Hollyoaks won the Best Soap and Continuing Drama accolade at the 2019 Royal Television Society (RTS) Programme Awards on Tuesday (19.03.19).
The Channel 4 series beat off competition from Casualty and Coronation Street to take the prestigious honour, with the judges saying they were “blown away” by the show.
The panel also said of the soap: “Well written, beautifully acted, it was bold and confident with terrific central performances.”
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Executive producer Bryan Kirkwood, who helmed the programme from 2006 until 2009, left the soap to work for EastEnders before returning to Hollyoaks in 2012.
Accepting the honour at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, showrunner Bryan admitted he had been most proud of the work they have done over the last year.
He said: “We tell the boldest stories happening to our audience right now.
“We’re known for our stunts, we’re known for our romances, we’re known for our cast but in the last couple of years I think we’ve really started to be recognised for our hard-hitting storylines.
“The other soaps have had a great year as well, but this is the year I’m proudest of us.”
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And joined by a number of cast members, the executive producer singled out the abuse of Ollie Morgan (Aedan Duckworth) and Brody Hudson (Adam Woodward) at the hands of football coach Buster Smith (Nathan Sussex) as one of their “best ever” storylines.
He added: “I think the footballer abuse story featuring Aedan and Lysette (Anthony) has been one of our best ever.”
Other big winners at the ceremony included Mum, Save Me – which both scooped two prizes – Derry Girls, Inside No. 9, Killing Eve and The Last Leg.
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