Will Hackett
Encyclopedia
William "Will" Hackett is a fictional character
from the long-running Channel 4
soap opera
Hollyoaks
, played by Oliver Farnworth
. The character first appeared on-screen on 01 September 2006. Although no longer a featured character in the series he was noted for portraying storylines involving mental illness and stalking his girlfriend Zoe Carpenter
.
at 15 years old and seen as a child prodigy. He was also fast-tracked into Oxford University at 16 but dropped out due to complications. Now at HCC with a second chance, Will is extremely moody and keeps himself to himself but has developed obsessive feelings for Zoë Carpenter
. He tried to win her affection but she turned him down; he has since tried more devious means of winning her praise by trying to sabotage her new relationship with Zak Ramsey
. When Zak and Zoë made up, Will broke into her bedroom and hid some of her possessions. He framed Zak for this, causing Zoë to dump Zak. Will then 'bugged
' Zoë's bedroom, but saw more than he bargained for when Zöe rekindled her new-found interest in nudism with flatmate Kris Fisher.
In a new-years episode, Zak was flirting with Zoe and they got cosy. Zak walked into the kitchen where Will was cooking something on the stove. Zak bent down to get something out of the cupboard, so Will twisted the handle round. Zak stood up and the food went flying, burning Zak's arm.
Will is not beyond manipulating people as long as it benefits or amuses him. Within several days of arriving at HCC, he placed the recently deceased Olivia Johnson's diary in the room of her friend Jessica, knowing that Olivia said some cruel things about Jess inside. Will only came clean after Jess had accused all of their other flatmates. Recently, he stole (then) ex-girlfriend Zoë's mobile phone and sent a vast number of increasingly possessive texts to Rhys Ashworth, in order to put Rhys off from dating Zoë after she dumped him after a dating game. He also changed results on a blood test belonging to flat mate Kris Fisher, giving Kris the impression he had HIV
. This led to Kris feeling like his 'life was over', but nobody suspected him because he was very supportive to Kris. Will got increasingly obsessed with fellow housemate Zoe Carpenter
and she was about to leave him so he therefore sabotaged Zoe's trip to New York
. As she was about to leave in the taxi to the airport Will hid her passport, then trapped Zoe's arm in the taxi's door, forcing her to go to A&E (and thereby missing her flight). After returning from the hospital, and being under the effects of pain killers and alcohol, a depressed Zoe accuses Will of deliberately sabotaging her chances of going to New York.
Later in the student bar, Will manipulates Jess to go talk to Zoe for him and convince her that he didn't deliberately hurt her hand. Will then spies on Jess and Zoe in Zoe's room using his hidden web camera and overhears them gossiping about him. Jess's remarks of Will being desperate and Zoe revealing intimate and embarrassing gossip about her and Will's sex life reduce Will to angry tears. Will later tells Jess that Zoe was bitching about her and Kris and that causes a massive argument.
He spies on Zoe on the webcam and notices she has a bottle of pop beside her bed and some tablets. Zoe later left the bottle of pop on the kitchen workplace, which he then spiked. Will then steals her mobile phone and texts Rhys, and bombards him with even more 'pushy' text messages. He then texts Zak, telling him to meet her an hour later in the pub.
Kris eventually tried to make friends with Zoe and went to find her, only to find her drunk. Zoe tries to reassure Kris that she has just had the one drink, but he refuses to believe it and leaves. Zak finally meets Zoe an hour later than arranged but she tries to tell him that she didn't send the text message.
Zak later puts her to bed to sleep but Will is watching this on his webcam, and creeps into her room. He scatters the pills around the room and on the bed and places the packet in her hand. He then looks at her, and says 'Why did you have to betray me?' and leaves.
In the morning, Zak finds Zoe with the pills in her hand and instantly thinks she's attempted suicide. Kris walks by and tries to help, and Will walks in the room, and pretends to look surprised. Jessica and Kris feel bad about the way they have treated Zoe and she goes into a coma. When she comes back from hospital the students don't know how to cope with her. Zoe moves some of the furniture in her room around, which was bad news for Will as he was scared she could discover the webcam. He tries to load the screen up on his laptop, only to be rumbled by Zak Ramsey
. Zak runs straight into Zoe's room to share his suspicions with her. Zak tries to convince Zoe that Will has 'something to hide' on his laptop, and suggests he's a stalker. Zoe freaks out and agrees to get the laptop. She later gets the laptop by setting off the college fire alarm and going into Will's room when he's evacuated. It later gets stolen by Michaela and Sonny, who sell it to Gilly, only for it to be retrieved by Kris. Zak gets it off Kris and they both guess the password but soon realise that Will has been filming Zoe with a hidden camera.
