A quick chat with 'Oaks producer Henry Swindell

Imagine agreeing to head up a nationwide open audition search for Hollyoaks' new female student called India. Imagine having to watch every single audition reel. Imagine having 1,700 to work your way through. What happens?

Well, I'd imagine you'd lose your social life for a month and screw up your sleeping pattern for a good week or so.

But why speculate when we can hear from someone who's been through it all himself?

Here, in my final Desperately Seeking Hollyoaks interview of the day, I chat to Hollyoaks producer Henry Swindell, the man who quite happily committed social suicide and put himself up for said task.

What was it like watching the videos? What process did the 24 shortlisted candidates go through? And what's to come from India when she arrives on screen in September? Read on for more...

How has the process treated you?
"It's been a long couple of weeks! I've had a few sleepless nights as I watched every single video - all 1,700 of them - which meant that I had one night where I think I fell asleep at 4am!"

What did you think of the turnout?
"The videos showcased a massive breadth of the nation, in terms of quality and ability and likewise with the auditions. There's only so much you can tell from a short video. Until you get the candidates in, you don't know if they're going to look the part or how they're going to work with the other actors. It's been really tough. We've had a really interesting bunch."

Did you have an image of India in mind before you saw anyone?
"Well, you read script and storyline and you conjure something up in your head but you had to try and forget that because it's unlikely you'll find someone with that image. With some castings, someone will walk into the room and you'll think 'that's it!' But more often that not, you're surprised by people. You won't be sure about that and then you'll be surprised by the performance. Or sometimes you'll think they look great and be disappointed."

What process did the auditionees have to go through?
"The process they went though today was exactly the same as we'd put anyone through for a character of a decent size. They came in for an initial read-through with Dorothy Andrews, our head of casting, to check that they can read and relax them a little. Then they did a reading with myself and one of our directors Sean Glynn, who recently burned The Loft down! We gave them notes before another read-through to see if they were taking notes on board.

"We then narrowed it down to nine as we only had 24 in the first place - one of the original 25 who we chose from the videos didn't respond to us. Those nine then did a workshop with our drama coach. Then the final two stages involved nine filming a three-hander and the final six shooting a two-hander between India and Josh. From that, we had the tough decision to cut the six down to three. On this occasion, it could have been several of them!"

Do you know who the winner is?
"No! Lucy Allan [series producer], Tony Wood [creative director of Lime Pictures] and I will talk it through but it's ultimately Lucy's decision really. It's all quite exciting!"

What can you tell us about the character?
"India's well-to-do, a little naive and in a world that she's not used to. But more than that, she's quite good at saying the wrong thing, rubbing people up the wrong way without realising it. A key part with the role of India is that she's got to fit in well with the rest of the student group."

Is she being brought in for a specific purpose? Is there a huge storyline for her on the horizon?
"I'm not going to tell you that! We might have... You'll have to wait and see! She turns up in Freshers' Week and hits the show with a bang. She's all over that week. September's our killer month - it's huge. Everything happens during that month and one of those four weeks is India's arrival.

"It's a big thing for us because we'll be establishing a new group of students. Zoe, Kris and co made a big impact when they came in and made a solid impact when they arrived. It's time to move them on and grow them up and bring in the next lot."

Once the winner's been announced, what's the timetable for her? When does she start filming?
"Wednesday! She'll find out at the weekend and they'll then do publicity with her. Then we'll whisk her up here on Monday to get her through costume and makeup. She'll then be filming with us on the Wednesday. I think we'll hand her the scripts almost as soon as she's won!"

Will you be doing the same thing with a male character next?
"It'd be interesting. It's not the norm and it's not the easiest process, but it's worked for us very well in the past, with Elize [du Toit], Marcus [Patrick] and Roxanne [McKee]. I like the fact it opens things up to a different route. Will we do it again any time soon? I don't know is the honest answer."

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> Desperately Seeking finalist No.1 - Sophie
> Desperately Seeking finalist No.2 - Brooke
> Desperately Seeking finalist No.3 - Beth
> Click here to see pictures of the final three