Calvin Valentine in February 2011. In May 2006, it was announced former "Dream Team" actor Ricky Whittle would arrive in Hollyoaks as "mysterious" Calvin Valentine. Along with Whittle's casting, it was announced his former "Dream Team" co-star Jamie Lomas would take on the part of "bad boy" Warren Fox. Speaking of Lomas and Whittle's casting, a "Hollyoaks" spokesperson stated: "We're delighted to welcome Ricky and Jamie to the "Hollyoaks" cast. Their characters are set to bring lots of drama to the show!" In 2009, it was announced that Whittle had decided to leave the series after he quit to pursue other projects.
Soap opera early 1970s and in 1972, debuted "Emmerdale Farm" (now "Emmerdale"), based on the successful format of the Irish soap opera. In the late 1970s, "The Riordans" was controversially dropped. The creator of that series would then go on to produce the second of his "Agri-soap" trilogy "Bracken", starring Gabriel Byrne, whose character had appeared in the last few seasons of "The Riordans". Bracken was soon replaced by the third "Agri-soap" "Glenroe", which ran until 2001. As RTÉ wanted a drama series for its Sunday night lineup rather than a soap opera, "On Home Ground" (2001–2002), "The Clinic" (2002–2009) and "RAW"