Meanwhile, Zoe goes back to the Flat as she forgot her train tickets and overhears an argument she had with Zak a few days before. She walks into Will's room, puzzled, and finds him watching a video clip of her crying on a television. He looks round and locks her in the room and tells her he loves her. There is then a violent struggle, with Will continually telling Zoe he is 'doing this because he loves her'. Zoe tries to escape numerous times but Will twists her broken arm. He admits he drugged her and after more violent struggles, he drags her [quite literally] up the stairs and onto the roof, and dangles her over the edge, only to be seen by Zak down below. Zak panics and rushes to the roof as quick as he possibly can. Will tells him to 'back off' repeatedly and tells Zoe he never meant to hurt her, with flashbacks of him trapping Zoe's arm in the taxi door, watching her with the hidden webcamera and drugging her. He eventually lets Zoe go, only to attempt jumping off himself, only to be saved by a screaming Zoe & Zak.
The police grab him and lead him into a police car. Will got interviewed by a psychiatrist
to explain his behaviour. He told her that Zoe made his life 'hell', and that Zoe 'asked' him to film her, saying she 'got off on it', and they would watch the videos over together. He goes on to say that he didn't drag Zoe up on the rooftop, he followed her. He printed Zoe out to be a malipulative cheating self-obsessed liar. He said she slept with other men and told him his life wasn't worth living. It appeared at one point that the psychiatrist was due to believe his every word, which had many viewers on the edge of their seats; but Will got referred to a Mental Health Unit, which he called a 'loony bin'. He was to be taken by ambulance and was then sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
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 Oliver Farnworth
Oliver Farnworth
Oliver Farnworth is an English actor, best known for playing the role of Will Hackett in the long-running teenage soap opera Hollyoaks.-Biography:...
. The character first appeared on-screen on 01 September 2006. Although no longer a featured character in the series he was noted for portraying storylines involving mental illness and stalking his girlfriend Zoe Carpenter
Zoe Carpenter
Zoe Carpenter is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Zoë Lister. The character first appeared on-screen on 1 September 2006, as one of three new students at Hollyoaks Community College. It was announced in 2009 that Lister had quit her role in order to...
.
Storylines
Will was revealed as a child genius by Gilly as he was a contestant on CountdownCountdown (game show)
Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...
at 15 years old and seen as a child prodigy. He was also fast-tracked into Oxford University at 16 but dropped out due to complications. Now at HCC with a second chance, Will is extremely moody and keeps himself to himself but has developed obsessive feelings for Zoë Carpenter
Zoe Carpenter
Zoe Carpenter is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Zoë Lister. The character first appeared on-screen on 1 September 2006, as one of three new students at Hollyoaks Community College. It was announced in 2009 that Lister had quit her role in order to...
. He tried to win her affection but she turned him down; he has since tried more devious means of winning her praise by trying to sabotage her new relationship with Zak Ramsey
Zak Ramsey
Zak Timothy Ramsey is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kent Riley. Zak first appeared in 2004, when he was credited as 'Zak Barnes'. After only four months, Riley was dropped from the programme. The character received a revival 18 months later...
. When Zak and Zoë made up, Will broke into her bedroom and hid some of her possessions. He framed Zak for this, causing Zoë to dump Zak. Will then 'bugged
Hidden camera
A hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is "hidden" because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object...
' Zoë's bedroom, but saw more than he bargained for when Zöe rekindled her new-found interest in nudism with flatmate Kris Fisher.
In a new-years episode, Zak was flirting with Zoe and they got cosy. Zak walked into the kitchen where Will was cooking something on the stove. Zak bent down to get something out of the cupboard, so Will twisted the handle round. Zak stood up and the food went flying, burning Zak's arm.
Will is not beyond manipulating people as long as it benefits or amuses him. Within several days of arriving at HCC, he placed the recently deceased Olivia Johnson's diary in the room of her friend Jessica, knowing that Olivia said some cruel things about Jess inside. Will only came clean after Jess had accused all of their other flatmates. Recently, he stole (then) ex-girlfriend Zoë's mobile phone and sent a vast number of increasingly possessive texts to Rhys Ashworth, in order to put Rhys off from dating Zoë after she dumped him after a dating game. He also changed results on a blood test belonging to flat mate Kris Fisher, giving Kris the impression he had HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
. This led to Kris feeling like his 'life was over', but nobody suspected him because he was very supportive to Kris. Will got increasingly obsessed with fellow housemate Zoe Carpenter
Zoe Carpenter
Zoe Carpenter is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Zoë Lister. The character first appeared on-screen on 1 September 2006, as one of three new students at Hollyoaks Community College. It was announced in 2009 that Lister had quit her role in order to...
and she was about to leave him so he therefore sabotaged Zoe's trip to 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...
