Lee Hunter (Hollyoaks)
Encyclopedia
Lee Hunter is a fictional character
from the British
Channel 4
soap opera
Hollyoaks
, played by Alex Carter
. The youngest son of Les
(John Graham Davies
) and Sally Hunter
(Katherine Dow Blyton), he made his first on-screen appearance on 13 May 2001. The character was described as "wayward", a "cheeky chap" and a "wheeler dealer". Carter announced his decision to quit the serial in 2005 to have more free time, filming his departure scenes in October 2005 and departed on-screen 23 December 2005.
Carter returned to Hollyoaks as a full time character in September 2010, reintroduced by series producer Paul Marquess
, although his comeback scenes aired in internet spin-off Hollyoaks: Freshers. Upon his return, the character has been described as "a tool", "confident" and "arrogant". In May 2011 it was announced Carter had quit again, in order to pursue other projects.
). Lee is delighted when he starts to make money by schemes, but they often go wrong. Lee grows close to Abby Davies
(Helen Noble
) and forms a relationship with her. He and Abby continue to fall out and make up. Lee has a fling with Abby's best friend Zara Morgan.
Lee proposes to Abby and she accepts before leaving for university in Brighton. Lee becomes miserable after her departure and annoys his friends. He visits Abby and finds her in bed with another man. Lee is devastated when Abby breaks off their engagement. Abby tells him she made a mistake accepting his proposal.
Lee starts a beauty therapy student at Hollyoaks Community College after he fails to enrol in film studies because of his grades. He becomes college president and alienates Bombhead. Lee's opponent Chris Fenwick (Chris Grierson) becomes vice president after he accepts him. Chris tries to manipulate Lee into spending more than what the college fund has. Lee refuses to believe Bombhead when he tells him what Chris is doing. After the revelation, Lee doesn't speak to Bombhead after he thinks that he stole the missing money. Chris and Freddy Watson (Greg Kelly) frame Lee for the fire at the media lab, which Freddy caused. Zara saves Lee when she reveals Freddy's plot to the college council. Lee punches Chris. Lee is expelled from college with Zara, Chris and Freddy. Lee develops feelings for Zara and they become close. Zara decides to do voluntary work in Thailand. Later, Lee and Zara admit their feelings for each other. Lee leaves the village with Zara.
Lee returns to the village with Leanne Holiday
(Jessica Forrest). Lee re-enrolls at Hollyoaks Community College as a mature drama student. He learns that Darren Osborne
(Ashley Taylor Dawson
) has also enrolled. Darren tells Lee that Steph Cunningham
's (Carley Stenson
) cancer is terminal and he tries to avoid her. Steph notices him and they chat. Lee is shocked when Kevin Smith (Cameron Crighton
) tells him that Leanne kissed Doug Carter
(PJ Brennan) after seeing them. However, he believes Leanne when the group turn against Kevin and say he is a liar. Lee grows close to Amy Barnes
(Ashley Slanina-Davies
), after helping her college project. After Amy successfully performs her stand-up routine, Lee is shocked when Amy kisses him. Lee tells Leanne that he kissed Amy, but she forgives him. Lee tells her that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her.
Lee finds a poster asking for directors to put on a production. Lee takes down the poster and successfully applies for the position. He writes a script naming the play 'MasKara' and casts Jem Costello
(Helen Russell-Clark) and Jamil Fadel (Sikander Malik) in the lead roles. Lee also casts Texas Longford
(Bianca Hendrickse-Spendlove). Later, Lee gives the cast more control after Jem and Texas complain to Leanne. Lee tries to hang some set up for the production and falls off the ladder, hurting his neck.
Due to Lee's absence, Steph takes over the production, making drastic changes and hiring Carmel Valentine as the makeup artist. Lee is keen to see what Steph has changed in the production, but is horrified when he sees the costumes and props. He walks off, but then returns to give the production another go, however begins another argument and eventually upsets Steph after mentioning her cancer. Due to Lee's actions, Jem quits and Lee decides to re-cast the leading part to Amy. On the day of the production, he is forced by the cast members to apologise to Steph and does so. Things however are not sorted, as Darren fails to remember his lines and quits last minute. Lee, with no other options, casts himself as the part that Darren was scheduled to play. The production receives positive feedback from the cheering audience, however Nancy Hayton
(Jessica Fox
) writes a review which harshly criticises Lee's directing skills.
