Hollyoaks is a British television soap opera that was first broadcast on 23 October 1995. The following is a list of characters that appeared in the serial in 2016, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood. The first character to be introduced was James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan), a mysterious solicitor who begins manipulating Cindy Cunningham (Stephanie Waring) and is later revealed to be the eldest Nightingale sibling, while February saw the arrival of Marnie Nightingale (Lysette Anthony), the Nightingale family matriarch. Liam Donovan (Maxim Baldry), Jesse Donovan (Luke Jerdy), and Adam Donovan (Jimmy Essex), the half-brothers of Grace Black (Tamara Wall) were introduced in March and April, with Lisa Loveday (Rachel Adedeji), the missing daughter of Simone Loveday (Jacqueline Boatswain) and Louis Loveday (Karl Collins), making her first appearance in late April.
D.S. Armstrong (Andrew Hayden-Smith), a police officer, debuted in June. August saw the first appearance of Maria (Fernanda Diniz), the former wife of Diego Salvador Martinez Hernandez De La Cruz (Juan Pablo Yepez), Ryan Knight (Duncan James), the fiancée of Amy Barnes (Ashley Slanina-Davies), and Courtney Campbell (Amy Conachan), the cousin of Cameron Campbell (Cameron Moore). Tracey Donovan (Lisa Maxwell), the mother of Grace, Liam, Jesse and Adam, joined the recurring cast in September, while Juanita Salvador Martinez Hernandez De La Cruz (Jacey Sallés), the mother of Diego, and Billy Brodie (Clive Russell), the estranged brother of Jack Osborne (Jimmy McKenna), were introduced for guest appearances.
Nick Savage, the nephew of Dirk Savage (David Kennedy), and Eva Falco (Kerry Bennett), the estranged niece of Jack, made their first appearances as regular characters in September. The McQueen family were expanded in November with the arrivals of Goldie McQueen (Chelsee Healey), Prince McQueen (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) and Hunter McQueen (Theo Graham). Marnie's mother Tabitha Maxwell-Brown (Linda Gray) was introduced in November, while Dr. Barton (Amanda Muggleton), a doctor treating Nancy Osborne (Jessica Fox), appeared in December.
James Nightingale
James Nightingale, played by Gregory Finnegan, made his first screen appearance on 12 January 2016. He is the eldest son of Mac (David Easter) and Marnie Nightingale (Lysette Anthony). He is an older brother to Nathan (Jared Garfield), Ellie (Sophie Porley), and Alfie Nightingale (Richard Linnell).
The character and Finnegan's casting was announced on 24 December 2015. James works as a solicitor and a Hollyoaks publicist said that James would cause "terrible trouble locally" upon arriving in the show and specifically target established character Cindy Savage (Stephanie Waring). Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) and Harry Thompson (Parry Glasspool) will be confused as to why he spends time with Cindy as they believe that James is gay, which was later confirmed to be true. Waring described James as being "very alluring and dashing, so of course Cindy is immediately taken in by his knight-in-shining-armour routine."
Marnie Nightingale
Marnie Nightingale, played by Lysette Anthony, made her first on-screen appearance on 1 February 2016. The character and casting was announced on 24 January 2016. She is the ex-wife of Mac Nightingale (David Easter) and the biological mother of Nathan Nightingale (Jared Garfield), Ellie Nightingale (Sophie Porley) and James Nightingale (Gregory Finnegan), and the adoptive mother of Mac's biological son, Alfie Nightingale (Richard Linnell). It has been said that Marnie will waste no time in causing "chaos for Mac" and was billed as "a complex, intriguing and hilarious matriarch with a big broken heart" and that she can start a fight in an empty room. Marnie arrives in the village to help her son, James, take down Mac for events that happened in the past by using Cindy Savage (Stephanie Waring) against him, however she is unaware that Cindy is Alfie biological mother and the reason for her divorce from Mac. A reporter writing for the Inside Soap Yearbook described Marnie's entrance as "the classiest" of 2016, before noting that she arrived wearing "the biggest hat ever seen in soap!" In August 2017, Anthony was longlisted for "Best Bad Girl" at the Inside Soap Awards, while she and Nicole Barber-Lane (Myra McQueen) were longlisted for "Best Partnership". While Anthony was not shortlisted for "Best Bad Girl", she and Barber-Lane made the shortlist for "Best Partnership". On 6 November 2017, Anthony and Barber-Lane won the "Best Partnership" accolade. In 2018, Anthony was longlisted for Funniest Female at Inside Soap Awards, and a year later received a nomination for Best Partnership with Niamh Blackshaw, who portrays the role of Juliet Nightingale. Anthony left the show on 13 January 2022 after almost six years, when Marnie was killed-off in an explosion which occurred at her patisserie café, leading to her dying from a hidden brain haemorrhage. Anthony's exit was not announced prior to broadcast.
