Sophie Burton
Encyclopedia
Sophie Burton is a fictional character
from the long-running Channel 4
soap opera
Hollyoaks
, played by actress Connie Powney
. She first appeared in 2003 with on-screen family, the Burtons, including twin sister Mel
, who was played by Powney's real life twin Cassie Powney
.
and brother Justin
. Sophie was the more outgoing twin (although she was sensible with it) and Mel often felt inferior to her.
On her arrival, Sophie took on a beauty course at Hollyoaks Community College where her sister Mel already attended. Mel was unhappy as she felt Sophie would get more attention than her and always felt like the shadow of Sophie. Despite Sophie always trying to make her relationship better with her twin sister, Mel often made it hard. Most of the time, Sophie would be in-between her mother and Mel’s arguments as Sophie would be the peacemaker. Frequently, Sophie supported and helped her siblings through their troubles, as Sophie herself never was involved in any nuisance. She was also supportive of her mother Liz's new partner Richard Taylor
, despite Justin and Mel feeling uneasy at his arrival, Mel Burton fell in love with Michael Lane but he sadly left the village.
Sophie began dating student Joe Spencer
, but it didn’t last for too long as she discovered that Joe was going to dump her and dumped him instead. Sophie also briefly dated Max Cunningham
after initially going on a date with his friend O.B. who became Mel's boyfriend.
who started to fancy Sophie, but unbeknown to her Sam had recently started date raping girls after prompting from his friend Andy Holt
. During Christmas 2005, Andy targeted the Burton sisters as his next date rape victims. After getting himself an invite to the Burton house and spiking both girls' drinks with GHB, Andy offered an unconscious Sophie as a present to Sam. Although Sam was tempted due to his strong feelings he had for Sophie, he found himself unable to go through with the rape because he didn't want to hurt the girl he loved.
Although Sophie escaped a sexual attack that night, Mel was raped by Andy. The next morning, when Sam and Andy had long since fled, Sophie and Mel recovered from the drowsiness of being drugged and pieced together what had happened to them. They both went to the police claiming to have been raped by Andy, although tests proved that Sophie had not undergone any sort of sexual abuse. The fact that Mel was raped when Sophie wasn't caused some friction between the sisters. Sophie turned to Sam for support and soon started falling for him. She began a relationship with Sam, unaware of his part of the rapes. After Andy's death, Sam had little choice but to confess his crime to Sophie because he loved her and wanted to run away with her. Sophie tricked Sam into turning himself in by saying she would stand by him until his release. As soon as Sam had come clean to the police, Sophie had her own confession for Sam when she told him she could never forgive him for letting Andy rape her sister Mel.
. She also found an unlikely friend in Russ Owen
, Sam’s brother, as the pair both had something in common, being betrayed by Sam. Things didn’t get any better for Sophie as she was briefly sacked after false allegations made by Mercedes McQueen
that Sophie had injured her during a treatment, but was later reinstated after Russ got photographic proof that she was faking it. From the moment Mercedes arrived in Hollyoaks she and Sophie were immediately enemies. Also Sophie, along with Mel, moved in with her friend Louise Summers after a brief spell of being homeless when Liz left Hollyoaks and sold the Burton house.
Meanwhile Sophie's feelings grew stronger for Russ and she eventually told him how she felt, but was left devastated when he told her that he was dating Mercedes. Things went from bad to worse as Sam escaped from prison, which again brought Russ and Sophie closer together. This time the pair ended up sleeping with one another and began to date, but Russ was secretly still seeing Mercedes.
Also in 2008 Leila was trying to be a fortune teller on Justin and said there was a blonde girl from beyond the grave calling out for him. He took it angrily, she didn't know Sophie and Mel had died and apoligised.
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 long-running 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 actress Connie Powney
Connie Powney
- Personal life :Powney has a twin sister Cassie, who is her younger twin by two minutes.- Career :She played the role of Sophie Burton in the soap opera Hollyoaks, alongside Cassie ....
. She first appeared in 2003 with on-screen family, the Burtons, including twin sister Mel
Mel Burton
Melanie "Mel" Burton is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by actress Cassie Powney. She first appeared in 2003 with her family, which included her twin sister Sophie, played by Powney's real life twin Connie Powney.-Character Description:Mel was an...
, who was played by Powney's real life twin Cassie Powney
Cassie Powney
- Personal life :Powney has a twin sister Connie, who is her elder twin by two minutes.- Career :She played the role of Mel Burton in the soap opera Hollyoaks alongside her sister Connie, who played the role of Sophie Burton....
.
Character Description
Sophie was also an attractive and sometimes aggressive young woman with her share of insecurities. Sophie arrived in Hollyoaks in 2003 as the twin sister of Mel, along with their mother LizLiz Burton
Elizabeth "Liz" Burton is a fictional character from the long-running British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Andrée Bernard.-Storylines:...
and brother Justin
Justin Burton
Justin Burton is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Chris Fountain. The character arrived in 2003 and departed on 3 June 2009. Justin arrived in a family of six, however by September 2006, his entire family had left the show...
. Sophie was the more outgoing twin (although she was sensible with it) and Mel often felt inferior to her.
On her arrival, Sophie took on a beauty course at Hollyoaks Community College where her sister Mel already attended. Mel was unhappy as she felt Sophie would get more attention than her and always felt like the shadow of Sophie. Despite Sophie always trying to make her relationship better with her twin sister, Mel often made it hard. Most of the time, Sophie would be in-between her mother and Mel’s arguments as Sophie would be the peacemaker. Frequently, Sophie supported and helped her siblings through their troubles, as Sophie herself never was involved in any nuisance. She was also supportive of her mother Liz's new partner Richard Taylor
Richard Taylor (Hollyoaks)
Richard Taylor is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Richard Calkin. He appeared on the show between 2003 and 2005.-Storylines:...
