Hollyoaks cuts plot after Jamie Bulger mum objects

Hollyoaks cuts plot after Jamie Bulger mum objects
Hollyoaks cuts plot after Jamie Bulger mum objects

Hollyoaks will re-edit some upcoming episodes about two child-killers after the mother of Jamie Bulger objected to them. The scenes involved regular character Loretta (Melissa Walton, pictured) being confronted by a person from her past, who reveals herself to be an accomplice in a child murder after which they were given new identities. But Denise Fergus, the mother of the little boy murdered by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables in 1993, contacted Hollyoaks producers Lime Pictures when she heard about the storyline. According to clickliverpool.com, Denise and her husband Stuart were invited to a private screening of four episodes featuring the storyline. Denise said: "It was constructive meeting and I accept what they told me - that there was never any intention on the part of Hollyoaks to copy or mirror events surrounding James' death. "Having said that, there was no doubt in my mind that the plot carried some of the hallmarks of what happened to that evil pair after they were convicted of murdering James. "The part that I found most disturbing was that there were scenes in which two child killers were seen to be giving each other sympathy." Lime Pictures agreed to delete the scenes. A spokesman said:"This particular storyline was not based on any real-life case and was not intended to recreate actual events. However after conversations with Denise Fergus we have agreed to amend certain aspects of the storyline."

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.