Marnie arrives in Hollyoaks revealing that she has been working with her son, James, with the inadvertent help of Cindy, to drain her ex-husband, Mac, of his finances as he was awarded everything by the courts when they divorced. She threatens to take away their daughter, Ellie, if he does not comply. Mac then gives her a large amount of money to keep her away from Ellie. Before she and James leave Hollyoaks, her other son, Nathan, accidentally reveals to her that Alfie is the biological son of Mac and Cindy. Marnie is furious and goes to The Dog in the Pond public house where she reveals to everybody that Alfie is Mac and Cindy's son. Marnie then attempts to persuade Diane Hutchinson (Alex Fletcher) and Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) to sell The Hutch to her in an attempt to get closer to her children. However, their several attempts fail. Marnie, with the help of James, steal Diane's laptop to see whether if the restaurant is close to bankruptcy. It is then revealed that the restaurant could be bankrupt by Easter, so she and James then return to the restaurant in a bid to persuade Diane and Tony into selling the restaurant. However, Diane's nephew Scott Drinkwell (Ross Adams) catches them with the laptop as they return it. Marnie later learns that Tony earned money from betting with Darren Osborne (Ashley Taylor Dawson). She later informs Diane of this, leaving her upset. Marnie later helps Ellie open up a beauty parlour. At first, Ellie's beauty parlour is unsuccessful. However, when Ellie helps Freddie Roscoe (Charlie Clapham) and Tegan Lomax (Jessica Ellis) raise money for charity, her business starts to become a success.
After informing Alfie's family, Cindy then tells Marnie that Alfie's cancer had returned. This leaves Marnie shocked and upset. Marnie then tells Cindy that she had tried to be a good mother to Alfie, but she couldn't love him as much as she loved Nathan, James and Ellie. Marnie, Cindy and Neeta then put aside their differences so that they can all be there for Alfie. After learning about Rachel's death, Marnie becomes devastated. She later meets Freddie at The Loft. The pair talk and they then both go back to Freddie's house, where they have sex. The next day, Marnie learns that Freddie is going on a date with Ellie. She pretends that she and Freddie haven't met before and she introduces herself as Ellie's mother, leaving Freddie horrified. Marnie follows Ellie and Freddie as they go on a date at The Loft. While Ellie leaves, Marnie tells Freddie if she doesn't back away from her daughter, then she will tell her everything that happened between them. The next day, Freddie breaks up with Ellie, leaving her devastated. However, Ellie and Freddie later get back together again, much to Marnie's dismay. Since they got back together, Marnie has been constantly threatening Freddie to leave Ellie alone, but Freddie refuses. Freddie even blackmails her at one point by using a picture of Marnie kissing him. He said if she tries to break them up, he will show both Ellie and Mac the picture and they will never forgive her for what she did. Marnie and James continue their plan into getting The Hutch. Some of their plans have include having Scott to distil alcoholic drinks, using Myra McQueen (Nicole Barber-Lane) to bankrupt Tony as she wants £8,000 from Tony as compensation for having a neck injury caused by Scott and manipulating Scott into burning The Hutch down. Marnie and James are successful in buying The Hutch and rename it to "Nightingales"; at its opening, Ellie is furious since her mother told her that she would turn the restaurant into a cosmetics shop to fulfill her daughter's dream.
When Marnie's mother, Tabitha Maxwell-Brown (Linda Gray), visited the family, the majority of them were overwhelmed, apart from Mac who did not get along with Tabitha. Tabitha returned to America when Marnie proclaimed her love for Mac. In a bid to not lose her relationship with Ellie, Marnie claimed she had a brain tumour. When Mac discovered the truth surrounding her brain tumour, he threatened to reveal the truth. The family were left devastated when Nathan died after falling from a window and following this, Mac told the family that Marnie had been misdiagnosed and was not ill. Marnie later discovered Mac's evil actions including causing the school explosion killing his ex-fiancée Neeta in the process and pushing their son Nathan to death, she and James then decided to take revenge on Mac.
Liam Donovan
Liam Donovan, played by Maxim Baldry, made his first on screen appearance on 28 March 2016. The concept for the character was announced on 16 February 2016, while further details, such as the character's name and casting were announced on the 21 March 2016. Liam is introduced with his brothers, Adam Donovan (Jimmy Essex) and Jesse Donovan (Luke Jerdy), as the half-brothers of Grace Black (Tamara Wall). The brothers were billed as "a new injection of infectious energy". Baldry explained that Liam would attract the attention of multiple female village residents, including Tegan Lomax (Jessica Ellis) and Celine McQueen (Sarah George). Liam is described as someone who "always bails on relationships before things get too serious". Baldry expressed his delight at joining the cast. A reporter writing for the Inside Soap Yearbook 2017 described the Donovan brothers as "tasty", adding that they "set temperatures rising in Hollyoaks". On 11 April 2017, it was confirmed that Baldry had left the show and Liam would depart in the episode broadcast that day. He departed in what Digital Spy described as "a rather low-key exit" after blackmailing Grace for money.