, despite Justin and Mel feeling uneasy at his arrival, Mel Burton fell in love with Michael Lane but he sadly left the village.
Sophie began dating student Joe Spencer
Joe Spencer (Hollyoaks)
Joseph "Joe" Spencer is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Matt Milburn. He debuted on-screen during episodes airing in 2003 and left in 2006 after his character was axed by Bryan Kirkwood.-Storylines:...
, but it didn’t last for too long as she discovered that Joe was going to dump her and dumped him instead. Sophie also briefly dated Max Cunningham
Max Cunningham
Max Cunningham is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Matt Littler. From 1995 to 1996, Max was portrayed by Ben Sheriff before Littler took over. In 2008, Max, along with Tony Hutchinson , was the longest running character in Hollyoaks...
after initially going on a date with his friend O.B. who became Mel's boyfriend.
Sam and Andy
Sophie became friends with Sam OwenSam Owen
Samuel Liam "Sam" Owen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Louis Tamone. He first appeared in 2004, before the character was killed off in 2006 in the well-known fire at The Dog.-Storylines:...
who started to fancy Sophie, but unbeknown to her Sam had recently started date raping girls after prompting from his friend Andy Holt
Andy Holt
Andrew "Andy" Holt was a fictional character on the long-running Channel 4 British television soap opera Hollyoaks.He was played by actor Warren Brown between 2005-2006.-Character history:...
. During Christmas 2005, Andy targeted the Burton sisters as his next date rape victims. After getting himself an invite to the Burton house and spiking both girls' drinks with GHB, Andy offered an unconscious Sophie as a present to Sam. Although Sam was tempted due to his strong feelings he had for Sophie, he found himself unable to go through with the rape because he didn't want to hurt the girl he loved.
Although Sophie escaped a sexual attack that night, Mel was raped by Andy. The next morning, when Sam and Andy had long since fled, Sophie and Mel recovered from the drowsiness of being drugged and pieced together what had happened to them. They both went to the police claiming to have been raped by Andy, although tests proved that Sophie had not undergone any sort of sexual abuse. The fact that Mel was raped when Sophie wasn't caused some friction between the sisters. Sophie turned to Sam for support and soon started falling for him. She began a relationship with Sam, unaware of his part of the rapes. After Andy's death, Sam had little choice but to confess his crime to Sophie because he loved her and wanted to run away with her. Sophie tricked Sam into turning himself in by saying she would stand by him until his release. As soon as Sam had come clean to the police, Sophie had her own confession for Sam when she told him she could never forgive him for letting Andy rape her sister Mel.
Relationship with Russ
Gradually Sophie managed to put Sam behind her and began to work at the newly opened salon Evissa as she was hired as an assistant for Sean KennedySean Kennedy (Hollyoaks)
Sean Kennedy is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Matthew Jay Lewis. He first appeared in 2006 and briefly in 2007.- Storylines :...
. She also found an unlikely friend in Russ Owen
Russ Owen
Russell Charles "Russ" Owen is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Stuart Manning. He first appeared in August 2004 with his on-screen family and has been involved in storylines including being diagnosed with testicular cancer and kidnapping his son. It...
, Sam’s brother, as the pair both had something in common, being betrayed by Sam. Things didn’t get any better for Sophie as she was briefly sacked after false allegations made by Mercedes McQueen
Mercedes McQueen
Mercedes Fisher is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Jennifer Metcalfe. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 19 June 2006 as the first character to be introduced to the serial by series producer, Bryan Kirkwood...
that Sophie had injured her during a treatment, but was later reinstated after Russ got photographic proof that she was faking it. From the moment Mercedes arrived in Hollyoaks she and Sophie were immediately enemies. Also Sophie, along with Mel, moved in with her friend Louise Summers after a brief spell of being homeless when Liz left Hollyoaks and sold the Burton house.
Meanwhile Sophie's feelings grew stronger for Russ and she eventually told him how she felt, but was left devastated when he told her that he was dating Mercedes. Things went from bad to worse as Sam escaped from prison, which again brought Russ and Sophie closer together. This time the pair ended up sleeping with one another and began to date, but Russ was secretly still seeing Mercedes.
Death
Sam had returned to the village and was told by his sister Nicole that his brother was dating Sophie. Sam then forced Nicole to tell him where Russ and Sophie were. She told him that they were at the local pub The Dog in The Pond - in fact only Sophie was there (with Mel and OB) as Russ was having sex with Mercedes. Sam headed to The Dog in The Pond and dramatically set fire to the pub. Sophie tried to escape but Sam tried to strangle her. Mel then jumped on Sam in an attempt to pull him off her. Russ arrived and pulled Sophie out of the burning pub. In her final moments Sophie was concerned about Mel as she couldn't find her. Sophie then died in Russ's arms after suffering from smoke inhalation. Mel also died in the fire.After death
Some months later, when Justin overheard Clare Cunningham taunting OB by saying Mel and Sophie's deaths were "two for the price of one", an enraged Justin pushed Clare off the balcony of The Loft. Warren Fox was accused of the crime, but acquitted, thanks to the testimony of Mercedes, who had been sleeping with Warren at the time Clare was pushed. A disgusted Russ, who had by that time married Mercedes, told her he would have been at The Dog in The Pond with Sophie if not her luring him away for sex, and that he blamed her for Sophie's death.Also in 2008 Leila was trying to be a fortune teller on Justin and said there was a blonde girl from beyond the grave calling out for him. He took it angrily, she didn't know Sophie and Mel had died and apoligised.