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 (Gregory Finnegan), a mysterious solicitor who begins manipulating Cindy Cunningham (Stephanie Waring) and is later revealed to be the eldest Nightingale sibling, while February saw the arrival of (Lysette Anthony), the Nightingale family matriarch. (Maxim Baldry), (Luke Jerdy), and (Jimmy Essex), the half-brothers of Grace Black (Tamara Wall) were introduced in March and April, with (Rachel Adedeji), the missing daughter of Simone Loveday (Jacqueline Boatswain) and Louis Loveday (Karl Collins), making her first appearance in late April. (Andrew Hayden-Smith), a police officer, debuted in June. August saw the first appearance of (Fernanda Diniz), the former wife of Diego Salvador Martinez Hernandez De La Cruz (Juan Pablo Yepez), (Duncan James), the fiancée of Amy Barnes (Ashley Slanina-Davies), and (Amy Conachan), the cousin of Cameron Campbell (Cameron Moore). (Lisa Maxwell), the mother of Grace, Liam, Jesse and Adam, joined the recurring cast in September, while (Jacey Sallés), the mother of Diego, and (Clive Russell), the estranged brother of Jack Osborne (Jimmy McKenna), were introduced for guest appearances. , the nephew of Dirk Savage (David Kennedy), and (Kerry Bennett), the estranged niece of Jack, made their first appearances as regular characters in September. The McQueen family were expanded in November with the arrivals of (Chelsee Healey), (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) and (Theo Graham). Marnie's mother (Linda Gray) was introduced in November, while (Amanda Muggleton), a doctor treating Nancy Osborne (Jessica Fox), appeared in December.