Suzanne Ashworth
Encyclopedia
Suzanne Ashworth is a fictional character
from the British Channel 4
soap opera
Hollyoaks
, played by Suzanne Hall
. She made her first on-screen appearance on 3 October 2005. Suzanne was introduced by series producer David Hanson
as part of the Ashworth family
. In February 2010, Suzanne was axed from the serial by new series producer Paul Marquess
. Suzanne made her final appearance on 14 July 2010. Marquess stated in an interview that he was a big fan of Hall's work in the serial. In late 2010 it was revealed that Hall had returned to filming and Suzanne would be pregnant with twins. Suzanne's storylines have included trying to keep her family together, fathering a son secretly with another man, other affairs and a feud with Kathy Barnes
. Suzanne returned to Hollyoaks on 14 January 2011 for a period of 2 months.
and that Paul Marquess had taken over the role. It was soon revealed that Marquess planned to give Hollyoaks a "shake up", changing the productions team and beginning a cast cull by axing the entire remaining Ashworth family apart from Rhys Ashworth
(Andrew Moss
). The move was part of his reinvention of the serial and clearing out the "deadwood". Marquess later revealed he axed the Ashworths because he believed The Dog should have a lively family at the heart of it, that the Ashworths had become grim because of their hard hitting storyline, but added it was a shame because he is a "huge fan of Hall's work on Hollyoaks". In December 2010, it was confirmed that Suzanne would return to Hollyoaks in 2011.
's (Emma Rigby
) anorexia battle, of the filming Hall states: "The anorexia scenes with Hannah were so sad. We were crying for hours at a time and the tears were real. I think moreso for me because I have a daughter who is the same age."
In 2011 Suzanne returns and her storyline sees her pregnant with twins. Speaking Suzanne's return Ashley Taylor Dawson
who plays Suzanne's old lover Darren Osborne
stated: "she says, 'It's twins and they're yours'. At first, he doesn't believe her and he thinks it's a wind-up. The dates match up. It's a huge shock. But when she threatens to go back to Spain, he realises it's not what he wants and he stops her. He decides to man up and be a dad to his kids."
) were involved in a car crash after a joy ride she treated Amy Barnes
(Ashley Slanina-Davies
) and found out she was pregnant. She told Amy to tell one of her parents about the baby, but Amy was reluctant. When Amy started seeing her son Josh she warned her away from him, because she was worried Josh wouldn't be able to handle having to look after someone else's child.
It has recently been revealed with the stay of her brother-in-law, Noel Ashworth, that she has had an affair with him, and that in fact, Noel is her eldest son Rhys' father, not her husband, Neville. When the family find this out, they are shocked, and Hannah and Josh start to treat her like a stranger. Matters have changed now and her children have forgiven her for the deceit.
After returning from a holiday in France, Suzanne began to worry about Hannah and her friendship with Melissa Hurst. Suzanne thinks that Hannah is under the influence of drugs from Melissa because she doesn't know that Hannah is actually suffering from anorexia nervosa, and bans Melissa Hurst (Carla Chases
) from the house. When Hannah accuses Gilly of sexually abusing her, Suzanne believes her at first, but beings to grow suspicious of her story when Gilly tries to explain what really is happening. Suzanne finally realised the truth about Hannah's anorexia when she broke into Hannah's room and found her hidden food, and her food diary. Suzanne felt guilty for not figuring it out quicker and tries to comfort an unwilling Hannah.
When Hannah helps Melissa escape from hospital, it all goes wrong and things do not go quite as planned. They plan to run away together, miles from home. But when they go to the Ashworth's to retrieve Hannah's passport, they get caught out by a shocked Josh. Hannah tells Josh not to tell Suzanne, but he called for Suzanne (his mother) obviously due to the fact he was unsure what to do in the situation. When he calls Suzanne, she tries to stop them both from running away. Although they nearly got away with it, Melissa suddenly has an unexpected heart attack and collapses on the floor. At this scene, the family's sudden freeze makes a dramatic scene. Suzanne tries to resuscitate Melissa, but she was too late. She had already died. The scene was extremely moving, and shocked fans of Hollyoaks all across the UK. It was quite upsetting, as Suzanne and Hannah glared at the body of Melissa whilst Hannah cried.
After Melissa's death, Suzanne was determined to see Hannah recover from her illness. When Hannah faints one day in her room, whilst Sarah Barnes
(Loui Batley
) and John Paul McQueen
(James Sutton
) are having an argument about Craig Dean
(Guy Burnett), Suzanne searches Hannah's room to find out where she has been hiding her food. She discovers a pile of rotting food under a floorboard in Hannah's room and feels helpless that she is unable to help her daughter and decides that Hannah must be admitted to hospital to receive professional help to recover from her illness, so she is sectioned.
