Hollyoaks fans breathed a sigh of relief this week as the soaps longest-running character Tony Hutchinson was given the all-clear following his fight against cancer. Tonys all-important test results came through in the Channel 4 shows 18th anniversary episode, which also featured the birth of his twin children Anthony and Dee Dee. Nick Pickard, who plays Tony, caught up with us this week for an exclusive chat about the conclusion of the cancer story and his characters future. Are you pleased with the way Tonys cancer storyline has played out? Im very pleased. Ive had some really good feedback on Twitter about Wednesdays special episode with the arrival of the twins and Tonys results coming back all-clear. Its a really nice end to the storyline for Tony, because hes been through the mill this year and now hes come out the other side. Its also great for him to have the twins, because he did lose a baby years ago and hes not had a chance to be with his son Harry. Hes got a nice little family now. Were you assured from the start that Tony would beat his cancer? Its a funny one, because its the one thing that I havent been able to say in interviews! When we sat down and discussed the storyline, the first thing I asked was, Am I going to live? Bryan Kirkwood [Hollyoaks executive producer] did say from the off that he would be okay, but they did explore both outcomes on screen as we saw with Stes mum. Its one of those cases where you want to do the storyline, but you obviously dont want to be going! I would have taken it either way as we dont have a choice, but its nice that hes now been given the all-clear. Have you had a lot of feedback over the story in general? Ive had loads. Im not a big Twitter person, but its really nice sometimes to see what people are saying about you. I was really overwhelmed on Wednesday night to see so many people writing in, commenting on the performances and saying how happy they were for Tony. Thats what we do the job for and it really does mean a lot. Does Tony have some downtime on screen now, or does he stay busy? I wouldnt say Im as busy now as I have been this year. I have to admit, Im fried after the late-night episodes and the big stories in the main show. It actually started this time last year with Cindy and Rhyss affair and the bus crash. Its been a hell of a year for me - probably the busiest year that Ive had in a long, long time. Im going away on holiday in a couple of weeks, but after that its back to the mayhem. It never ends here, so even when youre not very busy, youre busy enough. You never get weeks on end when youre not doing anything - youre always in sporadically and around the building. Even when youre not busy on telly, youre doing press or getting back in shape, stuff like that! Is Tony going to open the restaurant again? Ill say that there are rumours! There are rumours that its possibly going to happen, but Im really not up on my scripts at the moment as I havent seen my next block of eps. Are you hoping that Tony and Diane will have a strong future? Im hoping that theyll have a strong future together, at least for a good long while. Im hoping that therell be no dramas in their lives. Obviously it wouldnt be soap without dramas, but Im hoping they could be part of other peoples dramas at the moment. Lets just have them be happy for a while. Ive loved working with Alex and Ive actually known her for a long, long time. She used to be in Brookside and we filmed in the same building. Her uncle cuts my hair - well he used to, I dont have any hair now! I also know her husband really well as we used to play squash and football together. Alex was actually the one I knew least out of all her family, until we started working together! Shes an absolutely fantastic actress and Ive really enjoyed working with her. Ive been really lucky with all the girls Ive worked with, to be fair - Sarah Dunn, Claire Cooper and Steph Waring. Whats it like to work with babies on set? The twins that we have at the minute are called Maeve and Albie. Ive got a daughter whos 15, but the little boy Albie has made me so broody. I just think, I could have another one now. Ive also got a niece and nephew who make me feel the same way. Ive been getting a little bit broody recently with all these babies around! After Hollyoaks Later, weve seen a lot of fans calling for the return of James Redmond as Finn in the main show. Do you think it will happen? Well, hes one of the only ones whos not dead! I dont really know how James stands on it all. Its not something Id ask him about, because Im sure if he wanted to come back, he would make his own enquiries. I know that theres been a lot of positive feedback about him being back on screen, and he was a very popular character the first time around. Id love to see him back. With the late-night episodes, we slipped straight back into it really easily - its like putting on an old pair of shoes. When it comes to the actors you feel most comfortable with, you always want to see them back. A few people are also wondering whether Parry Glasspool could return as Tonys son Harry… Youd have to ask Bryan Kirkwood! (Laughs.) Id love to have them all back. Id love for the cast to never leave, but its the cycle of soap and its always nice when people come back. What have you made of the 18th birthday celebrations? I think theyve done an amazing job. I genuinely cant believe that its been 18 years that Ive been in this job. Its crazy. I remember when it was the fifth anniversary! Originally I was signed up for 26 episodes and the show was known as Teen Soap because nobody had a name for it yet. For two or three months, all of our scripts said Teen Soap! Now Im not a teenager anymore, Im one of the older ones! I really hope that Hollyoaks goes on for as long as it can. I love the show and I love the people more than anything - theyre like my family. Im very lucky to have the job I have and come to work with a smile on my face every day. I know that the cast we have at the moment is one of the best weve ever assembled, and were in really good shape at the moment. Weve got some fantastic storylines coming up and with Bryan Kirkwood at the helm for the foreseeable future, I really think we can take the show up to a whole new level. Theyve just announced Finn OConnors male rape storyline with John Paul, which Tony will obviously have some involvement in… Thats one of the fantastic storylines I was just referring to! Keith Rice is a brilliant actor and James Sutton is too. I remember Gary Lucys character had a similar story years ago and that really put us on the map back then. Im hoping that once again it can push us on to a different level. Hollyoaks airs weeknights at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first look screenings at 7pm on E4.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 06:58:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015