Neil Newbon has revealed that viewers of next week's much-anticipated Hollyoaks Later will never watch the soap in the same way again. The actor, who plays shady Simon Walker in the show, has a key role in the post-watershed, five-episode special. He told the Channel 4 website: "In the context of the Hollyoaks universe, this season's Hollyoaks Later is truly unique - you'll never see Hollyoaks in the same way again. It's grittier, edgier, with a truly more immersive storyline, delving into the darker side of all the characters concerned." Neil said the late-night special allowed him and his co-stars the chance to reveal 'the more disturbing sides of our characters'. "Overall it is still fundamentally Hollyoaks, with more bite," he added. Next week's show sees Walker embroiled in an explosive storyline with bad boy Brendan Brady (played by Emmett Scanlan), with the Brady family taking centre stage. Neil said: "Emmett and I (both self-confessed workaholics) at one point were doing Laters, main Hollyoaks and the heist special - of which I am also hugely proud - simultaneously, and were often clocking up to 15 hours a day, 6-11 days, without a break." But he added: "I loved every second of it - it's hard to call something this much fun work really."