In late May 2009, Suzanne, Neville, Rhys and Josh assumed that Hannah had taken a relapse over her eating disorder. Ash Roy (Junade Khan
), who was jealous after Hannah dumped him for Justin Burton
(Chris Fountain
), planted food in Hannah's room to make it look like she was hiding food and had in fact had a relapse, although he admitted to Hannah he had done it so her family would think Justin is not good for her and is causing the 'relapse'. The Ashworths attempted to stop Hannah seeing Justin. Hannah got Ash to come to her house and admit to Suzanne and Nev that he had put the food in the room, however he told them he never did it and he was worried for Hannah's mental well-being. After Justin left Hollyoaks village, Hannah moved out of The Dog and moved in with Nancy Hayton
(Jessica Fox
), knowing she could not live with her family who thought she was ill and did not believe her. However things went from bad to worse, when the whole family discovers that Hannah had drunkenly married Darren. Suzanne tries to push Hannah into getting an annulment. However, this pushes her more towards Darren and the pair stay married. Nev and Suzanne's teenage godson Duncan Button
(Dean Aspen
) comes to stay with her the Ashworths. Hannah relapses and ends up back in hospital. She recovers and later leaves the village on her own with the Ashworths' support.
Suzanne is horrified when Josh is involved in a car crash then arrested for drink driving. She is angry with her son thinking he should know better even though he protests his innocence (Rhys put alcohol in Josh's drink). Suzanne and Neville do not believe him. When Josh's life deteriorates, Suzanne begins to support her son although this causes arguments with Neville who has disowned him. Whilst having her birthday dinner, Suzanne is shocked in disbelief that Neville reports Josh to the police, after Josh punches him. Josh is sent to prison for a few weeks for a second drink driving offense.
At Calvin
(Ricky Whittle
) and Carmel Valentine's (Gemma Merna
) wedding Suzanne sleeps with Darren. Since the wedding, Suzanne has had an ongoing affair with Darren, until Rhys catches them for the last time outside Darren's flat. Rhys tells Neville who then kicks Suzanne out of The Dog. She then moved in with Darren, temporarily, alongside Cindy and Holly. Neville forgives Suzanne and they reconcile and move to Spain.
Suzanne returns in January and meets Nancy and Darren in the pub. She tells them that Nev is divorcing her because she is pregnant with Darren's twins. A few days later, Suzanne gives birth to twins Jack and Francine during the opening of Tony Hutchinson
's (Nick Pickard
) spa. Her and the twins then move in with Darren. Suzanne later gets roped into a failed money-making scheme by Darren and Duncan Button
(Dean Aspen). Cindy Longford (Stephanie Waring
) returns and offers Suzanne £100,000 to go back to Spain so that she can have Darren to herself. Suzanne offers to go if she doubles the money, which she does, and Suzanne leaves for Spain, taking Francine (Lexi) and Jack (Reuben) with her leaving Darren heartbroken.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the British Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
, played by Suzanne Hall
Suzanne Hall
Suzanne Hall .Before attending her first high school, Worden Sports College in Leyland, she went to Hayward School in Bolton and, at that time lived in Great Lever, but currently lives in Smithills...
. She made her first on-screen appearance on 3 October 2005. Suzanne was introduced by series producer David Hanson
David Hanson (producer)
David Hanson is an English television producer well-known for his production work on Coronation Street from September 1998 to October 1999, and the Liverpool based soap Hollyoaks...
as part of the Ashworth family
Ashworth family
The Ashworth family are a fictional family in the long-running Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks. Introduced to the show in 2005, The family derives from Manchester and moved to Hollyoaks village in 2005...
. In February 2010, Suzanne was axed from the serial by new series producer Paul Marquess
Paul Marquess
Paul Marquess is a Northern Irish-born British television producer.-Television career:His credits include Brookside, The Bill and Family Affairs. He also originated the idea for the series Footballers' Wives...
. Suzanne made her final appearance on 14 July 2010. Marquess stated in an interview that he was a big fan of Hall's work in the serial. In late 2010 it was revealed that Hall had returned to filming and Suzanne would be pregnant with twins. Suzanne's storylines have included trying to keep her family together, fathering a son secretly with another man, other affairs and a feud with Kathy Barnes
Kathy Barnes
Katherine "Kathy" Barnes is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Sarah Jane Buckley. Kathy arrived in 2005 and in October 2007, it was announced that the character had been written out of the show...
