Hollyoaks spoilers follow for Wednesday’s (October 15) episode that is now available to view on Channel 4 streaming. The episode in question will air on E4 on at 7pm.
It’s a good week to be a Hollyoaks fan as, not only is the highly-anticipated 30th anniversary (which sees the return of TV institutions Brookside and Hollyoaks Later) just days away but a major fan-favourite has just staged a comeback.
The latest offering of the E4 soap, which can be streamed now, saw the very unexpected return of James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan), who was taken aback when Darren Osborne (Ashley Taylor Dawson) encountered him amid a poker game with Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas).
Talk about a twist!
James, as viewers know, was controversially killed off during the Channel 4 soap’s stunt week last September, going up in flames shortly after reuniting with beau Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) and finding out that he did not have a brain tumour.
Fans were devastated that the character was a casualty of the casting cuts and have long championed for his return – and it seems that after a year they have got their wish!
The events of the latest episode saw Darren attend a poker game with former villager Warren, struggling with his gambling addiction in the wake of finding out a devastating secret that turned his life upside down.
The taxi driver recently uncovered that four-year-old daughter Morgan is biologically Tony Hutchinson’s (Nick Pickard) child.
The revelation that wife Nancy (Jessica Fox) slept with his best mate has absolutely destroyed Darren and, with Tony having asked him to be his best man at the wedding next week, Daz is seriously struggling to keep a lid on what he knows.
But the twists kept on coming as, after losing his cash in the poker game, a drunken Darren set off home – but before he left the venue, he came face-to-face with a ghost from the past in the form of James.
James pretended that he didn’t know who Darren was to begin with. Darren, however, refused to let this go.
‘Where did you go?,’ he exclaimed. ‘Why are you here? You are James Nightingale!’.
Out of options and afraid of Darren causing a scene, James eventually backed down, urging his former neighbour to keep shtum about having seen him.
Darren agreed – but used James predicament to get his hands on some money, with the lawyer pretty much buying his silence.
The question is: is this the last we’ve seen of James? If not, just what will his comeback mean for Ste and his on-off relationship with Rex Gallagher (Jonny Labey), who he cheated on James with?
One thing is for sure: Fans will no doubt be ecstatic to see James back on their screens, given just how popular a character he was.
Actor Gregory told us last year that it wasn’t his decision to leave and that he was a casualty of the cast cuts.
‘‘I certainly didn’t want to be killed off,’ he told us. ‘I went into a meeting where lots of people had lost their jobs. There were certainly some high-profile casualties and I think I was probably one of those. It was just really sad because the Nightingale family was completely decimated and I was the last man standing.’
Fans were hopeful that one day they might see James back on their screens, with speculation rife for much of the past year that the character could still be alive, and – with the 30th anniversary looming – what a perfect time for the show to fulfil their wish.
The long-running soap celebrates the milestone in a big way, with a stunt week, a wedding and the long-awaited return of Brookside just a few of the things on offer.
Hollyoaks streams Mondays to Wednesdays from 6am on Channel 4’s streaming platform, or catch episodes on TV at 7pm on E4.
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