Hollyoaks

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Were it not for this Godawful shows cynical manipulation of it's naive teenage girl fanbase,I don't think there's anyway it's over-riding banality would have allowed it to run for nearly ten years.I myself have only ever really caught what you might call passing glances at it but I feel this has been more than enough.I honestly wonder at times whether the 'actors' are chosen on the grounds on any actual 'acting' merit they possess whatsoever as opposed to their viewer-attracting,ratings-assuring sex appeal and good looks.Unless,by the standards of the casting directors associated with this rubbish,'good-acting' consists of shouting very loudly in each other's faces all the time as well turning the most mundane situation in to an opportunity to turn in a master-stroke of thespian aspiration.Mind you,said opportunities are relatively numourous,with seemingly every plotline as contrieved and sensationalist as the next,making the show more detached from reality than it's outline as 'the everyday lives of' a group of people could ever possibly imagine.Unfortunately,as long as it continues to appeal to the lowest common denominator of it's naive audience,it seemingly has no end in sight.Oh well,no one's forcing you to watch,eh?*

It's only been the past 6 months or so that I've started watching Hollyoaks (finishing a-levels left me with free evenings after work until uni started) but I have to say it's pretty damn addictive! I think you just have to take it as it is - a lighthearted soap with a mix of serious and not-so-serious storylines. Great stuff!

Oh my god, can the acting seriously get much worse?!

I have to say that the acting has never reached Oscar-winning heights, but at the present moment it is so positively dire, that it is extremely laughable.

How the directors can possibly 'direct' these so-called actors, or pieces of wood as they have more in common with, with a straight face is unbelievable. How they can put them on air without seriously worrying about their credibility status as professional directors is beyond me. Because let's face it, these actors are so bad, that it has to reflect on the directors.

Okay, taking a breather from my rant, I have to say that NOT ALL of the Hollyoaks cast fits into the above mould. Most of the longer-serving cast members are perfectly adequate as soap actors. They will never be the recipient of a major award for outstanding acting achievement, but perfectly adequately fit the requirements for British soaps. Even some of the newer cast members, such as the Hunter family for example, can hold their own in this department.

But a lot of the influx of new members were so obviously chosen for either their looks or their connections, as the acting is so amateurish, it even lowers the (already rock bottom) standards of some British soaps.

"Hollyoaks" is marketed as an accurate portrayal of British teen life, but the acting and production is so embarrassingly awful that to compare it up against an American contemporary, for example, "Dawson's Creek", would bring shame on to the entire British nation. "Dawson's Creek" may be classed by some as hideously pretentious, but at least it can stand proud in the acting stakes.

Hollyoaks is many things. One thing that it isn't though, is well acted out. It has one of the poorest collections of actors/actresses I have ever witnessed on TV. There are a few which are satisfactory, but overall it's terrible. They cast the actors purely on looks, a lot of the cast were models prior to being on Hollyoaks. And I must say the writers seem absolutely clueless, as most of the story lines seem to be totally unoriginal and cliché...

On the other hand, there is a certain spark to the show which makes you enjoy watching it, and carry on watching it. There are a few lovable characters, and a few which you hate so much that you watch the show again just to laugh or cringe at. There's the adictive-ness that I think you will always find in soaps, which is why I must recommend anyone who hasn't started watching this to never start watching this, as you will too become hooked to a simply awful show.

Hollyoaks deals with the trials and tribulations that many teenegers/early twenty year olds do. Instead of simply concentrating on the boring stuff, like school or college, Hollyoaks adds a more interesting and fun way to telling the stories. Sub stories like murders, sexuality, family problems and pub life are shown to make the programme more realsitic to student life.

Hollyoaks is not noticed enough like other programmes, but it is definately much more funner!