Lee and Amy remain good friends and eventually Lee admits to Amy he believes he should not be marrying Leanne because he is attracted to her. They kiss and fall asleep next to each other, something which Leanne sees. When she moves the wedding forward Lee promises Amy he is going to dump Leanne for her. However the situation changes when Amy is hospitalized after being injured in a fire at Il Gnosh restaurant. Lee then tells Leanne the news but she does not care and tells him that she won't be there if Amy dies, defying him. Lee then goes to visit Steph's family to give them her farewell CD as she had died in the fire whilst saving Amy and her children. Amy then makes a life changing decision to leave Hollyoaks and ends her relationship with Lee. He is devastated and Leanne tricks him into believing that she visited Amy and she wrote him a letter, when in fact unbeknowst to Lee, Leanne wrote the letter herself in the hope that Lee would take her back. In January, Amy returns to the village and she and Lee reconcile and get engaged. When Amy applies for a teaching job, Lee sees her talking to an older man and getting the wrong impression, angrily confronts him and Amy is angry with Lee for showing her up. Lee also becomes jealous when she befriends Mark "Dodger" Savage
(Danny Mac) and when Dodger gives her driving lessons and a false driver's licence, Lee reports him to the police but Amy is arrested and fined. After falling out with Lee over this, Amy later has a one night stand with Dodger and she later guiltily confesses to Lee. Lee angrily confronts Dodger and a fight breaks out between them which Amy witnesses and she dumps Lee for embarrassing himself and her. After Lee apologizes and forgives her for sleeping with Dodger, he and Amy reconcile and set a date for their wedding.
In October 2011, Lee in offered a job in New York
, which he accepts and he and Amy plan to move there with her children, but when Amy's ex-boyfriend Ste Hay
(Kieron Richardson
), father of her son Lucas, finds out about this, he tells them he won't let them take the children. Lee and Amy then invite him to join them in New York, and he accepts their offer but he could not get a VISA
due to his criminal record, Ste then tells them he does not want the children to go and Lee turns down the job offer, much to the shock of Amy and Ste. Amy then buys Lee tickets to New York, so he is able to go. Amy tells Lee she won't be going with him, and Lee leaves on his own in a taxi for the airport.
(John Graham Davies
) and Sally Hunter
(Katherine Dow Blyton) and brother to Ellie
(Sarah Baxendale), Dan (Andrew McNair
) and Lisa
(Gemma Atkinson
). The character made his first on-screen appearance on 13 May 2001. In March 2004, the Sunday Mirror reported that Lee and the majority of the Hunter family would be axed along with ten other cast members. However Lee and the Hunter family remained in the serial and only six of the fourteen cast members announced were axed. In 2005 it was announced that Carter had quit the serial and would be leaving at the end of his contract. After developing feelings for friend Zara Morgan
(Kelly Greenwood
) who was leaving the village to do charity work in Thailand
, Lee decided to accompany her, making his exit in the episode that aired on 22 December 2005. Speaking of his decision to quit in 2006, Carter said, "It'd been five years, and it was long hours - I was working weekends and things - and realistically I'd had five years out of my life, I just wanted my weekends back. I wanted a bit of a life as well as work." In an interview with OK!
magazine in 2010, Carter discussed the reasons why he initially quit Hollyoaks commenting, "When I left Hollyoaks originally, in 2005, I was quite tired and ready to go, because of the schedules."
In 2011, Paul Marquess was appointed as the new Hollyoaks procuder. He planned to give Hollyoaks a "shake up", changing the productions team, writing characters out and replacing them with new ones. It was announced on 15 March 2010, that Marquess had decided to reintroduce Lee to the serial as part of his revamp. Carter signed an initial six-month contract with the soap after announcing his decision to leave his role as Jamie Hope
in Emmerdale
. In an interview with entertainment website Digital Spy
about Lee's return, Marquess explained, "He turns up with another character. He's been working as a Gareth Gates
impersonator on a cruise ship and he won't just have light stories because Alex is great. He's one of our new students. The thing about our new students is the audience will recognise some of them." Carter revealed that he has previously been in talks with Marquess' predecessor Allan, whom he knew from previously working on the show.
In July 2010, it was announced that Carter would make his comeback scenes as Lee in new online spin-off Hollyoaks: Freshers. Speaking of his appearance in the spin-off, Carter said he was thrilled, commenting, "I'm thrilled to be back and it's really exciting that my first episodes are for the online spin-off." In the same month it was announced that Jessica Forrest had been cast as Lee's girlfriend Leanne Holiday
. Digital Spy reported that Leanne would also appear in the spin-off before making her first appearance in Hollyoaks as a new student.
