James Atherton: Emmett's exit will alter Hollyoaks

Hollyoaks star James Atherton has said that Emmett Scanlan's departure from the soap will shake things up - in a good way. The Irish actor, who plays bad boy Brendan Brady, recently revealed he was leaving the soap at the end of this month - with James, who plays Will Savage, admitting his co-star would be missed. "Emmett's a brilliant actor and he's been great to have on the show," James said. "I share a dressing room with him and he's brilliant craic as well. I think the cast will miss him, absolutely, he's such a huge character. "It'll be great at the same time. Him leaving will allow other storylines to come through, other families and that kind of thing. The Savages I think will have quite a lot to do. The show will still be as strong but he will be hugely missed, without a doubt." James - who is dating co-star Jorgie Porter, aka Theresa McQueen - added that Emmett wasn't his only good pal on the Hollyoaks set. "I'm very good friends with Tom Scurr who plays Barney Harper-McBride," he revealed, "and I live with Danny (Mac) who plays my brother Dodger. "We came in at the same time so those guys, I get on really well with them. The whole cast gets on really well, we're all a similar age."

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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.