. Suzanne returned to Hollyoaks on 14 January 2011 for a period of 2 months.
Casting
Suzanne was created in 2005 as part of the Ashworth family by David Hanson, actress Suzanne Hall was cast into the role. In early 2010, it was announced that Allan had stepped down from the position of executive producerExecutive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
and that Paul Marquess had taken over the role. It was soon revealed that Marquess planned to give Hollyoaks a "shake up", changing the productions team and beginning a cast cull by axing the entire remaining Ashworth family apart from Rhys Ashworth
Rhys Ashworth
Rhys Lesley Ashworth is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Andrew Moss. He made his first on-screen appearance on 4 October 2005.-Character creation and casting:...
(Andrew Moss
Andrew Moss
Andrew "Andy" Moss is an English television actor. He is currently best known for playing Rhys Ashworth in the Channel 4 teenage soap opera Hollyoaks since 2005.-TV credits:...
). The move was part of his reinvention of the serial and clearing out the "deadwood". Marquess later revealed he axed the Ashworths because he believed The Dog should have a lively family at the heart of it, that the Ashworths had become grim because of their hard hitting storyline, but added it was a shame because he is a "huge fan of Hall's work on Hollyoaks". In December 2010, it was confirmed that Suzanne would return to Hollyoaks in 2011.
Character development
Suzanne has been described as always trying to hold her family together. In 2007 Hall stated that Suzanne was unhappy adding: "I have to look really miserable all the time at the moment. I hope soon she can have some happiness in her life, maybe even have an affair." She also added that Suzanne is "downtrodden and bored". Suzanne has been seen struggling to cope with daughter Hannah AshworthHannah Ashworth
Hannah Rose Ashworth is a fictional character from long-running Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks, played by Emma Rigby. Hannah first appeared on-screen from October 3, 2005 until her exit on February 12, 2010....
's (Emma Rigby
Emma Rigby
Emma Catherine Rigby , is an English actress, best known for her role in Hollyoaks as Hannah Ashworth.-Career:In February 2010 Emma Completed, with International Fashion Photographer Rory Lewis.-Television:...
) anorexia battle, of the filming Hall states: "The anorexia scenes with Hannah were so sad. We were crying for hours at a time and the tears were real. I think moreso for me because I have a daughter who is the same age."
In 2011 Suzanne returns and her storyline sees her pregnant with twins. Speaking Suzanne's return Ashley Taylor Dawson
Ashley Taylor Dawson
Ashley Taylor Dawson is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Darren Osborne in the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, in which he is one of the longest serving cast members and as being a member of UK pop band allSTARS*.-Personal life:Ashley Dawson was born Wilmslow,...
who plays Suzanne's old lover Darren Osborne
Darren Osborne
Darren Osborne is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Darren was introduced by executive producer Phil Redmond as part of the Osborne family. Darren made his first on-screen appearance on 18 November 1996 and was initially played by Adam Booth, before the Booth...
stated: "she says, 'It's twins and they're yours'. At first, he doesn't believe her and he thinks it's a wind-up. The dates match up. It's a huge shock. But when she threatens to go back to Spain, he realises it's not what he wants and he stops her. He decides to man up and be a dad to his kids."
2005–2011
After her son Josh and nephew, Fletch (Sam DarbyshireSam Darbyshire
Sam Darbyshire is a television actor best known for his role as Jamie "Fletch" Fletcher on the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. He has, however, also appeared in several advertisements and had a small role in Coronation Street. He belongs to a local youth theatre group in Wigan, Willpower Youth...
) were involved in a car crash after a joy ride she treated Amy Barnes
Amy Barnes
Amy Barnes is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ashley Slanina-Davies. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 14 November 2005. Amy was created by executive producer David Hanson and Slanina-Davies was offered the role whilst looking for...
(Ashley Slanina-Davies
Ashley Slanina-Davies
Ashley Slanina-Davies is an English actress born in Standish, near Wigan, who is notable for playing the role of Amy Barnes on Channel 4's teen soap, Hollyoaks...
) and found out she was pregnant. She told Amy to tell one of her parents about the baby, but Amy was reluctant. When Amy started seeing her son Josh she warned her away from him, because she was worried Josh wouldn't be able to handle having to look after someone else's child.
It has recently been revealed with the stay of her brother-in-law, Noel Ashworth, that she has had an affair with him, and that in fact, Noel is her eldest son Rhys' father, not her husband, Neville. When the family find this out, they are shocked, and Hannah and Josh start to treat her like a stranger. Matters have changed now and her children have forgiven her for the deceit.