In May 2011 it was announced that Carter had decided to leave the serial in order to pursue other projects. Speaking of his departure, Carter stated: "After ten years in soap, it feels like the right time to find out what else is out there."
. Jon Horsley of Yahoo!
said that he would miss Lee after he leaves and said "he’s genuinely funny. His miming of a moustache to mean “must dash” was one of the few things that has made us laugh out loud in soaps."
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
, played by Alex Carter
Alex Carter (British actor)
Alex Carter is an English actor and radio presenter.Carter got his TV break in 1999 when he was cast as Craig Harrison in 9 episodes of the Sunday evening drama Where the Heart Is. He then had a small walk on role in Coronation Street...
. The youngest son of Les
Les Hunter (Hollyoaks)
Leslie "Les" Hunter is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by John Graham Davies.-Storylines:...
(John Graham Davies
John Graham Davies
John Graham-Davies is a British actor most famous for playing Les Hunter in the soap-opera Hollyoaks from 2001 to 2005.During his early career, Davies was a member of the original cast of John Godber's 1977 play Bouncers. He has also appeared in Coronation Street in 1989 and 2000, Heartbeat in 1999...
) and Sally Hunter
Sally Hunter
Sally Hunter is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Katherine Dow Blyton.-Storylines:Mother of Ellie, Dan, Lee and Lisa as well as the wife of Les. She began working at the local Chemist in Hollyoaks, before becoming a secondary school science teacher at...
(Katherine Dow Blyton), he made his first on-screen appearance on 13 May 2001. The character was described as "wayward", a "cheeky chap" and a "wheeler dealer". Carter announced his decision to quit the serial in 2005 to have more free time, filming his departure scenes in October 2005 and departed on-screen 23 December 2005.
Carter returned to Hollyoaks as a full time character in September 2010, reintroduced by series producer Paul Marquess
Paul Marquess
Paul Marquess is a Northern Irish-born British television producer.-Television career:His credits include Brookside, The Bill and Family Affairs. He also originated the idea for the series Footballers' Wives...
, although his comeback scenes aired in internet spin-off Hollyoaks: Freshers. Upon his return, the character has been described as "a tool", "confident" and "arrogant". In May 2011 it was announced Carter had quit again, in order to pursue other projects.
Storylines
Lee first appears in May 2001 as part as the Hunter family, when he is brought home by the police. Lee gets into trouble at school and starts to fail his exams. Lee gradually becomes best friends with Bombhead (Lee OtwayLee Otway
Lee Otway is an English actor best known for his role as David "Bombhead" Burke in the British television drama Hollyoaks....
). Lee is delighted when he starts to make money by schemes, but they often go wrong. Lee grows close to Abby Davies
Abby Davies
Abigail "Abby" Davies is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Helen Noble between 2000–2004, and a brief return in 2005.-Casting:...
(Helen Noble
Helen Noble
Helen Noble is a Wigan-born British actress best known for her role as Abby Davies on the British soap Hollyoaks from 2000 to 2004, with a brief return in 2005....
) and forms a relationship with her. He and Abby continue to fall out and make up. Lee has a fling with Abby's best friend Zara Morgan.
Lee proposes to Abby and she accepts before leaving for university in Brighton. Lee becomes miserable after her departure and annoys his friends. He visits Abby and finds her in bed with another man. Lee is devastated when Abby breaks off their engagement. Abby tells him she made a mistake accepting his proposal.
Lee starts a beauty therapy student at Hollyoaks Community College after he fails to enrol in film studies because of his grades. He becomes college president and alienates Bombhead. Lee's opponent Chris Fenwick (Chris Grierson) becomes vice president after he accepts him. Chris tries to manipulate Lee into spending more than what the college fund has. Lee refuses to believe Bombhead when he tells him what Chris is doing. After the revelation, Lee doesn't speak to Bombhead after he thinks that he stole the missing money. Chris and Freddy Watson (Greg Kelly) frame Lee for the fire at the media lab, which Freddy caused. Zara saves Lee when she reveals Freddy's plot to the college council. Lee punches Chris. Lee is expelled from college with Zara, Chris and Freddy. Lee develops feelings for Zara and they become close. Zara decides to do voluntary work in Thailand. Later, Lee and Zara admit their feelings for each other. Lee leaves the village with Zara.
