Hollyoaks is a British television soap opera that was first broadcast on 23 October 1995. The following is a list of characters that appeared in the serial in 2016, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood. The first character to be introduced was James Nightingale, a mysterious solicitor who begins manipulating Cindy Cunningham and is later revealed to be the eldest Nightingale sibling, while February saw the arrival of Marnie Nightingale, the Nightingale family matriarch. Liam Donovan, Jesse Donovan, and Adam Donovan, the half-brothers of Grace Black were introduced in March and April, with Lisa Loveday, the missing daughter of Simone Loveday and Louis Loveday, making her first appearance in late April.