Episode 5675

Martine Deveraux (Kéllé Bryan) receives a text from the hospital stating that she will receive the results from her recent MRI scan that day. She heads off to the party she is hosting for her father Walter (Trevor A. Toussaint). Unbeknownst to Martine, her daughter Celeste Faroe (Andrea Ali) has invited her father Felix Westwood (Richard Blackwood) in a bid to reunite her parents. When Felix arrives at the party, he reveals that Walter sent him away. Felix's estranged son DeMarcus (Tomi Ade) also arrives at the party and is asked to stay in the village by Felix. Stressed out from family drama, Martine goes canoeing in the river by the party. Felix follows her, but is followed by DeMarcus, who crashes his boat into Felix's and sends him underwater. He almost drowns but is saved by Martine. The two later agree to reconcile their relationship. Pearl Anderson (Dawn Hope) speaks with Walter about his dead brother Wilfed, who killed himself due to facing persecution for being gay. Pearl informs a guilt-ridden Walter that while he can learn from the past, he should live in the present.

Ripley Lennox (Ki Griffin) meets with Brooke Hathaway (Tylan Grant), where the two confess their romantic feelings for each other. Brooke states that they would not kiss Ripley until the pair had been on at least three dates, so Ripley asks Brooke on three dates within the day. After the third date, the pair kiss. After Goldie McQueen (Chelsee Healey) learns that her son Prince (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) has become a vegan and wants to take Olivia Bradshaw's (Emily Burnett) surname after they get married, she feels he is ashamed of the McQueen family. Olivia then finds Prince eating a meat burger and he reveals that he has changed himself to appeal to her. In response, Olivia enlists Goldie's help to give her a makeover in order to look like a McQueen. While alone, Nate Denby (Chris Charles) lays out printed cards of numerous residents' social media profiles and picks up Felix's.

As well as appearing in the episode, Bryan served as a script consultant for the episode.

In August 2020, Hollyoaks's broadcaster, Channel 4, expressed their plan to host a Black Takeover Day, which was later renamed to Black to Front. The details of the day included Channel 4's flagship programming airing episodes starring and created by solely Black talent. The purpose of the initiative was to "amplify the conversations around representation and diversity" a year after the murder of George Floyd and the international protests and debates that were sparked after his murder.[1] It was confirmed that the episode would have an extended runtime of 60 minutes and would solely feature Black cast members, as well as an exclusively Black production team. The clothing worn in the episode was also sourced from local Black-owned businesses.[2] Grant, who portrays Brooke, opined that the clothing they wore in the episode marked their favourite costumes to date.[3] All of the music featured in the episode had Black musicians, with the cast members featured in the episode being asked to give song suggestions for the soundtrack.[3]

Blackwood felt that the episode was important represent the multicultural society of the UK.

On 25 July 2021, it was confirmed by The Guardian that filming for the episode was underway. They revealed that the episode will be cantered around Walter's birthday and that it would feature both new and existing Black characters. They also revealed that actor Patrick Robinson would be making his directorial debut on a continuing drama by directing the episode;[4] Bryan acted as a script consultant for the episode, alongside starring as Martine.[5] In an interview with The Guardian, Hollyoaks's executive producer Lucy Allan stated that the team were prepared to receive criticism for the episode. However, she said that their opinions do not matter to her or the team, stating that people who do not understand the concept for the episode are "all the more reason" to execute it.[4] Blackwood, who portrays Felix, was interviewed by Stephen Patterson of the Metro about the episode. He felt that since Black people are commonly underrepresented in media, the episode was important to show equality onscreen. Blackwood added: "we live in a multicultural society and it needs to be represented".[6]

A week before the episode aired, it was confirmed that a stunt involving Felix would take place in the episode. The production team hinted that the stunt could result in Felix's death. The stunt involved Blackwood's character almost drowning and being resurfaced from the water.[7] Blackwood said that he enjoyed filming the stunt but that he found it difficult to put his head completely underwater. Blackwood wished that he could have performed the full stunt himself, feeling that seeing a stunt double film "takes away from the magic of being involved".[6] As well as immersing himself underwater, Blackwood also found it difficult to act unconscious. He said that since breathing is the first instinct when emerging from water, it was hard to act like he had passed out, especially due to not being able to train for such a performance.[7] Ade, who made his debut appearance as DeMarcus in the episode, found filming the stunt "crazy", owing his nervousness during the stunt to the fact that he cannot swim in real life.[6] He was scared to be on the lake but confirmed that everyone involved in the production of the stunt was cautious and followed safety precautions.[6] Due to the cold weather and water during the filming of the stunt, cast members who were involved had to wear wetsuits.[7]

Jamelia guest starred in the episode and described the experience as "joyous".[8]

Griffin, who portrays Ripley, said that the theme of the episode is love, and that it involves Ripley and Brooke realising that they may have a romantic connection. The couple's plot in the episode centres on Ripley continuously messing up their dates, but Brooke seeing an endearing quality in Ripley's efforts to make them work. Griffin was happy to be featured in the episode and praised director Robinson for "created an amazing environment for [them] to work in".[3] Griffin continued by telling Diva that the episode held significance due to being an episode created intentionally to showcase Black talent.[3] Ali, who portrays Celeste, felt honoured to "be part of history" by featuring in the episode.[9] Ali said that the episode would have "a lot of highs, a lot of lows, and a lot of drama" but stated that untilmately, the episode is focused on bringing the Deveraux family together.[9] She hoped that the episode would show a variety of Black characterisation and that they should not be typecast. Like co-star Griffin, Ali also praised Robinson for his involvement with the episode. She explained that due to his acting background, Robinson could sympathise with the cast members and give individual notes to all of them. She liked being able to get his opinion and to see his perspective, as she felt it was helpful and beneficial for the episode.[9]

For the episode, the casting team cast Black cast members who they confirmed would continue to appear in Hollyoaks as series regulars. They also hinted that two Black guest stars would appear in the episode.[10] These characters were later confirmed to be Nate,[11] Olivia,[12] Pearl,[13] DeMarcus[14] and returning character Prince.[15] Thompson-Dwyer voiced his excitement to reprise his role as Malique for the episode since he felt that the episode would raise awareness that he felt is needed on television.[15] The guest stars were later confirmed to be Jamelia and DJ Target.[16] Jamelia appeared in the episode as Sharon Bailey, the daughter of Pearl. She described filming for the episode as "the most fantastic experience" and stated that she felt comfortable on set.[8] Jamelia felt like she had been around family during the filming of the episode and described the process as "joyous".[8]

Patterson (Metro) wrote that the "highly-anticipated" episode did not disappoint and that it played a "pivotal role" in Channel 4's Black to Front initiative.[17] He felt that the episode was ground-breaking and that it provided numerous memorable moments for the viewers of Hollyoaks. He listed Martine saving Felix's life in the lake as one of the "greatest scenes" from the episode.[17] Patterson also gave a nod to Bryan, describing her performance during the episode as incredible.[17] Valentino Vecchietti of Diva also felt that the episode was ground-breaking and a historic moment in British television.[3] Sarah Ellis of Inside Soap billed Hollyoaks as the soap at the forefront of "pushing soap boundaries" due to the episode.[9]

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