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
Damon and Debbie storylines, executive producer Phil Redmond suggests, Damon's departure would have to be "something a bit special". The producers developed the idea of a 'soap bubble', a term which Redmond credits to Channel 4 executive David Rose, so that the multi-stranded narrative of "Brookside" would continue during the standard episodes, with two characters co-existing in a separate production. "Damon and Debbie" is generally recognised as the first instance of a UK soap opera expanding its narrative world in such a way. According to Annie Leask of "The Sunday Mirror", the spin-off was a result of the characters' popularity with the viewing