Lee returns to the village with Leanne Holiday
Leanne Holiday
Leanne Holiday is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks and its Internet spin-off Hollyoaks: Freshers, played by Jessica Forrest. Forrest's casting was announced in July 2010 and she began filming her scenes in June. The actress originally commuted from Manchester to...
(Jessica Forrest). Lee re-enrolls at Hollyoaks Community College as a mature drama student. He learns that Darren Osborne
Darren Osborne
Darren Osborne is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Darren was introduced by executive producer Phil Redmond as part of the Osborne family. Darren made his first on-screen appearance on 18 November 1996 and was initially played by Adam Booth, before the Booth...
(Ashley Taylor Dawson
Ashley Taylor Dawson
Ashley Taylor Dawson is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Darren Osborne in the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, in which he is one of the longest serving cast members and as being a member of UK pop band allSTARS*.-Personal life:Ashley Dawson was born Wilmslow,...
) has also enrolled. Darren tells Lee that Steph Cunningham
Steph Cunningham
Stephanie "Steph" Roach is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Carley Stenson. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 8 March 2000 and is the second longest featured regular female character in the history of Hollyoaks...
's (Carley Stenson
Carley Stenson
Carley Anne Stenson is an English actress and singer, best known for playing Steph Cunningham in the Channel 4 series Hollyoaks. She also appeared as a performer in Abbamania, and is a member of the all-female band Diamond...
) cancer is terminal and he tries to avoid her. Steph notices him and they chat. Lee is shocked when Kevin Smith (Cameron Crighton
Cameron Crighton
Cameron Crighton is a British actor, he has had small guest parts on various television shows and is currently portraying Kevin Smith on Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.-Career:...
) tells him that Leanne kissed Doug Carter
Doug Carter
Doug Carter is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by PJ Brennan. He initially appeared in the programme's online spin-off series Hollyoaks: Freshers, before debuting in the main series in the episode airing 13 September 2010. He left on 17 September before returning...
(PJ Brennan) after seeing them. However, he believes Leanne when the group turn against Kevin and say he is a liar. Lee grows close to Amy Barnes
Amy Barnes
Amy Barnes is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ashley Slanina-Davies. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 14 November 2005. Amy was created by executive producer David Hanson and Slanina-Davies was offered the role whilst looking for...
(Ashley Slanina-Davies
Ashley Slanina-Davies
Ashley Slanina-Davies is an English actress born in Standish, near Wigan, who is notable for playing the role of Amy Barnes on Channel 4's teen soap, Hollyoaks...
), after helping her college project. After Amy successfully performs her stand-up routine, Lee is shocked when Amy kisses him. Lee tells Leanne that he kissed Amy, but she forgives him. Lee tells her that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her.
Lee finds a poster asking for directors to put on a production. Lee takes down the poster and successfully applies for the position. He writes a script naming the play 'MasKara' and casts Jem Costello
Jem Costello
Jem Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Helen Russell-Clark. She made her first on-screen appearance on 5 March 2010.-Character creation and casting:...
(Helen Russell-Clark) and Jamil Fadel (Sikander Malik) in the lead roles. Lee also casts Texas Longford
Texas Longford
Texas "Tex" Longford is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Bianca Hendrickse-Spendlove. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 17 May 2010. Texas was introduced by producer Paul Marquess as the on-screen sister of established character India...
(Bianca Hendrickse-Spendlove). Later, Lee gives the cast more control after Jem and Texas complain to Leanne. Lee tries to hang some set up for the production and falls off the ladder, hurting his neck.
Due to Lee's absence, Steph takes over the production, making drastic changes and hiring Carmel Valentine as the makeup artist. Lee is keen to see what Steph has changed in the production, but is horrified when he sees the costumes and props. He walks off, but then returns to give the production another go, however begins another argument and eventually upsets Steph after mentioning her cancer. Due to Lee's actions, Jem quits and Lee decides to re-cast the leading part to Amy. On the day of the production, he is forced by the cast members to apologise to Steph and does so. Things however are not sorted, as Darren fails to remember his lines and quits last minute. Lee, with no other options, casts himself as the part that Darren was scheduled to play. The production receives positive feedback from the cheering audience, however Nancy Hayton
Nancy Hayton
Nancy Anne Hayton is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jessica Fox. The character first appeared on 6 July 2005. Since the character's inception she has been involved in many notable storylines such as a three-way open relationship, drug taking,...
