Episode 5569
The episode focuses on the unconscious bias that character Martine Deveraux (Kéllé Bryan) experiences as a Black woman in the United Kingdom.
The episode closes with a monologue led by Martine, where she states that people need to do better by unlearning their biases, with "Freedom" by Beyoncé included as a score.
Cast member Tamara Wall began to notice unconscious biases that companies held by not stocking plasters that are inclusive to all skin tones.
Whilst on her way to work, Martine sees Felix Westwood (Richard Blackwood) and asks if he will join her to her appointment as she is nervous.
Martine attends an interview for the Businesswoman of the Year award with Patsy (Cassie Vallance), who tells her that she is late and to quicken up her answers due to supposed timekeeping issues.
Martine receives an email from Patsy with interview questions and decides to reply with how she has been treated throughout the day as a Black woman.
Writer Karla Marie Sweet felt that the episode was important as it helped to "send the message home" about what Black women experience daily.
[2] Speaking to the Daily Mirror, episode lead Kéllé Bryan expressed her gratuity to Hollyoaks for dealing with the issue appropriately and accurately.
[4] Whilst reading the episode plans, Bryan said that she connected with the writing so much that it "ignited in [her] the pain and the hatred for biases".
Bryan felt she had to "park every other area of [her] life" in order to focus on the episode, which led to people asking why she had not appeared on Loose Women for a number of weeks.
He continued by explaining that the term places an expectancy of Black women showing no vulnerability, confirming that he would not use the phrase going forward.
[8] Sweet revealed that initially, she wanted to write a misogynoir storyline centred around Bryan's character suffering from a heart attack, but being told she only has heartburn.
However, when she read statistics online about Black women being mistreated in the medical world, it inspired the plot with Martine's breast examination.
She felt that it was important to represent how medical workers are "rushed off their feet" and have to make "snap decisions" in their line of work.
Whilst Peri is checking appointments on the computer, an argument between Martine and Grace can be heard in the background, which Bryan revealed was improvised.
[2] She accredited this to the ongoing racial injustice in the United Kingdom but felt that the episode could potentially start a discussion.
[9] They appreciated that unconscious biases involving race and gender had been brought to a mainspace television series such as Hollyoaks and hoped that it would lead to more discussion on the topics.
[9] The Voice gave a nod to the episode, writing that it highlighted an issue that Black people in the United Kingdom face daily.
[6] Viewers praised the episode; Black women wrote online that they felt represented by the plot and hoped that it would cause people to unlearn their unconscious biases.
