Darren Jeffries wondered if young Hollyoaks fans might've been like 'Who's Obb?' (VIDEO)

Sam O.B O'Brien, Darren Jeffries

Darren Jeffries says the response to O.B's return to Hollyoaks after eight years away has been fantastic. He explains why he's back in the village...

Darren Jeffries has been overwhelmed by the response to his and his character O.B's return to Hollyoaks.

He told What's on TV the reaction to Thursday's news of his return has been 'fantastic, really, really lovely'.

"I wasn't sure what the reaction would be," said Darren. "I wondered if the younger viewers might have been like 'Who's Obb?' because I know he's been chatted about a lot, because my nieces and nephews they always watch Hollyoaks and they always tell me, 'Oh Tom's been texting O.B' or 'Tom went to visit O.B' so I know he's always been there in the background. So I think for a lot of viewers they get to find out who he is and I think it's been really lovely for the older viewers, you know, who I guess my character [they] grew up with."

Sam 'O.B' O'Brien left Hollyoaks in 2008 after more than a decade in the Channel 4 soap. O.B departed after his best friend, Max Cunningham (Matt Littler), died of cancer in his arms. So why is he back eight years later?

Darren explained: "The Osbornes have gone missing, nobody really knows why for sure and somebody gets in touch with O.B and asks him to come back and help find Tom [Cunningham], obviously O.B is very close to Tom, so basically I end up playing detective... trying to get to the bottom of the reason behind their disappearance. He might have an ulterior motive, but I'm not going to reveal that.

"Also I get to work with Stephanie [Wareing] who plays Cindy and also Tamara [Wall] who plays Grace, we kind of team up to find out the reason why[they've disappeared]. It's been lovely working with so many different actors."

Watch the interview with Darren Jeffries, above. O.B returns to Hollyoaks the week beginning Monday, November 14

 

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.