(Jessica Fox
Jessica Fox
Jessica Fox is an English actress. She is most notable for playing young witch Enid Nightshade in the CITV show The Worst Witch, whom she began playing in the late 1990s...
) writes a review which harshly criticises Lee's directing skills.
Lee and Amy remain good friends and eventually Lee admits to Amy he believes he should not be marrying Leanne because he is attracted to her. They kiss and fall asleep next to each other, something which Leanne sees. When she moves the wedding forward Lee promises Amy he is going to dump Leanne for her. However the situation changes when Amy is hospitalized after being injured in a fire at Il Gnosh restaurant. Lee then tells Leanne the news but she does not care and tells him that she won't be there if Amy dies, defying him. Lee then goes to visit Steph's family to give them her farewell CD as she had died in the fire whilst saving Amy and her children. Amy then makes a life changing decision to leave Hollyoaks and ends her relationship with Lee. He is devastated and Leanne tricks him into believing that she visited Amy and she wrote him a letter, when in fact unbeknowst to Lee, Leanne wrote the letter herself in the hope that Lee would take her back. In January, Amy returns to the village and she and Lee reconcile and get engaged. When Amy applies for a teaching job, Lee sees her talking to an older man and getting the wrong impression, angrily confronts him and Amy is angry with Lee for showing her up. Lee also becomes jealous when she befriends Mark "Dodger" Savage
Dodger
Dodger is a term used in sailing and sailboats. It is a frame-supported canvas structure providing a helmsman and other occupants of a sailboat partial protection from harsh weather and seas. It covers part of the cockpit and the entrance into the interior of the sailboat...
(Danny Mac) and when Dodger gives her driving lessons and a false driver's licence, Lee reports him to the police but Amy is arrested and fined. After falling out with Lee over this, Amy later has a one night stand with Dodger and she later guiltily confesses to Lee. Lee angrily confronts Dodger and a fight breaks out between them which Amy witnesses and she dumps Lee for embarrassing himself and her. After Lee apologizes and forgives her for sleeping with Dodger, he and Amy reconcile and set a date for their wedding.
In October 2011, Lee in offered a job in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, which he accepts and he and Amy plan to move there with her children, but when Amy's ex-boyfriend Ste Hay
Ste Hay
Stephen "Ste" Hay is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kieron Richardson. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 17 February 2006. Ste was created by David Hanson and was originally intended to be a short-term character for seven episodes...
(Kieron Richardson
Kieron Richardson
Kieron Mark Richardson is an English actor best known for playing the role of Ste Hay in Hollyoaks.-Career:...
), father of her son Lucas, finds out about this, he tells them he won't let them take the children. Lee and Amy then invite him to join them in New York, and he accepts their offer but he could not get a VISA
Visa
Visa or VISA may refer to:* Visa , a document issued by a country's government allowing the holder to enter or to leave that country...
due to his criminal record, Ste then tells them he does not want the children to go and Lee turns down the job offer, much to the shock of Amy and Ste. Amy then buys Lee tickets to New York, so he is able to go. Amy tells Lee she won't be going with him, and Lee leaves on his own in a taxi for the airport.
Character creation and casting
Alex Carter successfully auditioned for the role of Lee Hunter in 2001 and joined the cast of Hollyoaks as the youngest son of LesLes Hunter (Hollyoaks)
Leslie "Les" Hunter is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by John Graham Davies.-Storylines:...
(John Graham Davies
John Graham Davies
John Graham-Davies is a British actor most famous for playing Les Hunter in the soap-opera Hollyoaks from 2001 to 2005.During his early career, Davies was a member of the original cast of John Godber's 1977 play Bouncers. He has also appeared in Coronation Street in 1989 and 2000, Heartbeat in 1999...
) and Sally Hunter
Sally Hunter
Sally Hunter is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Katherine Dow Blyton.-Storylines:Mother of Ellie, Dan, Lee and Lisa as well as the wife of Les. She began working at the local Chemist in Hollyoaks, before becoming a secondary school science teacher at...
(Katherine Dow Blyton) and brother to Ellie
Ellie Mills
Eleanor Jane "Ellie" Mills is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Sarah Baxendale...