After returning from a holiday in France, Suzanne began to worry about Hannah and her friendship with Melissa Hurst. Suzanne thinks that Hannah is under the influence of drugs from Melissa because she doesn't know that Hannah is actually suffering from anorexia nervosa, and bans Melissa Hurst (Carla Chases
Carla Chases
Carla Chases Carla Chases Carla Chases (born in Buckinghamshire, England, is an English actress, best known for playing anorexic model Melissa Hurst in the Channel 4 teen soap opera Hollyoaks...
) from the house. When Hannah accuses Gilly of sexually abusing her, Suzanne believes her at first, but beings to grow suspicious of her story when Gilly tries to explain what really is happening. Suzanne finally realised the truth about Hannah's anorexia when she broke into Hannah's room and found her hidden food, and her food diary. Suzanne felt guilty for not figuring it out quicker and tries to comfort an unwilling Hannah.
When Hannah helps Melissa escape from hospital, it all goes wrong and things do not go quite as planned. They plan to run away together, miles from home. But when they go to the Ashworth's to retrieve Hannah's passport, they get caught out by a shocked Josh. Hannah tells Josh not to tell Suzanne, but he called for Suzanne (his mother) obviously due to the fact he was unsure what to do in the situation. When he calls Suzanne, she tries to stop them both from running away. Although they nearly got away with it, Melissa suddenly has an unexpected heart attack and collapses on the floor. At this scene, the family's sudden freeze makes a dramatic scene. Suzanne tries to resuscitate Melissa, but she was too late. She had already died. The scene was extremely moving, and shocked fans of Hollyoaks all across the UK. It was quite upsetting, as Suzanne and Hannah glared at the body of Melissa whilst Hannah cried.
After Melissa's death, Suzanne was determined to see Hannah recover from her illness. When Hannah faints one day in her room, whilst Sarah Barnes
Sarah Barnes
Sarah Barnes is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Loui Batley. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 10 October 2005. Sarah was created by executive producer David Hanson as part of the Barnes family. In 2009 Batley quit the serial in...
(Loui Batley
Loui Batley
Louie Anne Batley is an English actress, singer and dancer best known for her role in Hollyoaks as Sarah Barnes...
) and John Paul McQueen
John Paul McQueen
John Paul McQueen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by James Sutton. The character debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 6 September 2006; his storylines have significantly revolved around his sexuality, evolving from the initial denial of his...
(James Sutton
James Sutton (actor)
James Sutton is an English television actor, best known for playing the parts of John Paul McQueen in the British Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks and Ryan Lamb in the ITV soap Emmerdale.-Personal life:...
) are having an argument about Craig Dean
Craig Dean
Craig Dean is a fictional character from the long-running British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Guy Burnet. Burnet has won many of Britain's most prestigious acting awards for this role...
(Guy Burnett), Suzanne searches Hannah's room to find out where she has been hiding her food. She discovers a pile of rotting food under a floorboard in Hannah's room and feels helpless that she is unable to help her daughter and decides that Hannah must be admitted to hospital to receive professional help to recover from her illness, so she is sectioned.
In late May 2009, Suzanne, Neville, Rhys and Josh assumed that Hannah had taken a relapse over her eating disorder. Ash Roy (Junade Khan
Junade Khan
Junade Khan is an English television actor best known for playing Ash Roy in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Khan left Hollyoaks in September 2008 in a big storyline involving all of his onscreen family....
), who was jealous after Hannah dumped him for Justin Burton
Justin Burton
Justin Burton is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Chris Fountain. The character arrived in 2003 and departed on 3 June 2009. Justin arrived in a family of six, however by September 2006, his entire family had left the show...
(Chris Fountain
Chris Fountain
Christopher Ryan Fountain is an English actor best known for his role as Justin Burton on the Channel 4 teen soap Hollyoaks, a role he played from 2003 until his departure in June 2009. He is also now known for playing Tommy Duckworth in Coronation Street. He played the role of PC Paul Tait in...
), planted food in Hannah's room to make it look like she was hiding food and had in fact had a relapse, although he admitted to Hannah he had done it so her family would think Justin is not good for her and is causing the 'relapse'. The Ashworths attempted to stop Hannah seeing Justin. Hannah got Ash to come to her house and admit to Suzanne and Nev that he had put the food in the room, however he told them he never did it and he was worried for Hannah's mental well-being. After Justin left Hollyoaks village, Hannah moved out of The Dog and moved in with Nancy Hayton
Nancy Hayton
Nancy Anne Hayton is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jessica Fox. The character first appeared on 6 July 2005. Since the character's inception she has been involved in many notable storylines such as a three-way open relationship, drug taking,...
