So, looking at the forums regularly - most complaints are too much of the teens as a group, not enough family stories, not enough Diane, Tony and older characters. SO I am going to be creating a series of 'storylines' for Hollyoaks that incorporate all of the above.

HO was never a soap about kids until the last 3 yearsand I'm taking it back. First up...


TONY, CINDY & DIANE PLUS EXTENDING THE O'CONNOR FAMILY


When Diane gets Barts car clamped he makes a passing comment about Diane needing to to 'get some and chill out'. After Amy says the same about Tony after he loses his temper with Jono at work. Diane and Tony clash when he fails to renew the paving license for College Coffee but Amy is adamant that they're flirting and sets about making situations for them to meet causing them to fight constantly. Amy and Jono call Tony in for an emergency 'flood' at the coffee shop - Bart steals Sineads phone and texts Diane to pick her up from there. When she walks in to the shop Amy locks the doors behind them. After much squabbling, Diane finds a bag with a bottle of wine in it and a note saying 'Relax! Enjoy x' she believes Tony has set the whole thing up and they fight again - stressed out they open the bottle and end up having a laugh together talking about how dramatic the teens are and thier past loves etc Amy calls Tony after the pair have fallen asleep on the sofa in each others arms. She tells him where she's hidden his set of keys and asks about the leak. He turns around as water begins pouring down on Diane! She screams and leaves. When she gets home Sinead (who has recently discovered what Bart did) asks where she's been. She says 'just...went for some coffee' andsmiles to herself before headin upstairs. Bart bursts out laughing.

Over the next few weeks thier relationship grows much to Sineads dismay. A spanner is thrown into the works when Rob returns and asks the kids to come to Australia with him. Though the kids initially accept they decide to stay when they discover Rob is re-married. When Diane learns that her sister is moving back to the village and wants the house back she begins looking for a smaller place, though it's very soon Tony suggests they move in with him, Sinead is not happy but Finn is perfectly happy to have another man in the house.

When Diane's sister and her family arrive in the village Tony is stunned to realise that she is related to The King family. Infamous amongst Hollyoaks old-timers Greg, her 31 year old nephew was a notorious tear-away in his teen years - Cindys first love, Darrens high school bully and Tonys nightmare 'Got-it-taped' colleague. Her sister and brother-in-law met through thier mutual school friendship of Myra McQueen - Diane is astounded andappauled to discover that this is "THE Myra". When Holly Hutchinson returns from boarding school Sinead becomes sick of her presence around Tony's flat but things get much worse when Gregs little sister Maya goes missing. In a week of special episodes focused on the King family we discover that Maya has commited suicide - we see through a series of flashbacks that Holly has spent weeks targetting Maya (who has been referenced butnot seen until this week) to get at Kaya. Not realising that Maya already suffers from an anxiety disorder she taunts her to the point that that she jumps of the bridge.

The week begins with Michaela and Myra / Jack and a guilty looking Tom / Cindy and Holly watching a witness appeal from the Kingfamily about Mayas dissapearance. Cody, thier other son returns from his travels and is reunited with childhood best-friend Michaela.

During this same week we see Cindy and Greg becoming closer and eventually sleeping together. There's a clear bond between them. After sleeping together they're walking through the village and see Sinead and Kaya attacking Holly. Tom, who witnessed the jump tells Finn what happened. Kaya reveals what Holly has done - tearing Cindy and Greg apart. This is the start of ongoing struggles between Cindy, Holly & Tony / The O'Connors & Kings.

Things will continue to be complicated between the families as Greg tries to fight his feelings for Cindy for his family and Cindy is cracking under the pressure of Holly's teen rebellion causing Cindy to turn to Tony for help and driving Diane closer to her brother-in-law as her sister becomes unstable and unreachable in her grief.

Eventually, Holly and Cindy will enter family therapy sessions and we'll get a real insight into Cindys mind aswell as events thatoccured whhilst she was out of the show from 2002-2008. We'll see how that effected Holly and Holly and Cindy will make thier peace with each other. Holly will eventually be redeemed as a character and after months a social pariah will find comfort in religion (she wont become 'god squad' but she will have an awakening of sorts thanks to a rather sweet relationship with Carmel).

The arrival of Gregs and co's half sister Ella (at Christmas) will shake things up even more as she becomes Brendans side-kick. This girl makes Claire Cunningham look like Carmel McQueen.

NEXT...
The McQueens / Savages & How To Solve A Problem Like Maddie.

Amazing:


Okay, everyone after seeing an increasing number of threads and complaints I decided to create a campaign on Twitter in order show how much we want Diane and other "older" characters to be used in the show. We can get our opinions across and for more and more people to see and maybe the show's series producer, Emma Smithwick. So, if you have twitter follow: @TeamDianeorama

The name of the account comes from Diane-o-rama, which is Diane and Drama together and Alex Fletcher said it this morning when I was tweeting her, she's brilliant!

So if you could follow @TeamDianeorama and tell your friends and followers! WOO!

Here is the link to the twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TeamDianeorama

So happy she retweeted this to gemhayden! I'm (ThatsLewToYou) on twitter who sent this to her.

With Michaela moving into Mitzee's, Mercedes off on one of her vanishing acts, Liberty staying at halls and Carmel back at work Myra is feeling a bit lonely. Dirk proposes that, with the nest being somewhat empty he and Dodger move in full-time. Bart loves the change of having a 'mans' house with Theresa and Carmel being the only girls.

Initially the situation is Myras nightmare and she begins crowding Michaela, Jacqui and even Liberty at thier homes. When her old friends Mary and Alan King return to the village (see Tony, Diane & Extending The O'Connors) Myra begins having regrets about her past. When Esther finds Myra alone in the park looking upset she tells her that she goes there to think about things and opens up about her Dad. Esther suggests that Myra talk to Frankie as they have more in common than you would think (Being obviously Craig and John Paul and giving up thier first born sons at 14). Esther takes Myra back to the Dog and whilst Frankie is not amused the grins and bares it. Eventually though they find a softer ground and a bond if formed after years of distrust between the two.

Over the coming months Frankie begins to observe that Dirk treats Myra as his girlfriend - but Myra believes thier relationship to be purely physical, the idea of being a girlfriend is lost on Myra. When she meets a man in The Dog both Liberty and Michaela corner her about her treatment of Dirk. Drunk and confused she confronts Dirk who laughs at her before pointing out that he hasn't stayed in the bunk bed once since he moved in whether they've had sex or not. He states "You're my girl aint ya, least thats what I thought unless I've been a complete numpty. Makes sense though doesn't it - you and me. Two peas and all that".

From there Myra announces her relationship to the kids (who all assumed they were already together) she finds it hard adapting to being in a relationship and is beyond stunned when she finds a ring. Not wanting to tell her that the ring was hismothers and intended for when Liberty gets married, he decides 'Why not?'. Will Myra finally make it down the alter?

Outside of romance, Myra will remind us that she is loyal as the day is long and when her friends, TheKings, face trauma she will fight thier corner and give her all to support them.

NEXT....The McQueens p.2 Making Michaela 3D, Keeping Bart in the family.