User:DaniloDaysOfOurLives/Lily

Lily Drinkwell (also McQueen) is a fictional character from the British soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Lauren McQueen. She made her first appearance on 6 January 2017. Lily was introduced as the niece of established character Diane O'Connor (Alex Fletcher), and Lily's initial storyline saw her moving in with Diane and her following following the death of Lily's mother. Months later, Lily was central to a dramatic stunt when she and other characters are involved in a car crash. The crash leaves Lily with scarring, which deeply affects Lily's confidence. This and other factors cause Lily to begin self-harming, a storyline which was used to raise awareness and create conversation about the issue. Hollyoaks worked with four charities - The Mix, Mind, NSPCC and Samaritans - during the storyline. Lily continues hurting herself for months, and the character was central to a special episode focussing on the characters' attitudes towards self-harm. Following the episode, the storyline takes a darker turn when Lily begins self-harming with her friends Peri Lomax (Ruby O'Donnell) and Yasmine Maalik (Haiesha Mistry). Hollyoaks boss Bryan Kirkwood decided to explore the issue of group self-harm when he discovered that it was on the rise but not being talked about.

Casting and characterisation
In December 2016, it was announced that Diane O'Connor (Alex Fletcher) would be returning to Hollyoaks in January 2017, after Fletcher had taken maternity leave earlier in 2016, and that Diane would be bringing her niece, Lily, with her. On 22 December of that year, it was announced that Lauren McQueen had joined the soap as new regular character, Lily Drinkwell. Lily was described as a "schoolgirl who's dedicated to her studies but just as feisty as her family members". In a behind-the-scenes video released by Hollyoaks on the same day, McQueen said that "Lily might look like the typical kind-hearted, butter-wouldn't-melt young teen, but she's actually one serious tough cookie. She's fiercely independent and something of a mini-superhero to the less popular kids at school." Both McQueen and Daniel Kilkelly from Digital Spy joked that McQueen's surname may make things "confusing" due it also being the surname of one of Hollyoaks' families. McQueen also revealed that Lily "adores" Diane and "admires" her for raising two children by herself, and commented that Lily has "definitely inherited Diane's sense of fun and mischievousness". McQueen also revealed that Lily is particularly close to her cousin, Scott Drinkwell (Ross Adams), calling them "total bessies".

Speaking of the character's backstory, McQueen revealed that Lily's terminally mother, Babs Drinkwell, has recently died, and that Lily had to "grow up before her time" due to being Bab's carer. Upon Lily's arrival, Diane's husband, Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) is not happy on the idea of Lily staying with them, and is forced to apologise to her when she overhears him telling Diane that and tries to convince her to stay. McQueen has said that Lily gets on well with Tony, and teased that due to Tony and Diane taking her in, Lily is able to start a "brand new life in Hollyoaks".

McQueen used to come to Hollyoaks as an extra, and she was happy to return to the soap as a regular actor and have the new experience.

Introduction and car crash
https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a818378/hollyoaks-spoilers-lily-drinkwell-catches-prince-mcqueens-eye-on-her-first-day-at-school-tonight/

In May 2017, Lily was one of several characters involved in a "car crash horror", along with Prince and some other teenage characters. Hollyoaks had been teasing the stunt for months prior and they had first released it in their 2017 Spring Trailer, with Lily being revealed as one of the characters involved in early May. Nadine Mulkerrin, who portrayed Cleo McQueen, another character involved in the stunt, said that the crash's "repercussions will continue for quite some time", saying that was "one of those brilliant Hollyoaks storylines where they do a stunt and all these connecting stories come together." In the storyline, Prince decides to take over the driving from a nervous Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins), despite not having a license, when Yasmine Maalik (Haiesha Mistry) falls ill and needs to go to hospital. Prince then swerves the car to avoid hitting Cleo and Joel Dexter (Rory Douglas-Speed),which leads to the teenagers crashing into a pile of logs and though a gate. Lily was considered to be in particular danger as she was hit by one of the logs, which crashed through the car window. The stunt originally aired on a Friday, leaving viewers waiting over the weekend to see if Lily and the other characters had survived.

Following the crash, Lily faces further hurdles when she fears that she will have permanent scarring due to the injuries that she sustained in the crash. Lily becomes increasingly anxious in the lead up to one of her appointments, and is forced to attend alone due to her family taking care of Scott, who has attempted suicide, though Lily is not aware of this. Lily feels "lonely and distressed" following the appointment and does not confide in her friends over what the doctor told her, though Tom tries to reach out when he senses that something is not right. When Lily finds out about Scott's suicide attempt, she tries to support him, with it being teased that the family "in the dark about her own turmoil".