(Sarah Baxendale), Dan (Andrew McNair
Andrew McNair (actor)
Andrew "Andy" McNair , is a British actor, probably best known for his role on Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.-Career:...
) and Lisa
Lisa Hunter
Lisa Hunter is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Gemma Atkinson. The character is noted for her storylines including bullying and self-harming...
(Gemma Atkinson
Gemma Atkinson
Gemma Louise Atkinson is an English actress, television personality and glamour and lingerie model.-Personal life:...
). The character made his first on-screen appearance on 13 May 2001. In March 2004, the Sunday Mirror reported that Lee and the majority of the Hunter family would be axed along with ten other cast members. However Lee and the Hunter family remained in the serial and only six of the fourteen cast members announced were axed. In 2005 it was announced that Carter had quit the serial and would be leaving at the end of his contract. After developing feelings for friend Zara Morgan
Zara Morgan
Zara Morgan is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kelly Greenwood between 1999-2005.-Character history:...
(Kelly Greenwood
Kelly Greenwood
Kelly Greenwood, is a British actress and is known by the name Kelly Condron. She is perhaps best known for her 6 year role in Channel 4's weeknight soap opera Hollyoaks, portraying the popular character of Zara Morgan from 1999-2005.- Career :After 6 years playing the troubled character of Zara,...
) who was leaving the village to do charity work in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Lee decided to accompany her, making his exit in the episode that aired on 22 December 2005. Speaking of his decision to quit in 2006, Carter said, "It'd been five years, and it was long hours - I was working weekends and things - and realistically I'd had five years out of my life, I just wanted my weekends back. I wanted a bit of a life as well as work." In an interview with OK!
OK!
OK! is a British weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, OK! publishers Northern and Shell launched in Australia as a monthly title – the magazine went weekly in October 2006...
magazine in 2010, Carter discussed the reasons why he initially quit Hollyoaks commenting, "When I left Hollyoaks originally, in 2005, I was quite tired and ready to go, because of the schedules."
In 2011, Paul Marquess was appointed as the new Hollyoaks procuder. He planned to give Hollyoaks a "shake up", changing the productions team, writing characters out and replacing them with new ones. It was announced on 15 March 2010, that Marquess had decided to reintroduce Lee to the serial as part of his revamp. Carter signed an initial six-month contract with the soap after announcing his decision to leave his role as Jamie Hope
Jamie Hope
James "Jamie" Hope is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He was played by Alex Carter and first appeared onscreen on 16 February 2006...
in Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
. In an interview with entertainment website Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
about Lee's return, Marquess explained, "He turns up with another character. He's been working as a Gareth Gates
Gareth Gates
Gareth Paul Gates , is an English singer-songwriter. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show Pop Idol. Gates has sold over 3.5 million records in the UK alone. He is also known for having a stutter, and has talked about his speech impediment publicly...
impersonator on a cruise ship and he won't just have light stories because Alex is great. He's one of our new students. The thing about our new students is the audience will recognise some of them." Carter revealed that he has previously been in talks with Marquess' predecessor Allan, whom he knew from previously working on the show.
In July 2010, it was announced that Carter would make his comeback scenes as Lee in new online spin-off Hollyoaks: Freshers. Speaking of his appearance in the spin-off, Carter said he was thrilled, commenting, "I'm thrilled to be back and it's really exciting that my first episodes are for the online spin-off." In the same month it was announced that Jessica Forrest had been cast as Lee's girlfriend Leanne Holiday
Leanne Holiday
Leanne Holiday is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks and its Internet spin-off Hollyoaks: Freshers, played by Jessica Forrest. Forrest's casting was announced in July 2010 and she began filming her scenes in June. The actress originally commuted from Manchester to...
. Digital Spy reported that Leanne would also appear in the spin-off before making her first appearance in Hollyoaks as a new student.
In May 2011 it was announced that Carter had decided to leave the serial in order to pursue other projects. Speaking of his departure, Carter stated: "After ten years in soap, it feels like the right time to find out what else is out there."
Reception
In May 2004, Carter won the "Best Comedy Performance" award at the 2004 British Soap Awards for his portrayal of Lee, and in July 2005 he was nominated for "Best Actor" at the 2005 National Television AwardsNational Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
. Jon Horsley of Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
said that he would miss Lee after he leaves and said "he’s genuinely funny. His miming of a moustache to mean “must dash” was one of the few things that has made us laugh out loud in soaps."
External links
- Character profile on the E4 website.