These celebrations included several former cast members returning for the series as part of original character Tony Hutchinson's (Nick Pickard) storyline.
These returns included Jeremy Edwards (Kurt Benson), James Redmond (Rory "Finn" Finnigan), John Pickard (Dom Reilly) and Sarah Jayne Dunn (Mandy Richardson).
The returning cast members were announced to feature alongside Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) for "an epic ride of Hangover-style proportions".
[4] Parry Glasspool was cast in the role of Tony's estranged son, Harry Thompson, who had previously appeared in Hollyoaks between 2007–2008 and 2009, then played by Daniel Seymour and later Harrison George Rhodes.
[5] Danny Dyer was confirmed to play The White Man, who is an "unrelenting adversary" for Tony and his friends,[6] while Greg Wood was cast in the series as his Hollyoaks character Trevor Royle.
[7] It was also confirmed that Kurt, who was originally killed off in 1999 would appear as a "guardian angel-type figure" for Tony as he continues to struggle with his cancer battle.
[1] Producer Kirkwood explained that Esther and Tilly, joined by Holly Cunningham (Wallis Day) and Callum Kane (Laurie Duncan) would become involved in "a rip-roaring plot as they all find danger in a cabin in the woods".
[10] Actor Jordan Dawes was also cast in the series, appearing as villain Wes Anderson who puts Holly through a traumatic time "by forcing her to follow his perverted instructions".
The later air time allowed the scenes to be pushed further and the episodes did not have to hide anything due to their darker nature which would lead them to become "pretty gruesome".
The sword was attached to Duncan using a harness to give the appearance that he had been impaled with the blade exiting his chest, with the puncture wound created using makeup.
[17] It was announced that Dean Aspen would return as his Hollyoaks' character Duncan Button during the series, appearing as Louis' army friend.
The feature shows Tony, Finn, Dom and Kurt playing a game of cards before The White Man enters the room.
Tony comes up against gangster The White Man (Danny Dyer) while he begins seeing visions of his dead friend Kurt Benson (Jeremy Edwards).
Concluding her review, Bowden said she enjoyed the "darker parts" of the episode but felt that the scenes should have featured less of Theresa's storyline which "lacked any kind of pace or interest within reality and total disregard of how the British Army appears or operates within recruitment and training".
[31] Reviewing the series' final episode she praised cast members Dyer, saying he is "doing a really great job in these scenes and manages to be the perfect blend of menacing and darkly humorous" and Pickard, saying he "has been excellent right the way through and continues to show that he can do both everyday scenes back in 'Hollyoaks' village as well as the high drama stuff in these late night spin-off shows".
[32] When Callum's exit was transmitted viewers took to social media networking site Twitter to express shock and disappointed at the character's death.