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a834133/hollyoaks-spoilers-lily-drinkwell-dumps-prince-mcqueen/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a833357/hollyoaks-spoilers-lily-drinkwell-left-devastated/

https://www.whattowatch.com/hollyoaks-home/yasmine-maalik-attacks-lily-482832

Self-harm
In July 2017, it was announced that Lily would be central to a storyline highlighting self-harm. Hollyoaks decided to run the storyline in order to educate parents and guardians and increase conversations about the topic, as well as to encourage young people to seek advice. Producers worked with the mental health charities The Mix, Mind and Samaritans to devise the plot, as well as with the NSPCC. McQueen was grateful to work with the charities and for "been given such a challenging storyline", with the actress adding, "I hope I can bring awareness to people like Lily and to let them know that they aren't alone". The storyline was part of #DontFilterFeelings, a wider Hollyoaks mental health campaign. Samaritan's media advisor Lorna Fraser, who worked with the cast and crew for the storyline, hoped that the storyline would encourage people to reach out and find other coping mechanisms. The storyline begins when Lily, who has been struggling with her "extremely low" self confidence, is humiliated after Yasmine opens a box of crickets down her top, forcing her to reveal her scars. The "public humiliation" leads Lily "down a dark path" and is the "catalyst" for her self-harm, as she rushes home afterwards and locks herself in the bathroom, where she cuts herself. Hollyoaks producers revealed that Lily's first time self-harming would be "only the start of Lily's mental health battle". McQueen hoped that the storyline would make youngers realise how dangerous self-harm is.

That October, following months of Lily continuing to secretly harm herself, it was announced that Lily would be central to a special episode focussing on her self harm. Yasmine and Peri Lomax (Ruby O'Donnell) were also announced to be involved, with the episode intending to offer an insight into the points of views of the three teenagers and their guardians Diane, Misbah Maalik (Harvey Virdi) and Leela Lomax (Kirsty-Leigh Porter), with some scenes in the episode being shown twice from different points of view in order to show the different perspectives of the characters towards self-harm. The episode was called "Three Mothers, Three Daughters". Prior to the episode's broadcast, Hollyoaks released a "moving" video recapping Lily's "sad" story in order to show the different sides of the character and to offer support to people in similar situations to Lily. In the episode, Peri and Yasmine discover Lily's self-harm and plan to inform the rest of the school, believing that it is their duty, and they write an anonymous article about a girl who-self harms, which makes headteacher Sally St. Claire (Annie Wallace) suspicious that the subject of the article is one of the three teenagers. Sally calls the three girl's guardians in to raise her concerns, with the three women refusing to believe that their girl is self-harming, whilst Lily is terrified of what will happen if her self-harm is found out. The storyline then takes a "dark turn" as the self-harm stays secret and brings the three teenagers together, as Peri later reveals that she harms herself too, which makes Lily feel that someone "finally understands her". In a surprise twist, the three teenagers then make a "destructive pact" to continue self-harming in secret. Hollyoaks producer, Bryan Kirkwood, revealed that the group self-harming plot had been pitched by long-standing Hollyoaks writer Anna Clements, which led to the production team researching it and learning that the issue was on the rise among young people, despite not being talked about. He added:

"'We take our responsibility to our young audience very seriously. It's such a collaborative process on Hollyoaks... One crucial fact I was told was that people often want to present an image of perfection in an age of social media, so despite the fact that mental health issues among young people are reaching epidemic proportions, people are talking about it less. So we wanted to tackle the story and raise awareness. People can be really cynical about millennials having everything at their fingertips, but I think there is such a pressure on young people now and that's why some of them are turning to self-harm.'"

Kirkwood also revealed that things would get worse for the teenagers before getting better, and that some of their performances had made him cry due to being so powerful. Weeks later, Peri's family discover that she is self-harming, which leads to her revealing that Lily and Yasmine are also self-harming, exposing Lily's secret. Tony and Diane then confront Lily about it and they are adamant that Lily needs to seek support for her mental health issues, but Lily appears to be in denial and claims that it not a big deal. Prince also finds out Lily's secret, and after continuing to hurt herself, Lily later collapses. Diane at one point almost catches Lily about to self-harm, which occurs in the same episode where Prince asks Tony for permission to marry Lily, which Tony is unsure about.

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a840510/hollyoaks-spoilers-lauren-mcqueen-lily-drinkwell-special/

https://metro.co.uk/2017/12/06/hollyoaks-spoilers-heartache-for-lily-drinkwell-as-peri-lomax-sleeps-with-prince-mcqueen-7137270/

https://metro.co.uk/2017/11/27/hollyoaks-spoilers-wedding-drama-ahead-for-lily-drinkwell-and-prince-mcqueen-7094147/

Marriage to Prince McQueen
https://metro.co.uk/2018/01/23/hollyoaks-spoilers-peri-lomax-tells-another-big-lie-to-keep-prince-mcqueen-and-lily-drinkwell-apart-7231942/

https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/tv/hollyoaks-spoiler-lily-drinkwell-and-prince-mcqueens-wedding-day-threatened-by-kidnap-shock/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a849786/hollyoaks-spoilers-prince-lily-wedding-scenes/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/g25128/hollyoaks-spoiler-pictures-prince-lily-wedding/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a851563/hollyoaks-catch-up-hunter-mcqueen-neeta-kaur-prince-mcqueen-lily-drinkwell-wedding/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a855758/hollyoaks-spoilers-lily-mcqueen-baby-bombshell/