(Jessica Fox
Jessica Fox
Jessica Fox is an English actress. She is most notable for playing young witch Enid Nightshade in the CITV show The Worst Witch, whom she began playing in the late 1990s...
), knowing she could not live with her family who thought she was ill and did not believe her. However things went from bad to worse, when the whole family discovers that Hannah had drunkenly married Darren. Suzanne tries to push Hannah into getting an annulment. However, this pushes her more towards Darren and the pair stay married. Nev and Suzanne's teenage godson Duncan Button
Duncan Button
Duncan Button is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Dean Aspen. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 2 November 2009. Duncan was originally credited as Duncan Smith until he was credited with Button...
(Dean Aspen
Dean Aspen (actor)
Dean Aspen is an English actor known for playing teenager Duncan Button in Hollyoaks.His first screen acting role was in 2008 as Scaly Dave in The Revenge Files of Alistair Fury and then in November 2009 he began playing the role of Duncan in Hollyoaks...
) comes to stay with her the Ashworths. Hannah relapses and ends up back in hospital. She recovers and later leaves the village on her own with the Ashworths' support.
Suzanne is horrified when Josh is involved in a car crash then arrested for drink driving. She is angry with her son thinking he should know better even though he protests his innocence (Rhys put alcohol in Josh's drink). Suzanne and Neville do not believe him. When Josh's life deteriorates, Suzanne begins to support her son although this causes arguments with Neville who has disowned him. Whilst having her birthday dinner, Suzanne is shocked in disbelief that Neville reports Josh to the police, after Josh punches him. Josh is sent to prison for a few weeks for a second drink driving offense.
At Calvin
Calvin Valentine
Calvin Valentine is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ricky Whittle. He arrived in July 2006 as a police officer with his mother and younger siblings and made his final appearance on 21 May 2010 after he was murdered by Theresa McQueen. Whittle...
(Ricky Whittle
Ricky Whittle
Ricky Whittle is a British actor from Oldham, Greater Manchester.-Biography:The son of former Royal Air Force serviceman Harry Whittle, Whittle grew up travelling with his father's career around the world, with a home base at Burghfield Common near Reading, Berkshire.A keen sportsman, Whittle...
) and Carmel Valentine's (Gemma Merna
Gemma Merna
Gemma Ann Merna is an English actress. She is known for playing Carmel Valentine in Hollyoaks.-Awards:...
) wedding Suzanne sleeps with Darren. Since the wedding, Suzanne has had an ongoing affair with Darren, until Rhys catches them for the last time outside Darren's flat. Rhys tells Neville who then kicks Suzanne out of The Dog. She then moved in with Darren, temporarily, alongside Cindy and Holly. Neville forgives Suzanne and they reconcile and move to Spain.
Suzanne returns in January and meets Nancy and Darren in the pub. She tells them that Nev is divorcing her because she is pregnant with Darren's twins. A few days later, Suzanne gives birth to twins Jack and Francine during the opening of Tony Hutchinson
Tony Hutchinson
Anthony "Tony" Hutchinson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nick Pickard. Tony first appeared on-screen on 23 October 1995, the first episode of the series, and is the only original character still on the show to the present day...
's (Nick Pickard
Nick Pickard
Nicholas "Nick" Pickard is an English actor, best known for his role as Tony Hutchinson on soap opera Hollyoaks.He is currently the longest serving cast member and appeared in the very first episode in 1995...
) spa. Her and the twins then move in with Darren. Suzanne later gets roped into a failed money-making scheme by Darren and Duncan Button
Duncan Button
Duncan Button is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Dean Aspen. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 2 November 2009. Duncan was originally credited as Duncan Smith until he was credited with Button...
(Dean Aspen). Cindy Longford (Stephanie Waring
Stephanie Waring
Stephanie Waring Stephanie Waring Stephanie Waring (born 19 February 1978; Urmston, Greater Manchester, England is an English actress, best known for portraying Cindy Cunningham in the early evening soap opera Hollyoaks.-Personal life:...
) returns and offers Suzanne £100,000 to go back to Spain so that she can have Darren to herself. Suzanne offers to go if she doubles the money, which she does, and Suzanne leaves for Spain, taking Francine (Lexi) and Jack (Reuben) with her leaving Darren heartbroken.
External links
- Character profile on the E4 website