Tony Hutchinson Tony Hutchinson Tony Hutchinson is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera "Hollyoaks;" he is played by Nick Pickard. Tony first appeared on-screen on 23 October 1995 and is currently the longest serving character in the soap. The character was created by Phil Redmond as one of several main characters for the soap opera. Tony has since been part of various storylines including marriages to Mandy Richardson (Sarah Jayne Dunn), her stepsister Cindy Cunningham (Stephanie Waring) and Diane O'Connor (Alex Fletcher), an affair with married woman Helen Cunningham (Kathryn George), the death of his daughter to sudden
Soap opera attracted criticism as it was broadcast near the fifth anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing. The storyline drew the soap its highest ever audience of 18 million viewers. The revamp was a success and "Emmerdale" grew in popularity. Throughout the 1990s, "Brookside", "Coronation Street", "EastEnders" and "Emmerdale" continued to flourish. Each increased the number of episodes that aired on a weekly basis by at least one, further defining soap operas as the leading genre in British television. Since 2000, new soap operas have continued to be developed. Daytime drama "Doctors" began in March 2000, preceding "Neighbours" on BBC One. In 2002,