Romeo Nightingale and love triangle
https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a25890515/hollyoaks-spoilers-lily-mcqueen-romeo-quinn-passion/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a869144/hollyoaks-spoilers-romeo-quinn-rescue-attempt-lily-storm-danger/

https://metro.co.uk/2018/07/14/hollyoaks-spoilers-will-lily-mcqueen-cheat-on-prince-with-newcomer-romeo-7686265/

https://metro.co.uk/2019/02/28/hollyoaks-spoilers-prince-mcqueen-to-kill-romeo-quinn-over-lily-affair-8785601/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a26578219/hollyoaks-spoiler-photos-prince-mcqueen-return-punches-romeo/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a862236/hollyoaks-spoilers-romeo-quinn-lily-mcqueen-masterplan/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a26396870/hollyoaks-spoilers-romeo-quinn-lily-mcqueen-hopes/

https://metro.co.uk/2019/02/23/hollyoaks-spoilers-prince-mcqueen-returns-and-discovers-lilys-affair-with-romeo-quinn-8630390/

https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/16/hollyoaks-spoilers-romance-as-lily-drinkwell-risks-her-life-to-save-romeo-quinn-8006525/

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/soaps/hollyoaks/prince-returns-to-hollyoaks-will-lily-choose-him-or-romeo/

Departure and death
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/hollyoaks-spoilers-next-week-tragic-14236233

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a26021856/hollyoaks-lily-drinkwell-self-harm-relapse-aftermath-clip/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a27102846/hollyoaks-lily-drinkwell-dies-viewers-praise-lauren-mcqueen-exit/

https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/10/hollyoaks-spoilers-producer-reveals-why-he-chose-to-have-lily-drinkwell-die-from-self-harm-9139938/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a26986703/hollyoaks-lily-mcqueen-lauren-mcqueen-exit-explained/

https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/2019041171975/hollyoaks-lauren-mcqueen-emotional-character-lily-death/

https://metro.co.uk/2019/03/30/hollyoaks-spoilers-romeo-quinn-and-prince-mcqueen-broken-by-lilys-death-9061460/

Storylines
Lily arrives to live with her aunt Diane O'Connor (Alex Fletcher) and her husband TONY following the death of her mum, BABS. Tony is hesitant about Lily staying with them but changes his mind. Lily bonds with her cousin, Scott Drinkwell (Ross Adams), and meets PRINCE. On her first day of school, NEETA upsets Lily when she makes a comment about Lily's mother not being pleased about her not rereading Jane Eyre, not knowing that she died. Neeta apologises to Lily and they bond.

Reception
Following Lily's debut, Laura-Jayne Tyler from Inside Soap praised the character, writing "We love Hollyoaks' newcomer Lily. She's a charming, friendly, nice girl – so seems like a real innovation in the village!" Following Lily's death, Tyler praised the soap for its "unflinching depiction" of the "dangers of self-harm", calling it "important work".

Following the car crash that Lily was involved in, Kilkelly said that the stunt left him feeling "anxious" and that Lily was one of the characters that he was most worried about. In June 2017, Kilkelly named Lily as one of the eight "rising stars" in British soap operas, writing that whilst Lily initially had a "fairly subtle introduction", the actress was given a "a chance to shine" following the car crash and her subsequent scarring and self-esteem issues, praising the actress for handling the "tough scenes with great sensitivity" and praising McQueen for proving "what she can do". Kilkelly added that Lily had been slowly bedded into the "popular Hutchinson family and a new gang of teens" and speculated that Lily's on-off romance with Prince would lead to bigger drama. Kilkelly later called the group self-harm plot "tragic".

The special episode was reshown in April 2020 as part of Hollyoaks Favourites.

For her role as Lily, McQueen was longlisted for "Best Newcomer" at the 2017 Inside Soap Awards, whilst she and Thompson-Dwyer were longlisted for "Best Partnership" as Lily and Prince.

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a840861/hollyoaks-self-harm-reactions/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a840908/hollyoaks-complaints-self-harm-lily-peri-yasmine/

https://metro.co.uk/2017/10/17/why-the-hollyoaks-self-harm-episode-is-a-masterpiece-of-informative-television-for-young-people-6998411/

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/soaps/british-soap-awards-2019-winners-list-nominees/

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/british-soap-awards-2018-winners-list-coronation-street-eastenders-a8381081.html

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a27102846/hollyoaks-lily-drinkwell-dies-viewers-praise-lauren-mcqueen-exit/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/emmerdale/a29311351/inside-soap-awards-2019-full-nominations-shortlist/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a856021/hollyoaks-cast-catch-up-prince-lily-mcqueen-prily/

https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/emmerdale/a836154/inside-soap-awards-longlist-coronation-street-eastenders-emmerdale-hollyoaks/

https://metro.co.uk/2019/04/10/why-hollyoaks-were-right-to-show-lily-mcqueen-die-from-self-harm-and-sepsis-9140924/