She discovers nephew Charlie has been lured into drug dealing…
Hollyoaks star Jessica Fox has lifted the lid on a horrendous New Year’s Eve for Nancy Osborne, who discovers that nephew Charlie is involved in drug dealing.
The scenes form part of the climax to Hollyoaks’ county lines plot, which began with an ambitious episode set on New Year’s Eve 2019 that contained flash forward images of how the lives of the village’s teens would change twelve months on.
Nancy is aware that drugs have infiltrated the village, but so far believes Charlie isn't involved.
"I think Nancy’s been a bit of a snob with county lines," Jessica tells us.
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"It’s in her community and at her school, but as far as she’s concerned, her children would never be involved because they’ve all been brought up properly."
Danger lurks
But Juliet, Charlie and Ella are all in deep, and drugs boss Victor gives them their orders ahead of New Year celebrations.
Juliet’s more interested in spending time with Peri, and when she steps out of line, Victor threatens to kill one of her loved ones…
Reflecting on a difficult year, Nancy tells Charlie how proud she is of him for keeping out of trouble.
But John Paul sees a different side to the lad when he spots him dealing drugs to Ollie, and puts Nancy in the picture.
A dismissive Nancy sends her former best friend packing, and he then tells all to police officer boyfriend George Kiss.
In a special hour-long episode screened on C4 on 30th December, George orders a raid on the Osborne house, and the horrible truth sinks in for Nancy as drugs are found in Charlie’s games console.
The nightmare intensifies
Her nightmare intensifies when she discovers Charlie and Ella are both missing.
Adds Jessica: "When the police show up and start tearing the house apart, Nancy just panics because she can’t get hold of Charlie.
"She doesn’t know where he is, and there’s clearly something incredibly wrong.
"Her brain’s going a million miles an hour, thinking 'He's under the thumb of a drugs baron, and could end up murdered.'"
A grim discovery
As a body is later found in the village, it seems Victor has stuck to his word.
Could Nancy lose her nephew in the same year that she lost fiance Kyle to suicide?
Adds Jessica: "If Charlie died, that would be her worst nightmare.
"She has looked after him since he was born; he’s her beloved sister’s baby. If something bad happened to him, I don’t know what she would do.
"If she found him safe and well, I think she would want to remove him from the situation and take him out of the village.
"I imagine she’d become even more overbearing than she is already.
"She’d want all her kids under lock and key. She’d want to keep them all safe, and the only way to do that would be if she didn’t let them out of her sight. And that could lead to other problems..."
