Nicola Stapleton joins Hollyoaks Later

Former EastEnders actress Nicola Stapleton is joining Hollyoaks Later. The star - who played conniving Mandy in the BBC1 soap between 1992 and 1994 - will appear in the new run of the late-night spin-off in September. The official Hollyoaks website is keeping the exact plot a closely-guarded secret, but announced that the actress, who also recently appeared in Emmerdale as Eli Dingle's partner-in-crime Danielle Hutch, will play Savannah, Cindy's friend from Spain. Nicola has also appeared in Bad Girls, Holby City, Casualty and The Bill in recent years. Click here to watch whatsontv.co.uk's new weekly soaps video preview, the Soap Scoop

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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.