversees Coronation Street and Emmerdale, MacLeod shared insider secrets during a recent appearance on the This is Media City podcast.
Why Hollyoaks Operates on a 'Hand-to-Mouth' Basis
MacLeod, who led Hollyoaks between 2014 and 2016, contrasted the production approaches of different British soaps. 'Coronation Street had the advantage of having been running by that point for about 53 years so they kind of had the running of the machine down to a T,' he explained. 'The protocols and systems were fairly failsafe. There was a lot of latency built in. So if you for any reason had to pull a storyline out abruptly because you couldn't transmit it anymore, which does happen, there was ample time to rework that.'
In stark contrast, MacLeod described Hollyoaks as operating on a much tighter schedule. 'Hollyoaks was a lot more hand-to-mouth. It was a lot more "Now! Now!", everything that happened has happened yesterday. But it was exhilarating,' he revealed. 'I worked there for two years, and I always say I think I learned more in six months on Hollyoaks than I learned in six years on Corrie, just in terms of the "everything that can go wrong, will go wrong" side of it.'
Real-World Example of Last-Minute Changes
The former executive producer provided a concrete example of how Hollyoaks adapts quickly. When actress Rita Simons joined the cast, she was originally slated to play Norma Crow's daughter. However, due to sudden plot changes, Simons instead entered the show as Marie Fielding, the mother of character Joel Dexter. This demonstrates the show's flexibility in responding to creative decisions even at advanced stages of production.
The 'Indestructible' Mindset of Hollyoaks Production
MacLeod expressed admiration for the show's production team and their determination to deliver quality content despite constraints. 'What they achieve on the budget and the schedule within which they have to work is astonishing,' he said. 'And Hollyoaks gives you this kind of sense of indestructibility, which is if I watch something on a Thursday that I think isn't fit for transmission, and it's supposed to be on the telly next week, we can still turn that around.'
He elaborated on this unique production philosophy: 'We can reshoot that, we can redo this, we can recast them. You suddenly realise that actually nothing's finished 'til it's on the TV. Lots of other places where I've worked, it's sort of like, "Well, it's too late now". But on Hollyoaks it's like everything they put out has to be the very best it can be.'
This commitment to quality extends throughout the production team, according to MacLeod. 'If anyone over there comes out of a viewing and it's like "I don't know, that was all right, but I think the performances weren't as good as they might have been or the stunt didn't work quite as well as it should have", they feel emboldened to just go "We'll do it again and we'll get it right. We'll make it better".'
Future Visual Upgrades for ITV Soaps
During the same podcast interview, MacLeod confirmed that Coronation Street and Emmerdale are planning significant visual upgrades to their episodes. Following the success of the special crossover event 'Corriedale,' ITV is investing in new production equipment and technology.
'In terms of the look and feel of the shows, we're in the midst of a big piece of work around evolving what they both look like,' MacLeod revealed. 'I want there to be a somewhat consistent visual feel between the soaps, so you know when you turn on Emmerdale or turn on Corrie, that it's an ITV soap – without homogenising it too much.'
The executive producer emphasized the importance of keeping British soaps visually competitive in the streaming era. 'We're updating all of our kit, basically, in terms of cameras and post-production infrastructure and all the rest of it. There might [also] be some news around shifting from HD slightly upwards, in terms of the resolution that we're using.'
Aiming for Streaming Service Quality
MacLeod expressed his ambition for ITV's flagship soaps to achieve visual quality comparable to popular streaming content. 'What we don't want is to be left behind. If your mum's now watching Squid Game on Netflix, you don't want those viewers to turn on Corrie or turn on Emmerdale and it looks like a completely different century – or genre, even,' he explained.
The goal is to modernize while maintaining the shows' distinctive identities. 'We want to evolve our look so it retains some of the cinematic flavours that we saw in Corriedale recently,' MacLeod concluded, referencing the successful crossover special that demonstrated the potential for elevated production values in British soap operas.
