Channel 4 commissions Hollyoaks new online drama in association with Home Office ‘Know Your Limits’ campaign.

Producer: Suzanne Bell and Tim Crompton

Hollyoaks is launching a hard-hitting online drama spin-off to support The Home Office’s ‘Know Your Limits’ safe-drinking campaign. The online drama forms part of a cross-platform campaign which will also use a support website and partnerships with social networks to reinforce the safe-drinking message.

The twelve bespoke online episodes, Hollyoaks: The Morning After the Night Before made by Conker Media with Hollyoaks will be available on E4.com and will follow the exploits of series regulars Josh and Sasha as they leave the Channel 4 series for a four-week ‘post-exam’ holiday. Alongside the online episodes, both characters will have a social networking profile set up on Bebo where they will write regular blogs throughout the trip. The campaign will be promoted extensively online and using on-air trails and a brand new Hollyoaks character, Dave, will be introduced in the online episodes before joining the soap on 1 July.

The exclusive storyline, devised by Channel 4, Conker Media and Hollyoaks, will explore many of the key issues highlighted by the ‘Know Your Limits’ campaign including women in vulnerable situations and men’s propensity to fight as well as examining more general themes of alcohol related crime and anti-social behaviour. The online drama will follow a planned binge-drinking storyline in the soap which will be broadcast on Channel 4 throughout June and July.

Camilla Campbell, Commissioning Editor for drama at Channel 4, said: “Hollyoaks has never shied away from tackling tough subjects and the binge-drinking storyline is another example of this. I am delighted that the Home Office recognises the power of our strong relationship with Hollyoaks viewers and look forward to working with them to create a compelling cross-platform experience.”

Lee Hardman, Head of Conker Media & Director of Digital Media, Lime Pictures, said: "Channel 4 share our vision for multi-layered digital fiction; where the audience can deepen their experience of a story and characters by engaging with a drama across multiple-platforms, in this case online and TV. Hollyoaks: The Morning After the Night Before marks a real turning point in our digital fiction strategy in partnership with Channel 4, the Hollyoaks team and the Home Office."

Louise Brown, Head of Cross-Platform Commissioning, added: “This is an exciting first for Channel 4 cross-platform commissioning that brings together the best of our commissioning, marketing and production partners to create a deeply engaging experience that works across multiple platforms. It also sets-out a model for future commercial partnerships, combining the reach of our most successful programmes with the depth of engagement that new media platforms enable.”

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell, said: “We are constantly looking at new ways of getting our messages about the dangers of binge drinking to the right audience. Working with a programme like Hollyoaks will give us the chance to reach people that we might not normally reach.

“We have already made real progress through our Know Your Limits ad campaign with nearly two thirds of those who have seen it saying it had made them think more carefully about their behaviour.”

The online drama will launch on 6 July while a dedicated website www.e4.com/hollyoaks will be live from 8 June 2009.