. As she was about to leave in the taxi to the airport Will hid her passport, then trapped Zoe's arm in the taxi's door, forcing her to go to A&E (and thereby missing her flight). After returning from the hospital, and being under the effects of pain killers and alcohol, a depressed Zoe accuses Will of deliberately sabotaging her chances of going to New York.
Later in the student bar, Will manipulates Jess to go talk to Zoe for him and convince her that he didn't deliberately hurt her hand. Will then spies on Jess and Zoe in Zoe's room using his hidden web camera and overhears them gossiping about him. Jess's remarks of Will being desperate and Zoe revealing intimate and embarrassing gossip about her and Will's sex life reduce Will to angry tears. Will later tells Jess that Zoe was bitching about her and Kris and that causes a massive argument.
He spies on Zoe on the webcam and notices she has a bottle of pop beside her bed and some tablets. Zoe later left the bottle of pop on the kitchen workplace, which he then spiked. Will then steals her mobile phone and texts Rhys, and bombards him with even more 'pushy' text messages. He then texts Zak, telling him to meet her an hour later in the pub.
Kris eventually tried to make friends with Zoe and went to find her, only to find her drunk. Zoe tries to reassure Kris that she has just had the one drink, but he refuses to believe it and leaves. Zak finally meets Zoe an hour later than arranged but she tries to tell him that she didn't send the text message.
Zak later puts her to bed to sleep but Will is watching this on his webcam, and creeps into her room. He scatters the pills around the room and on the bed and places the packet in her hand. He then looks at her, and says 'Why did you have to betray me?' and leaves.
In the morning, Zak finds Zoe with the pills in her hand and instantly thinks she's attempted suicide. Kris walks by and tries to help, and Will walks in the room, and pretends to look surprised. Jessica and Kris feel bad about the way they have treated Zoe and she goes into a coma. When she comes back from hospital the students don't know how to cope with her. Zoe moves some of the furniture in her room around, which was bad news for Will as he was scared she could discover the webcam. He tries to load the screen up on his laptop, only to be rumbled by Zak Ramsey
Zak Ramsey
Zak Timothy Ramsey is a fictional character from the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Kent Riley. Zak first appeared in 2004, when he was credited as 'Zak Barnes'. After only four months, Riley was dropped from the programme. The character received a revival 18 months later...
. Zak runs straight into Zoe's room to share his suspicions with her. Zak tries to convince Zoe that Will has 'something to hide' on his laptop, and suggests he's a stalker. Zoe freaks out and agrees to get the laptop. She later gets the laptop by setting off the college fire alarm and going into Will's room when he's evacuated. It later gets stolen by Michaela and Sonny, who sell it to Gilly, only for it to be retrieved by Kris. Zak gets it off Kris and they both guess the password but soon realise that Will has been filming Zoe with a hidden camera.
Meanwhile, Zoe goes back to the Flat as she forgot her train tickets and overhears an argument she had with Zak a few days before. She walks into Will's room, puzzled, and finds him watching a video clip of her crying on a television. He looks round and locks her in the room and tells her he loves her. There is then a violent struggle, with Will continually telling Zoe he is 'doing this because he loves her'. Zoe tries to escape numerous times but Will twists her broken arm. He admits he drugged her and after more violent struggles, he drags her [quite literally] up the stairs and onto the roof, and dangles her over the edge, only to be seen by Zak down below. Zak panics and rushes to the roof as quick as he possibly can. Will tells him to 'back off' repeatedly and tells Zoe he never meant to hurt her, with flashbacks of him trapping Zoe's arm in the taxi door, watching her with the hidden webcamera and drugging her. He eventually lets Zoe go, only to attempt jumping off himself, only to be saved by a screaming Zoe & Zak.
The police grab him and lead him into a police car. Will got interviewed by a psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
to explain his behaviour. He told her that Zoe made his life 'hell', and that Zoe 'asked' him to film her, saying she 'got off on it', and they would watch the videos over together. He goes on to say that he didn't drag Zoe up on the rooftop, he followed her. He printed Zoe out to be a malipulative cheating self-obsessed liar. He said she slept with other men and told him his life wasn't worth living. It appeared at one point that the psychiatrist was due to believe his every word, which had many viewers on the edge of their seats; but Will got referred to a Mental Health Unit, which he called a 'loony bin'. He was to be taken by ambulance and was then sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Mental Health Act 1983
The Mental Health Act 1983 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which applies to people in England and Wales. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered persons, the management of their property and other related matters...
External links
- Will Hackett on the Hollyoaks website